Wanting clarification of a couple of things

Dumdum

https://grapheneos.org/releases#2025063000

DeletedUser443

Dumdum thank you for the link. So where someone says it's already stable release on Android 16 on pixel 9 pro (and i believe it is) but then in the link you placed, it has "Please join our testing chat room if you're interesting in testing this experimental release"

So is it stable or experimental or have i misread things? I have read so many numbers, it's more than likely my brain processing error lol

Or does it mean there a stable release and also an experimental release too?

other8026

DeletedUser443 I do need a little clarification though. I almost bought a pixel 9 pro or 9 pro xl for grapheneos but then I read some information saying that due to certain reasons, it will be difficult for grapheneos to release on these (this may be my misunderstanding too). And that they will not work with Android 16.

Outside of our community, there has been a lot of misinformation about what's going on. Upstream changes have made certain things harder, that's it. Full support for the already supported devices will continue until the dates found on the website. Future devices will be supported if they meet the project's requirements.

DeletedUser443 a pixel 9 pro or 9 pro xl for grapheneos

Good choice. I really like my 9th generation device. I bought it the day it was released and I've had no complaints so far.

Stephan-P

Look here for users' reactions on yesterday's GOS release (= Android 16) for e.g. the P9 series: https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/24541-grapheneos-version-2025073000-released/3

de0u

DeletedUser443 I almost bought a pixel 9 pro or 9 pro xl for grapheneos but then I read some information saying that due to certain reasons, it will be difficult for grapheneos to release on these (this may be my misunderstanding too).

Because it can be difficult to respond to vague claims of unknown problems, instead of writing "I read some information", it is better to cite some information -- for example, by providing a link.

DeletedUser443

That all made sense thank you to all contributors

I will be proceeding with the original idea

Out of pure curiosity, would there be any benefit to ever go a slightly older version hardware like a pixel 8 pro rather than a newer version since the software has been out longer?

Watermelon

DeletedUser443 Releases are not exactly experimental, rather everyone (in the Stable (default) update channel, Beta update channel, and Alpha update channel) receives the exact same OTA update package regardless of channel, but the OTA update is moved gradually, first it reaches the Alpha channel, then Beta, and then Stable, unless the GrapheneOS team decides to pause this process due to discovered issues. With major new versions of Android, they've sometimes released versions they know have some known issues or they've forcibly enabled the reporting of system crashes (this is normally a user-controlled toggle, I believe the toggle stays when they forcibly enable it but its state is simply ignored) because they want to collect feedback — so they know in advance that they won't move the release/version into the Stable channel without making a new version in the near future to fix the known issues and stop forcibly enabling reporting of system crashes.

2025063000 was their first public release based on Android 16. It wasn't moved to Stable. (They also added the "with all GrapheneOS features available" bit because shortly before Android 16 was released they've said they're gonna need to drop GrapheneOS-specific improvements in order to quickly move to being based on Android 16 to have the latest security patches, but it turned out to not be needed because they could backport the patches to the Android 15 QPR2 releases.) The 2025070800 release was the first one to be moved to the Stable channel, for all devices, including the Pixel 9 series. (The Pixel 9a device specifically received the 2025070800 release somewhat earlier, the GrapheneOS team said here on the forum that Pixel 9a had a "Frankenstein" GrapheneOS until Android 16 (excluding Android 16) so it had a lower quality barrier and they felt comfortable pushing it to them earlier than for the other devices.)

DeletedUser443 Out of pure curiosity, would there be any benefit to ever go a slightly older version hardware like a pixel 8 pro rather than a newer version since the software has been out longer?

The Pixel 9 series is already old enough, the Pixel 10 series should be released in a week or a few from now.

de0u

DeletedUser443 The GrapheneOS project is expected to issue many releases based on Android 16 over the next year. Each such release will start off being experimental and almost all of them will end up being stable.

"Android 16" is not a thing; it's a series of things, just as "Windows 11" is a series of things.

Watermelon

Watermelon the GrapheneOS team said here on the forum that Pixel 9a had a "Frankenstein" GrapheneOS

To be clear:

This wasn't GrapheneOS's fault, it was Google's fault and was the same in the Pixel 9a stock OS, and the GrapheneOS team simply matched what Google was doing to have an identical software experience.
The "Frankenstein" GrapheneOS was a separate codebase from the main GrapheneOS releases. The changelog on the GrapheneOS releases page on the website lists the versions/changes in the main releases. Devices that have their own separate branch of weird versions of GrapheneOS don't link from the devices section to the changelog section (the release numbers are normal text, not clickable links leading to the entry in the changelog section). So not only Pixel 9a doesn't have a "Frankenstein" version of GrapheneOS anymore, you can also see yourself that it uses the main version of GrapheneOS now. The EOL devices (everything older than Pixel 6) use their own separate unsupported GrapheneOS versions based on older versions of Android. They're not just running an outdated version of GrapheneOS, it's a separate codebase of GrapheneOS only for these devices, as can be seen by the release numbers not linking to the changelog section.

