The Pixel 11 may be the first Pixel phone since GrapheneOS became a thing that won’t support the device, as GrapheneOS developers initially believed that Google’s latest phones didn’t support an important security protocol. However, as it turns out, that isn’t actually the case. For those unfamiliar, GrapheneOS has been around for years and has been available exclusively for Pixel devices.
Earlier this year, the organization announced that it would be partnering officially with Motorola to support one of its upcoming phones, though it would be “skipping the budget tier” at first in favor of Motorola’s other devices. GrapheneOS also says that Qualcomm was a big part of making this a reality. When it comes to Pixel devices, the alternative operating system is available as far back as the Pixel 6 series and all the way up to the Pixel 10 series.
GrapheneOS would have skipped the Pixel 11 series due to a lack of MTE support
The reason GrapheheOS wasn’t going to be available for Google’s new phones is because initially, the organization believed that there was no support on these devices for MTE (Memory Tagging Extensions). This is reportedly an important security feature that’s been around on Pixel devices since 2023. The Pixel 11 appeared to have abandoned it.
However, it’s now being reported that it seems Google may have just disabled MTE, while the capability for the hardware to use it has remained. GrapheneOS is now said to be reevaluating a Pixel 11 release. This is not a guarantee that the OS will be available for the Pixel 11, though. The organization confirms that it is experimenting with how to activate the MTE capabilities on the Pixel 11 series devices, but it also confirms that it will still need to ensure performance meets requirements, and that the hardware is validated.
The post The Pixel 11 series might actually end up with GrapheneOS support appeared first on Android Headlines.
