Join the discussion
Write your take first — we'll ask for email only when you're ready to publish.
- Hacker News
"The initial devices with GrapheneOS support should be available in 2027. The initial devices will be flagships so they'll be higher end hardware than Pixels at a higher price. Lower end devices will take more time to meet our requirements since the updates and security features aren't as good. It's mostly due to how Qualcomm handles it. The latest Snapdragon flagships have the best security features. We'll also need Motorola to start paying them for longer updates below flagships."by exceptione- I don't doubt they will cost more than the Pixel line, but I'm somewhat skeptical that the hardware will be higher quality. Perhaps my idea of what Motorola is capable of is outdated.by tortasaur
- Looking forward to this! Google is not competent enough to sell Pixels worldwide, it's a pain in the ass to buy one!
- This is very exciting. I have been an iPhone user for the last 8 years. I am entirely in Apple's ecosystem.
I would legitimately change my phone (+watch +headphones) for a vertical foldable (like razr) phone running graphene OS. I don't think Apple is releasing a vertical foldable or even a modern smaller phone. One can only hope.
by jbombadil - To get you started on switching the ecosystem, which is a pain. Here's some of what I landed on while moving from iOS to GrapheneOS.
Ente Photos
NotesNook
Signal (I use Molly but it's only on Android)
Bitwarden
Proton
by Cider9986 - I get that you don't like Twitter/Facebook/Reddit or whatever, but a clear solution to this problem is to hurt googles public image as much as you can and for that you need a platform with as large of a reach as possible.
edit: they have X but didn't post it there https://x.com/GrapheneOS
- This wasn't an announcement with any new information. It was a reply to a question with existing public information. We've repeatedly posted the same information on X in response to similar questions.by grapheneos
- They post on Twitter more than anywhere else. This was a reply not a announcement or post. There are likely similar replies to this on their Twitter. Their communication is a goldmine for privacy and security info so even replies can be interesting enough to start discussion.
They have official chatrooms on Matrix and Discord and a forum on their website. They have unofficial (but run by them) chatrooms on SimpleX and Telegram and maybe other platforms idk.
They are not about avoiding big tech specifically, they make practical choices to improve privacy and security of their users.
Here's a statement with some ethos.
by Cider9986 - I am beyond excited about this! Very cool.
When Google acquired motorola, I was excited at the possibilities. When they sold Motorola off, I thought it a deeply unfortunate move.
With this announcement though, I am now seeing it in a very positive light. Given Google's current position, if they still owned Motorola I can't see this sort of collaboration with grapheneos ever happening.
Major kudos to the graphenos team! This is a huge milestone, a huge accomplishment, and a real world validation of the incredible work that you are doing. Thank you so much for everything you have done
by freedomben - I just wonder how they handle full Google's certification for hardware integrity + Google Play Store with GrapheneOS. They contradict on this part on the normal GrapheneOS mod and I don't see a way how they will not on Motorola phones.
Banking apps (e.g. Revolut) block GrapheneOS actively and many other apps too.
But it will be interesting times once they are out!
by therealmarv - > Banking apps (e.g. Revolut) block GrapheneOS actively and many other apps too.
You've misunderstood something here. Revolut doesn't "block GrapheneOS actively". I'm running Revolut and most of my banking apps on GrapheneOS right now.
In my experience, there are two major categories of incompatibility:
- High levels of Google Play Integrity checks: app only works on releases of Android that have been allowlisted by Google. The only app that does this for me so far is McDonalds.
- Commercial root detection APIs: some of GrapheneOS' security features like "Secure App Spawning" trip root detection heuristics. This is the kind of incompatibility I usually run into for banking apps. You can disable individual features on a per-app basis these days to get around this.
by Youden - I was hoping for Fairphone support but they said it's not happening.
> Fairphones lack the updates and hardware-based security features expected by GrapheneOS.
- I bought the Moto signature a month ago , I already assumed it prolly won't support graphene, since some of the previous replies on X indicate that the graphene team requires full hardware compliance with their requirements, and the Signature apparently is not compliant yet.
