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Cybersecurity

GrapheneOS says Pixel 11 phones missing key security feature, port impossible

GrapheneOS says it can't support Pixel 11 because Google dropped a key security feature, and advises against buying the phones.

AI News Feed · 2026-08-30 16:26

According to Android Authority, the developers said they worked on a partial port for the Pixel 11 for a week but cannot finish it. In their statement, they said the port was "unable to complete due to lack of support for ARM hardware memory tagging in software, firmware and near certainly hardware." They added that Google appeared to have dropped the security feature to save money.

Memory tagging extensions, or MTE, were introduced with the Pixel 8 series in 2023 and have been included in every Pixel phone since. The optional feature protects against memory-safety bugs, which Google reported in 2022 caused more than 60 percent of high-severity security vulnerabilities. MTE can slow performance and some applications do not support it, which is why it was an opt-in feature on previous Pixel phones. Users could also enable it through Android's Advanced Protection Mode.

The GrapheneOS team said it uses MTE across the entire base OS, temporarily disabling it only for selected device-specific processes. The custom ROM automatically applies it to the operating system and many apps, and also provides a per-app toggle for those that are incompatible.

The team said it has not decided on next steps but may skip the Pixel 11 series and shift focus entirely to upcoming Motorola devices. It said it "strongly recommends against buying Pixel 11 devices" because the Pixel 8, Pixel 9, and Pixel 10 offer better security for running GrapheneOS. The developers added that they hope the Pixel 11a might include MTE if it shares more in common with the Pixel 10 generation, although leaked Pixel 11a specs suggest it could use the Pixel 11's chipset.

The team acknowledged that the Pixel 11 series includes other security improvements, such as post-quantum secure verified boot, a switch from Samsung IMS to AOSP IMS, and the Titan M3 chip. But it said these are not enough to allow GrapheneOS to run on the Pixel 11. Android Authority has asked Google to confirm whether Pixel 11 phones support MTE and will update the story if the company responds.