Motorola joins forces with GrapheneOS to boost smartphone security

Smartphone manufacturer Motorola has announced a partnership with GrapheneOS Foundation, touting it as “a new chapter in smartphone security.” The non-profit explains that the Lenovo-owned company is working on “a subset of their next generation” devices to meet GrapheneOS requirements.

GrapheneOS is an Android-based mobile operating system (OS) focused on security and privacy. Currently, it is exclusively available for Google Pixel devices, but that might soon change.

Motorola said that a new long-term partnership with the GrapheneOS Foundation will “bring cutting-edge security to everyday users across the globe.”

“Motorola is introducing a new era of smartphone security,” the press release reads.

It further explains that both teams will work to strengthen smartphone security and collaborate on future devices engineered with GrapheneOS compatibility.

Motorola expects the collaboration to advance a new generation of privacy and security technologies.

“In the coming months, Motorola and the GrapheneOS Foundation will continue to collaborate on joint research, software enhancements, and new security capabilities, with more details and solutions to roll out as the partnership evolves,” the company said.

GrapheneOS explains that it will support devices that meet all its official hardware requirements, including long-term updates and hardware-based security features.

“Motorola is actively working on their next-gen devices meeting our requirements,” the foundation tweeted on X.

“It’s a subset of their next-generation devices, which will be supported anyway, not the ones launching in 2026.”

The team further detailed that Motorola Signature (2026) and Motorola Razr Fold (2026) do not completely meet its requirements. While they provide 7 years of updates, they don’t yet have hardware memory tagging technology.

GrapheneOS lists the official hardware requirements for future devices on its website and plans to support only devices that meet all of them. The devices are required to have hardened hardware, 5-7 years of guaranteed security updates for software and internal hardware parts, advanced, silicon-level privacy controls, and user control.

The foundation explains that hardware, firmware, and device-specific software, such as drivers, play a significant role in a device's overall security.

“We currently have our hands full and aren't capable of working with another OEM right now. Our partnership with Motorola isn't exclusive, but there’s a whole lot of work to do, and supporting more devices is not easy while meeting our production quality and security expectations,” GrapheneOS said.

The foundation assures that it remains independent: “An entirely separate thing, but we’ll have some level of help from them for development.”

Unlock more exclusive Cybernews content on YouTube.