odoll, I understand that you stick to LOS 16,!
Moving to 18.1 is not as safe path because of all the constraints android puts in every new version.
Many apps do not work well anymore, that was a good way for me to remove lots of almost unused apps.
Unfortunately, a few of my main apps had to be removed as well because they would hardly or not work anymore.
I am still looking for a replacement app for Titanium Backup which saved my life plenty of times over the years.
And you spend your time managing apps permissions to try to have legacy apps work flawlessly.
But, on the other side, battery drain is much more optimized in LOS 18.1 as well as mobile/wifi switching on the fly.