GrapheneOS to Support Motorola Foldables from 2027
- GrapheneOS plans to officially support Motorola flagship and foldable devices from 2027, pending security improvements in next-generation Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chips.
- The Razr Ultra, if supported, would become the first flip phone to run GrapheneOS officially; current Motorola handsets fall short of the project's hardware memory tagging and
- Motorola is described as handling a large share of the porting work itself, a departure from the Pixel-centric model, while cheaper devices remain a long-term possibility subject
GrapheneOS, the open-source Android variant built around security and privacy, has set out a detailed roadmap for official Motorola support, with flagship handsets expected to arrive first and foldable devices — including a Razr flip phone — to follow, all contingent on forthcoming Qualcomm hardware improvements.
Foldables in the frame, but not yet
In a Mastodon thread, the GrapheneOS Foundation confirmed it will initially back a Motorola slab flagship before extending coverage to both the Razr Fold and the Razr Ultra. If realised, the Razr Ultra would become the first flip-form-factor device to officially run GrapheneOS. More affordable Motorola models are described as a longer-term aspiration, though their inclusion depends on Qualcomm delivering improved security features in its cheaper chipsets and on Motorola committing to seven years of software support — a bar the current Moto G Stylus, priced at $499.99, falls well short of, having been promised only two major OS upgrades and three years of security patches.
Why 2027, and why Motorola
This year's Motorola Signature and Razr handsets are described by the organisation as "very close to meeting our requirements," but are said to lack mature support for hardware memory tagging and secure element integration. GrapheneOS expects the next generation of Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chips to resolve those gaps, which is why it is targeting Motorola's 2027 device lineup for initial rollout. Earlier this month the Foundation had already signalled that the first supported Motorola phones would be "higher end hardware than Pixels at a higher price."
The collaboration was first announced in March, when the two organisations said they would "work to strengthen smartphone security." Until now, GrapheneOS has confined its official support to Google's Pixel range. That support remains ongoing — the Foundation confirmed it intends to add the Pixel 11 series — though it cautioned that recent changes to the Android Open Source Project have made Pixel devices "harder to properly support than many other devices." By contrast, it noted that Motorola is "doing a large portion of the work of porting GrapheneOS to their devices," a significant shift in how the project's hardware partnerships are structured. For those interested in how privacy considerations are reshaping smartphone design more broadly, the case for a guest lock on smartphones explores related themes. Separately, for a hardware comparison of the foldable landscape GrapheneOS is now entering, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold versus Galaxy Z Fold 8 provides useful context.
A platform expanding beyond Pixels
The announcement marks the most significant expansion of GrapheneOS hardware support since the project's inception. Whether the roadmap holds will depend heavily on Qualcomm's next chip generation delivering the security architecture the Foundation requires — an outcome that remains unconfirmed at this stage.
