Statement from GrapheneOS: GrapheneOS: "We have early builds of GrapheneOS based on Andro…" - GrapheneOS Mastodon
Statement from CalyxOS: Android 16 and Pixel Support
It sounds like Google is doing two things
- dumping the whole Android 16 code at once, making it very hard for developers to see what’s actually changed and where
- not publishing any code specific for Pixel devices; the code they publish can only run in a virtual machine
This means it will become much more difficult for custom ROMs to support Android 16 and to support future Pixel devices.
What do you guys think will happen? And what is the best option if custom ROMs like GrapheneOS die or stop supporting new phones - switch to normal Android or iOS? Get a Fairphone?
This was inevitable.
No lmao.
I’ve been daily driving an iPhone for exactly 6 months now (yes, before I ended DivestOS), and while it has a lot of issues, it is honestly largely fine for the most part.
I saw this news recently in an LTT news video and I wonder if this will present a hurdle for the GrapheneOS team
It seems portions of development of AOSP will go closed source?
That is old news and was just the first nail in the coffin.
The second nail was the other day when Google didn’t publish the Pixel repos for AOSP 16, and the few they did have squashed commit history.
- GrapheneOS: "Our speculation about this is that a result of Go…" - GrapheneOS Mastodon
- Android 16 and Pixel Support
see here:
both have an Android 15 tag: android-15.0.0_r36
but only fw/b has Android 16 tags: android-16.0.0_r1, android-16.0.0_r2
even the a16 factory images are already available and Google almost always publishes the sources at the same time they publish factory images: Factory Images for Nexus and Pixel Devices | Google Play services | Google for Developers
-
16.0.0 (BP2A.250605.031.A2, Jun 2025)
- this lines up with android-16.0.0_r1
kernel sources are now squashed:
- a15 with commit history: Log - 5a8eb10d6878d2394555c14626cdf86293afbe56 - kernel/google-modules/gpu - Git at Google
- a16 with no commit history: Log - 696fc0246c17ba4270c11f88ab742ad4040938de - kernel/google-modules/gpu - Git at Google
What does this ultimately mean? The GOS team are on their own?
Are alt OS really eating up Google’s profits somehow?
Projects will have to piece together all the non vendor/firmware device specific parts themself and it will be quite time consuming.
Both GrapheneOS and CalyxOS have largely finished their ports to A16, just can’t really boot them on any of the Pixels until they do that work.
Unlikely, but Google doesn’t want Pixel’s be included in the forced split after the coming antitrust rulings. They’re trying to make them clearly distinct products.
It seems to me an impossible task to reverse engineering all the drivers and keep up with every update.
I wonder if this is the beginning of the end of GrapheneOS 
GOS has said that it will be harder now rather than they will stop, which is still not any good news and Graphene isn’t alone, Calyx, Lineage etc. are suffering from this too.
GrapheneOS has said that AOSP will likely need to be forked by a “consortium of organisations” @grapheneos.org on Bluesky. They also said they will need to re-implement the USB protection feature.
They even are considering making their own devices, which would cost millions.
This is very worrying.
What’s your opinion on the Librem phone? I’d imagine it’s way less secure than GOS.
big no.
The founders/owners act like scammers.
I have followed them previously and was hopeful for Linux on phones but all they did was tarnish the idea of a Linux phone to the general public.
It’s not impossible. It’s what LineageOS has been doing for years for non-Pixels.
I really hate the iPhone and Apple but out of spite, I will pick them over Android in the future all the while maybe buying something like a PinePhone (not the pro, because somehow the battery is bad on those). The OG is much more daily driver friendly, albeit weak… like multiple generations behind weak.
Kinda the same. If I get another Pixel it’ll definitely be second hand. The “secure & private phone” market share is small but at least Google cornered it without really needing to try. Now there will be many people who won’t have a use for Pixels anymore. I’m really hoping this works out.
Supposedly all this is because Google is trying to separate the Pixel from Android in case of a antitrust breakup by the DOJ.
The idea of a nonprofit consortium developing Android sounds great…but the short-term consequences from such transition will be difficult for ROM developers.
Nothing that is said is really practical unless concretely done.
“Needs to be forked” → Ok, who will concretely do it?
“Making their own device” → If they don´t have the funds now as an active project, I really doubt they will have them in the future. Plus, they attempted this in the past and didn´t work out.
Very difficult situation for them and us the users.
Boy, as someone who will be in the market for a new phone next year this is quite concerning. I’ll be watching how this shakes out and I appreciate everyone’s thoughts on what the least-bad option may be if GOS gets severely hampered.
GrapheneOS is a relatively small community because not everyone is obsessed with security, or they don’t want to use a Pixel, or they don’t care for the drama surrounding the project. But a consortium which seeks to develop a functional and open Android soft-fork would have much broader appeal outside just GrapheneOS, it would receive support from nearly all FOSS enthusiasts, privacy enthusiasts, and some right to repair people.
If formed, it’d have a realistic shot at providing what the “Linux phones” have failed to provide in a usable and secure product. It wouldn’t be easy but I wouldn’t dismiss the idea just because GrapheneOS in particular isn’t drowning in money.