DeletedUser443

Watermelon thank you that was a incredibly informative in depth reply and I appreciate all the info! All taken on board

Appreciate everyone's input

I'm only upset that I missed the over 50% off the pro 9 XL here by 1 day LOL! Now they have 25% off the 9 pro but it's not 50% :(. I'm trying to work out the likelihood of the 9 pro going on further sale due to the 10 bring released or if I don't buy now, it might just go back up to full retail. Either way I have to do something. Decisions decisions lol

Remembering that I come from a different system so learning here
I like to do things once properly so while on that note of hardware, what's the advantage of say a pixel 10 over a pixel 9 for example with regards to OS. They would use similar or same OS?

Is it only features of the new phone that are the main advantages or is there "serious" benefits in hardware to get the new. Also, would there be any advantages of not getting the brand new model and waiting for a certain amount of OS testing to be done by people

Just enjoy learning things so appreciate the info

Watermelon

DeletedUser443 They would use similar or same OS?

All the Pixel 6 thru 9 series are built from the same GrapheneOS codebase. You can see in the releases page on the website: in the devices section, you can see the versions listed for these devices are clickable links leading to the matching changelog entry below. The links being clickable and leading to the changelog means that these devices are using the main GrapheneOS codebase.

To compare, the legacy devices (the unsupported Pixel 4 thru 5 series) don't have clickable version links — this is because they're not just running an outdated version of GrapheneOS, but they have separate outdated codebases of GrapheneOS with their own separate releases and features.

DeletedUser443 Also, would there be any advantages of not getting the brand new model and waiting for a certain amount of OS testing to be done by people

I recommend you to only buy models that are listed here:
https://grapheneos.org/faq#recommended-devices
If it's not listed here, then don't buy it. You can also follow https://grapheneos.social/@GrapheneOS and see what they say when Pixel 10 would be released. Maybe they'll make an announcement in the forum too.

DeletedUser443

P.s. I mention the buying a 9 pro vs 10 pro as if there is little to no difference in price between the 2 then it would make sense to get the newest hardware, however, if it means the OS for the 9 is potentially more stable since its been out longer, then I'd be better with the 9 etc. That's if I've understood everything lol

Probably9857

DeletedUser443 if it means the OS for the 9 is potentially more stable since its been out longer

I wouldn't worry about the OS. The GrapheneOS team would likely address any major software issues rather quickly.

In theory, hardware issues could be a different story. But based on the historical track record for Pixels, I don't see this as being any reason to avoid the newest devices.

The obvious benefit to a newer device, other than potentially better hardware components, is an extra year of support.

Psyonico

Since the pixel 10 hasn't even been announced yet we don't know anything about if it will be worth upgrading vs a p9.

We're also operating on the (admittedly fairly safe) assumption that the P10 will meet GrapheneOS' hardware requirements.

DeletedUser443

Watermelon and I'll definitely only be buying device listed on that link. Saved thanks

DeletedUser443

Awesome info! Appreciated

I was thinking yesterday when I read a few things, i noticed the hardware like the chipsetin pixels had been mentioned a few times

Now, if it has to be a super long explanation, don't bother unless you feel bored LOL as it's not that important to me but is there a short sentence anyone can say that can explain why the pixel hardware is more secure to begin with?

I understand it's prefect for an upgrade to grapheneos but when they specifically mention the G4 chip being hardened and secure, why is that so?

If no one wants to answer, that's ok. It's not that important LOL :)

de0u

DeletedUser443 Now, if it has to be a super long explanation, don't bother unless you feel bored LOL as it's not that important to me but is there a short sentence anyone can say that can explain why the pixel hardware is more secure to begin with?

I can provide a short link to a long explanation: https://grapheneos.org/faq#future-devices

The reason why the explanation is long is because security is hard, so getting it right requires many things.

I guess it's also possible to summarize as: Pixel hardware is more secure because Google has spent a lot of time, effort, and money on making it more secure in multiple ways, and also (so far!!) has made 100% of the hardware security features available to open-source operating systems via an unlockable bootloader that does verified boot from a third-party trust root. There are other platforms with strong hardware security (e.g., Apple, Samsung) but they're (so far) closed.

DeletedUser443

de0u so much info in there. Great stuff. Appreciated! Appreciate the brief summary too