I love graphene, but I hope they're planning to also roll out some very strong stock software - or else this will make for a very rough first impression on a large audience of normies and hurt graphene's long run chance of success. The camera, gallery, and app store in particular will not come up to many users' standards.
this post was submitted on 25 Aug 2026
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My impression from the article is that the Motorola phones ship with default Android, but flashing to GrapheneOS is officially supported. So it would only be people who would be flashing GrapheneOS anyway.
Yeah by "switch to" they probably do mean flash. I could have sworn they had plans to ship Graphene phones but maybe that's a later phase.
I could have sworn they had plans to ship Graphene phones
They do. They say it in their roadmap:
Hardware and firmware security are core parts of the project, but it's currently limited to research and submitting suggestions and bug reports upstream. In the long term, the project will need to move into the hardware space.
Would you trust a pre-flashed phone though?
I guess with GOS they have integrity checkers.
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There are some third party vendors online that ship pre-flashed GrapheneOS phones iirc, but I don't believe there has ever been on with it factory installed.
I would never trust a pre flashed Graphene phone. Always flash yourself for security.
I agree, you should always flash it yourself. Though GrapheneOS does have the Auditor app to attest the integrity of the operating system against another GrapheneOS device. It's always going to be best practice to do it yourself, however.
There are some really talented people working on the camera systems for Apple and Google etc. what I don’t get is surely there are some equally talented engineers (in image processing) who love open source so why aren’t they working on an open source camera platform?
It seems an itch that’s not getting scratched.
idk if this is the case here but on a firmware level, interfacing with these camera chips almost always requires an NDA that they'll only sign with very large minimum orders
This is also why open source wearables can't have the best PPG heart rate/SPO2 tracking.
There are only about 4 PPG analog front ends still in production that don't require an NDA and the Max86141 is the only one worth anything it seems.
You can't do analog front ends with any small FPGAs that I know of and it is simply to large to do it (well, at least) on a small wearable with discrete components.
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They need to support it on the Moto G phones so people can actually afford them.
iirc, as of right now, its only the expensive processors that meet the security standards GrapheneOS has. Therefore only being available in the future high-end Motorola phones.
Yup its exactly this. And with supply shortages, itll take a while to filter down in price unfortunately.
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Exactly. Graphene is not for the poors, still. Even used phones that can run it can be pricey.
What are the odds that it filters down?
I'll pick up a cheap android and put Lineage on it before I buy another flagship phone.
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I'm still looking for a solution after https://keepandroidopen.org/
About 50% of my apps are from F-Droid (the others are specific local apps and especially bank apps, which is difficult ...)
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I'll believe it when the roms hit xda.
Excited, sure, just hesitant. No buy until it's truth.
Please Moto, make a not gigantic 6in slab of a phone. Please make one ~5in with good specs.
I don't care that much about size. Not nearly as much as the "flagship" designation bullshit. How about we don't have to pay 5x as much, because it's a flagship and still let us have Graphene?
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Yep. Sick of giant phones. Crazy hard to find a small phone with decent specs.
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whistles
They make a $2,600 smartphone?
I'd bet that about half the price is just the RAM soldered onto the thing
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personally i think Moto G Power is gonna be a beast with GOS
Dual sim slots sd card headphone jack insane battery
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Okay good, they clarified that they won’t ship with it. I’ve seen people saying they will but I never read anything from Graphene or Moto stating that.
Wouldn't it be better if it DID? Wouldn't that get around all the "tamper" detection stuff?
Right now I have Google Play disabled in my owner profile, but it would be nice if apps in secondary profiles could pass the full Play Integrity checks... even though I'm actively trying to transition away from them.
For example Cisco DUO says my device with GrapheneOS installed has been tampered with, and I was hoping that would go away if I could just buy the phone with GrapheneOS installed.
In the long term, yes it would be better if it shipped.
However, if someone went to a phone store with a stock graphene on display and anything else next to it, which one do you think they'll choose?
Until Graphene's stock experience (i.e stock apps and launcher) mature enough to not look out of place next to google and apple, the average Joe will pick the more polished phone. I hope improving that is a task Motorola will be able to help with, while graphene keeps doing their thing.
Additionally with the app/play store dualopoly, Motorola would be shooting them selves in the foot if they didn't ship with the play store.
Getting an option beside a pixel for Grapheneos is pretty cool and a big step forward. I hope new demand will be high enough to show the decision makers that its an endeavor worth continuing.
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It wouldn't go away. It will only go away if Google signs grapheneos images. Grapheneos on all supported devices support the required attestation already. It is just Google pettiness.
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Man, I would be all over the is of it was on lower end models so I can run graphene as my sketchy international travel phone. But I don't really want to pay flagship prices for that. And I still believe in having a curated primary digital fingerprint.
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I just got a pixel 9 refurbished for 350CAD and, a part from the irony of needing a phone made by google to have a degoogled phone, Graphene is a great OS. It just does what any basic phone os should do, and that's make it gold in the current dystopia.
I 100% understand and support why the moved away from google.
And Motorola was a good choice. But they really should have supported some budget phones.
A pixel series a could easily be found for under 500€ new. These flagship motorola phones are all way over 1000€.
And the developer clearly said they had currently no intention to support cheaper motorola phones. Among other things because Motorola won't offer 7 year updates for anything but these flagships.
So, I get it. But let's face it that people on a budget will keep using pixels for GOS while they are maintained.
The 2027 models will likely be flagship only however Graphene has tweeted that they plan to support cheaper Motorola phones in the future.
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What will US do if lenevo is Chinese and owns Motorola and now the US doesn't have backdoors like they do on Apple and Google devices.
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Sign me up for a graphene razr ultra please and thank you. Dont have any issue with self install if it doesnt ship that way
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