But why would Google want to stop Lineage OS? First, in the grand scheme of things, Lineage OS is so small that it doesn't matter, according to stats.lineageos.

But why would Google want to stop Lineage OS? First, in the grand scheme of things, Lineage OS is so small that it doesn't matter, according to stats.lineageos.org it's 1.7 million active installs (that have turned on tracking). Android on the other hand has around 2.5 billion devices. Second, LineageOS might not ship Google apps by default, but opengapps makes it possible to install them, and Lineage OS installation guides mention it as an option. I guess many people do it so that they can participate in the Google ecosystem. So Lineage OS only adds more customers to Google's apps and services, more eyeballs that Google can sell. The main damage is dealt on the device vendors due to the LineageOS use case as an aftermarket firmware creating less need for people to buy their new hardware. My phone was released in 2014. I bought it in 2020 and thanks to Lineage OS, I can use modern Android on it. IMO since then, phones have gotten worse in many regards (non-removable batteries, no jack, glass everywhere so that phones break more easily, overall more expensive, etc, ...), so I'm quite happy with this setup.