Not too long ago, we got word from the folks over at GrapheneOS that the platform would be expanding its development for select Motorola flagship devices, thanks in part to a combination of built-in hardware and software features available on the device. As the platform was also famous for being readily-available for Pixel smartphones, it looks like GrapheneOS might in fact not be available for the Pixel 11, due to some changes implemented by Google.
More specifically, the team at GrapheneOS has now decided to officially halt bringing over the platform for Google’s new Pixel 11 phones, due to the new devices lacking support for ARM’s memory tagging extensions (MTE). According to am official announcement from the team, this critical security feature was cut from the hardware, firmware, and software, likely as a cost-saving measure by Google. As a result of this major security omission, the GrapheneOS team stated they may skip the Pixel 11 generation entirely and pivot their development focus to upcoming Motorola devices.
We have a partial port of GrapheneOS to the Pixel 11 series after a week of work on it. We’re unable to complete the port due to lack of support for ARM hardware memory tagging in software, firmware and near certainly hardware. It appears Google cut an important security feature to save money.
READ: GrapheneOS Expands to More Motorola Phones, Cites Better Hardware Support with Snapdragon
For those unfamiliar, MTE is designed to protect against memory-safety bugs on Pixel phones, and it has been an essential addition on Google hardware since it debuted on the Pixel 8 in 2023. While MTE can somewhat slow down device performance and cause compatibility issues with certain apps, it does remain a cornerstone of GrapheneOS’ security architecture.
With all that being said, if you want to run GrapheneOS on a Pixel smartphone, a safe bet would be to get anything from the Pixel 8 up to the Pixel 10 series devices.