This is excellent news. I've always wanted to try GrapheneOS, but I dislike Google and dislike Pixels even more (Tensor sucks + there's the whole VoLTE/5G issue), so I never got a chance to try it out.
Hopefully they select an OEM which supports pKVM - that's the one Pixel feature I'd really like to see being implemented on other Android devices.
The timing of this is also really important, as the EU is currently planning on rolling out mandatory app-based age verification, and currently it looks like the solution will be locked to Apple and Google phones "for security reasons". I have contacted my own government, and their answer is that they currently do not plan to support alternatives only used by a minority of citizens (absurd statement coming from a government agency). Having a major OEM actually offer a native non-Google Android phone will be really important to be able to put pressure on governments to stop locking their citizens into American big tech platforms because of will be a lot easier to argue that it is anti-competitive (which it always has been, but governments apparently don't consider postmarket operating systems as even part of the competition).
GrapheneOS recently added official support for forcing the availability of VoLTE, VoNR, 5G and/or VoWiFi with any carrier providing proper implementations. It was previously possible via ADB but no longer is since the December 2025 security patches which are included in our current security preview releases with the November 2025, December 2025 and January 2026 patches (https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/27068-grapheneos-security-p...).
The devices with our OEM partner will be Snapdragon flagships with Gunyah rather than pKVM. It should still be able to support the same things. It even has official Windows guest support upstream.
By not publishing Pixel device trees Google shot themselves in the foot removing the only reason for me buying their devices, while at the same time gaining nothing. Great move :)
I applaud them - finding an OEM to build a phone for an Android fork is extremely difficult, because Google conditions access to the Play store on a manufacturer not building any phones with Android forks [1]. A move so ridiculously anti-competitive and hostile that it's outrageous they haven't been sued for it yet by at least the EU. It's not only that their products spy on you - they are actively doing all they can to kill any other products. If you care about privacy, they are your enemy, it's as simple as that.
[1] While it might not be an official requirement, being granted a Google apps license will go a whole lot easier if you join the Open Handset Alliance. The OHA is a group of companies committed to Android—Google's Android—and members are contractually prohibited from building non-Google approved devices. That's right, joining the OHA requires a company to sign its life away and promise to not build a device that runs a competing Android fork. Acer was bit by this requirement when it tried to build devices that ran Alibaba's Aliyun OS in China. Aliyun is an Android fork, and when Google got wind of it, Acer was told to shut the project down or lose its access to Google apps. - https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/07/googles-iron-grip-on...
I really appreciate having a non-Google Android OS, free of Play services and other lock-in, and use Graphene on my own Pixel. The focus on security and hardening is also appreciated, but I wish the project were more ambitious in terms of actually improving on Android in terms of usability, features, and overall experience. As-is it feels like a barebones AOSP with all the security improvements existing as a sort of hypothetical improvement in the background.
It's hopeful news. GrapheneOS have had access to security patches as part of their agreement with an OEM partner already, so I assume these discussions/plans have been with the same partner. They are also hopeful of getting full access to AOSP releases which would greatly alleviate the pain Google have put custom OS developers through recently.
I am still very surprised that any OEM is willing to commit to monthly security updates and OS upgrades for a minimum of possibly five years. I think it would be a good thing for GrapheneOS to have more than one partnership in future for the Android ecosystem as a whole.
Anyone know if partnering with a major OEM for official support makes it more likely that they will be able to consistently support things like banking apps (and maybe even payment apps) in the future?
I suspect the answer is "no" but I want to believe...
I wonder what percentage of Pixel sales ended up running Graphene. It feels like running Graphene is the only real benefit to a Pixel. I wonder if Google is getting out of phones after Pixel 10 or 11.
I hope it's not one of the biggest names. I hope they've decided to work with a more ethical brand to elevate their quality. How about a Graphene OS phone with a removable battery?
It's one of the major OEMs. They have a bunch of devices, so we can eventually support more than one and can have new supported models each year. Small OEMs are not currently capable of meeting our security feature and update requirements listed at https://grapheneos.org/faq#future-devices.
Fairphone 4 and Pixel 6 both launched October 2021. Fairphone 4 has an end-of-life Linux 4.19 kernel which stopped getting LTS updates vs. launching with Linux 5.10 and moving to Linux 6.1. Fairphone 4 is still on Android 13 which is end-of-life soon. Fairphone 4 lacks proper privacy/security patches since it's just getting partial backports to Android 13 which they ship 1-2 months after the official date. OEMs are allowed to ship them up to 3 months before the official date and have at least 1 month early access, so that's a longer delay than it seems. Is the way these devices marketed ethical when considering the lack of privacy, security, long term support and sustainability? Do the claims about fair treatment of workers and fair sourcing of resources have more substance? Is it better or worse than the ethics of an iPhone, which has very efficient per-unit production and far better long term support?
