Motorola partners with GrapheneOS for future phones • The Register

GrapheneOS is headed to Motorola smartphones in 2027, pending hardware from the Lenovo-owned brand that satisfies the privacy-focused Android fork’s requirements.

Motorola unveiled the partnership at the Mobile World Congress on March 2, claiming it would “bring cutting-edge security to everyday users across the globe.”

GrapheneOS currently has production support for devices including the Google Pixel 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. Motorola’s future flagship devices are expected to join the list. “It will initially be flagships similar to the current generation Motorola Signature, Motorola razr fold and Motorola razr ultra since those will be the 2027 devices meeting our requirements including the expected updates and hardware memory tagging but it can expand over time,” GrapheneOS posted on X (formerly Twitter).

GrapheneOS also noted that, in addition to upcoming smartphones running the operating system, Motorola will “integrate some GrapheneOS features/concepts into their regular OS too but that’s a separate thing from GrapheneOS.”

GrapheneOS is a privacy and security-focused mobile operating system compatible with Android apps. “It’s focused on the research and development of privacy and security technology including substantial improvements to sandboxing, exploit mitigations and the permission model,” the organization says.

According to Motorola, the plan is for the two companies to “work to strengthen smartphone security and collaborate on future devices engineered with GrapheneOS compatibility.”

Motorola’s phone division, Motorola Mobility, was snapped up by Google for $12.5 billion, and the company’s handset business was later sold to Lenovo in 2014 for $2.91 billion. The company’s current lineup of smartphones, while impressive, does not meet GrapheneOS’s hardware requirements. According to the OS project, “Motorola is actively working on their next gen devices meeting our requirements.”

Readers might be forgiven for feeling a sense of déjà vu. Just over a decade ago, smartphone maker OnePlus parted ways with the team behind Android-based CyanogenMod, which ran on its devices. CyanogenMod was later forked, and its successor was named LineageOS.

Now here we are with GrapheneOS coming soon to a Motorola handset near you. The circumstances of the partnership are very different this time around, but the relationship will still be watched closely. ®