Good news: GrapheneOS phones made by Motorola due in 2027
Yesterday I read in the RSS feed from Linux Weekly News that Motorola put out an article a few days ago, announcing a partnership with GrapheneOS.
I did a bit more digging around in the GrapheneOS mastodon feed, and it sounds like it will be a subset (or all) of their Signature, Razr Fold, and Razr Flip models, and they will be coming next year, 2027:
This is pretty good news. I currently use a Pixel 9 flashed with GrapheneOS, because I don't want any Google applications or telemetry collection. However, having to pay Google for a handset in order to then "de-Google" it, seems somewhat contradictory; I'd rather not give them any money.
My first experiment with GrapheneOS was a used Pixel 6a, which I picked up cheap. I only used it to install some apps and see how it worked, as it was my first proper experience with Android; although I had used friends' Android phones, I'd never had one myself. Early last year I sold it to a friend, and picked up a base-spec Pixel 9.
I do plan to write a detailed piece about my reasons for having a GrapheneOS device as my phone – while still carrying an iPhone as my camera, photo library, and for banking apps – as well as its setup, and my experience of using Android.
But in the meantime, it's sufficient to say that the Pixel mostly functions only as my actual phone (with both of my SIM cards) and as a WiFi hotspot.
We've known for a while that GrapheneOS has been working with a large OEM, but until this week we didn't know which one. Come next year, it will be really nice to have a choice other than Google devices on which to run a de-Googled Android OS.
I know there are also arguments against, with Lenovo (Motorola's owner) being basically a Chinese company at this point, but most phones these days are built in China anyway. Either way, having a choice is better than having no choice.