HTC U11 Kernel Source Code Releases By HTC

Those in Europe and looking to develop a custom ROM for the HTC U11 can now download the official kernel source code from HTC. The company has released the official kernel source code to update the HTC U11 to Android 7.1 Nougat.

HTC released its U11 flagship almost a month ago. The smartphone is equipped by the Snapdragon 835 SoC and boasts 4GBs of RAM, 64GBs of onboard storage and runs on Android 7.1 Nougat. HTC released a few versions of the phone and has now provided the kernel source for five of them. 

On the HTCDev site, the source code is available for those who want to work on the HTC U11. The kernel source code is applicable for only those devices which is either bought directly from HTC in the continent or with Vodafone in Austria, France, Germany and the UK. The release kernels are based on the latest Android 7.1 Nougat with kernel version 4.4.21. Code for India and Southeast Asian U Play units is also ready for the picking apart, as reported by Pocket Now.

Unfortunately, HTC does not release a commit history that makes the source really hard to work on. However, on the other hand, the Japanese OEM Sony is excellent at maintaining the kernel source for its devices and even releases a full commit history instead of just a tarball.

According to Android Authority, HTC U11 kernel source will help developers to create custom kernels and ROMs, especially those based off of AOSP. It is also expected to see some AOSP-based projects coming to the HTC U11 variants pretty soon.

Other developers might still unlock their bootloaders as HTC has been supporting the function for smartphones released since September 2011. Support for the HTC U series devices is not explicit, but it should work.