GrapheneOS Fails on Pixel 11 Phones Due to Missing Security Feature

The GrapheneOS team has announced that they are unable to complete their custom ROM for Google Pixel 11 phones due to a missing security feature. The team cited the lack of support for ARM hardware memory tagging in software, firmware, and likely hardware as the reason for this decision.

The security feature, known as MTE (memory tagging extensions), protects against memory-safety bugs, which can compromise device security. However, Google cut this feature to save costs, and it was an opt-in feature on older Pixel phones.

The GrapheneOS team used MTE across the entire base OS and temporarily disabled it for select processes. They suggest that users shouldn't hold their breath for GrapheneOS to come to the Pixel 11 series down the line and may instead shift focus to Motorola devices.