Motorola Announces a Deal with Security-First Android Project GrapheneOS for "Future Devices"
Daniel Micay's alternative operating system, built atop the AOSP, may finally be branching out from Google's Pixel ecosystem.
Lenovo subsidiary Motorola has taken to the stage at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona today to announce a partnership with the GrapheneOS Foundation, in a move what will bring support to the security-focused Android fork to "future devices" from the company.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with Motorola to bring GrapheneOS's industry‑leading privacy and security‑focused mobile operating system to their next-generation smartphone," a GrapheneOS spokesperson says of the partnership. "This collaboration marks a significant milestone in expanding the reach of GrapheneOS, and we applaud Motorola for taking this meaningful step towards advancing mobile security."
GrapheneOS was founded in 2014 by then-solo developer Daniel Micay as an effort to create a more secure mobile platform built around the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) — the public, openly-licensed underpinnings of Google's popular Android mobile operating system. Today, it offers builds for Google Pixel phones ranging from the older Pixel 6, Pixel 6A, and Pixel 6 Pro to the Pixel 10, 10 Pro, 10 Pro XL, and 10 Pro Fold — and soon could extend that support beyond the Google Pixel family to future Motorola handsets.
Unveiled today at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the partnership doesn't necessarily mean that existing Motorola mobile devices will be receiving a GrapheneOS build. GrapheneOS itself positions the deal as focusing on an as-yet unannounced "next-generation smartphone," whereas Motorola says the joint effort will see the companies "work together to strengthen smartphone security and collaborate on future devices engineered with GrapheneOS compatibility."
More information on GrapheneOS, including how to install it on compatible Pixel devices, is available on the project website.