GrapheneOS makes "significant progress" on Pixel 10 support

The GrapheneOS team has provided a much-anticipated update on its efforts to support the new Pixel 10 series, revealing a mixed bag of progress and continued frustration. In a recent forum comment, the security-focused project stated it has made “significant progress” on implementing Pixel 10 support. However, a production-ready release for users remains blocked, pending Google’s delayed release of the Android 16 QPR1 source code.

This work has been done using an older, pre-release build available for the device. While this has allowed development to move forward, the team stressed that they “need Android 16 QPR1 to be pushed to AOSP before we can do it properly.” They remain confident that once the official code is available, finalizing support “won’t take long.”

This situation stems from a series of hurdles that began in late August. After receiving the Pixel 10 and confirming it supported their crucial security requirement of relocking the bootloader with a custom key, the GrapheneOS team’s plans for a rapid release were halted. They discovered that, unlike in previous years, Google had not pushed a specific device branch for the Pixel 10 to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), making the entire project dependent on the next major quarterly update.

The delay has been compounded by GrapheneOS’s sharp criticism of Google’s recent changes to its security update process. In early September, the team condemned the shift to a quarterly security patch cycle for OEMs, combined with a new four-month early access period for those patches. GrapheneOS labeled the extended embargo “atrocious” and “extraordinarily irresponsible,” arguing it provides a massive window for sophisticated attackers, who can often access the patches through leaks from the wide network of OEM partners, to develop exploits before the public receives a fix.

For now, GrapheneOS users eager for the Pixel 10 are in a holding pattern. While the underlying development work is well underway, the final release is entirely contingent on Google’s actions. This episode also highlights GrapheneOS’s long-term strategy to reduce its reliance on Google’s hardware, as the team continues its work with another “major OEM” to provide officially supported, non-Pixel devices in the future.