Anyway I ended up buying a really good smartphone.. just not a graphene supported haha :(
Also this is really great collab from moto & graphene as more vendors will officially recognize Graphene as legit OS (legel/OEM is different concept). I heard month ago Volkswagen banned graphene, hopefully we we will see moving things in opposite direction...
by virajk_31 - > I heard month ago Volkswagen banned graphene, hopefully we we will see moving things in opposite direction...
Why would anyone want a car app? Is being tracked by the car's telematics unit (cellular modem) not enough?
by drnick1 - They didn't "ban" them, but they did enable some attestation feature that effectively "bans" anything that isn't Google Android.
Which still makes you wonder why Volkswagen is so keen on alienating what little is left of their customer base with completely stupid security theater.
by hypfer - A year ago or so, the ThinkPhone 23 (Snapdragon 8, 2023, a weird "flagship") was available for 229€ new on various retail stores. The phone also supports Mobian/PostmarketOS and the bootloader is unlockable with no adverse effects.
Out of nowhere, it received (along with other older phones) updates up to Android 16.
I wouldn't be surprised if the "sudden" update was just a side effect of Motorola preparing for Graphene to be released on these older phones.
by unfocso - Not sure about other phones, but ThinkPhone 23 was supposed to get Android 16 anyway
https://www.androidauthority.com/lenovo-thinkphone-hands-on-...
by StingyJelly - No current Motorola phones meet their hardware requirements. 2027 flagship models will be the first to be supported.by ledoge
- I've never really understood why we chase Android-alikes on mobile platforms instead of trying to build on mainstream Linux. I know some folks in the nix community (nix-on-droid and other projects) have tried to bring us closer to this, but projects like Graphene seem to have a lot of traction.by tfrancisl
- Like others have said, it comes down to apps mostly. But there is also the fact that Google and others have spent more than a decade optimizing the OS for appliances. Android was built from the ground up for mobile devices and handles things like background apps, notifications, and charging as expected on a phone. All of this could be ported or rebuilt, but the work has already been done for Android and billions of devices prove that it works.by drnick1
- Beyond the other answers here, doesn’t it make sense there were some reasonably bright people involved in the initial “let’s build a phone OS” and that given it’s sold more than a billion devices, maybe what Linux on a mobile device looks a heck of a lot like Android?by tclancy
- once Huawei was forbidden from using Android - that's when people ie western markets & the world at large should've shifted. look at HarmonyOS.
in China - there's no google apps available on their 'android' versions.
their platforms are already performant and fluid - so people should build on that.
by dzonga - GOS is broadly compatible with most phone use cases out of the box--chat, mail, browsing. A Google Play profile lets me use almost all apps (including my bank apps, but I understand that's not true for everyone).
In principle I agree about a Linux phone, but the gaps are much greater. I am also sympathetic to the GOS team's arguments that sandboxing on Android is better, and important on a device that allows control of essentially my whole life (2FA apps etc.)
- Because you need app support. Not even Microsoft could pull that off.by Gigachad
- Because Android is miles ahead in terms of security, permission management, app separation, power management, privacy...
Linux crowd can not even agree on compositor, and if systemd or sudo is a good idea.
by throwIeoeor - Everyone else mentioned the app support which is true, but for graphene specifically, they do not like desktop Linux at all because they don't like its security. They would much rather build on AOSP than desktop linux.
- All the existing apps are on Android and iOS. Graphene lets you run them. You can't have a bank account on a Linux phone* because they won't let you, but you can on Android including on Graphene.
* before replying snarkily that Android is Linux, please take a long walk off a short pier, thanks
by inigyou - Specific devices:
>At the time of writing, within ~12 months, in 2027, the 2027 Signature, Razr fold, and Razr flip will meet the hardware security requirements and should have official GrapheneOS support. Motorola is currently porting GrapheneOS to their devices.
by Cider9986 - I really hope this device doesnt have the razr brandingby AuthAuth
- What I hope is that a compact and high-end device will have Graphene support.by maelito