This is good news, but I hope that the device is not a "Graphene-phone". I.e. that it's not strictly built for GOS, but that it's a good generic and open device that happens to support GOS. For example, I would like such hardware to also be able to run mainline Linux, and to be able to run GOS on other devices besides the single approved one, potentially from different manufacturers.
Snapdragon flagships have solid security and it's the devices made with those which ruin it. Snapdragon has both advantages and disadvantages compared to Tensor.
Pixel 6 through Pixel 9a are essentially Exynos SoC devices using standard Cortex and Mali cores. Certain components are custom including a Trusty OS TEE and secure core, a separate hardened secure element chip, image processing, TPU for neural network acceleration, etc. Tensor was mostly standard Exynos. Pixel 10 moved away from Exynos other than the cellular radio chip, but it's not clear if that is good or bad for security. It gives them more independence, choices and control to an extent but they largely licensed the IP for the components and it's not necessarily more secure. Perhaps PowerVR GPUs have better security than Mali, but that's unclear. It does appear they got GPU virtualization support through it, but Qualcomm cares a lot about virtualization too especially since they support laptops with Windows, etc.
I have a feeling they're working with OnePlus. They've lost their "enthusiast" vibe over the years, and officially supporting GrapheneOS could help them to reclaim it while still keeping prices high (or even justifying raising them).
I don't want a new phone. I am more interested in keeping older phones alive, because they are usually more than capable for my usage (banking app, web browser, maps), and the only problem is lack of updates. Thus I am more interested in LineageOS.
E-waste is bigger problem for me than few security improvements.
Every time i try to switch to a libre android i encounter the same blocker of not being able to do a full backup and restore with all app data and full control without hacky, weird third party apps that don't work, just as i can do on any linux in the world. I don't understand how the android ecosystem and everyone working on this is just ignoring the data.
I use a self-hosted Nextcloud and sync all contacts, photos and calendar with it. Having full native support for all Android apps would be pretty cool though.
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[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 63.8 ms ] threadHopefully they select an OEM which supports pKVM - that's the one Pixel feature I'd really like to see being implemented on other Android devices.
The devices with our OEM partner will be Snapdragon flagships with Gunyah rather than pKVM. It should still be able to support the same things. It even has official Windows guest support upstream.
[1] While it might not be an official requirement, being granted a Google apps license will go a whole lot easier if you join the Open Handset Alliance. The OHA is a group of companies committed to Android—Google's Android—and members are contractually prohibited from building non-Google approved devices. That's right, joining the OHA requires a company to sign its life away and promise to not build a device that runs a competing Android fork. Acer was bit by this requirement when it tried to build devices that ran Alibaba's Aliyun OS in China. Aliyun is an Android fork, and when Google got wind of it, Acer was told to shut the project down or lose its access to Google apps. - https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/07/googles-iron-grip-on...
I am still very surprised that any OEM is willing to commit to monthly security updates and OS upgrades for a minimum of possibly five years. I think it would be a good thing for GrapheneOS to have more than one partnership in future for the Android ecosystem as a whole.
I suspect the answer is "no" but I want to believe...
Boo
1- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44676691#44678172
Fairphone 4 and Pixel 6 both launched October 2021. Fairphone 4 has an end-of-life Linux 4.19 kernel which stopped getting LTS updates vs. launching with Linux 5.10 and moving to Linux 6.1. Fairphone 4 is still on Android 13 which is end-of-life soon. Fairphone 4 lacks proper privacy/security patches since it's just getting partial backports to Android 13 which they ship 1-2 months after the official date. OEMs are allowed to ship them up to 3 months before the official date and have at least 1 month early access, so that's a longer delay than it seems. Is the way these devices marketed ethical when considering the lack of privacy, security, long term support and sustainability? Do the claims about fair treatment of workers and fair sourcing of resources have more substance? Is it better or worse than the ethics of an iPhone, which has very efficient per-unit production and far better long term support?
which means what?
~300€ like the "A" models?
~1000€ like the pro models? both?
https://security.googleblog.com/2024/10/pixel-proactive-secu...
I don't have all the links to post here but I recall this being a big factor.
Pixel 6 through Pixel 9a are essentially Exynos SoC devices using standard Cortex and Mali cores. Certain components are custom including a Trusty OS TEE and secure core, a separate hardened secure element chip, image processing, TPU for neural network acceleration, etc. Tensor was mostly standard Exynos. Pixel 10 moved away from Exynos other than the cellular radio chip, but it's not clear if that is good or bad for security. It gives them more independence, choices and control to an extent but they largely licensed the IP for the components and it's not necessarily more secure. Perhaps PowerVR GPUs have better security than Mali, but that's unclear. It does appear they got GPU virtualization support through it, but Qualcomm cares a lot about virtualization too especially since they support laptops with Windows, etc.
E-waste is bigger problem for me than few security improvements.