TL;DR - Google remove device trees from Android 16, which they had in the past. This means GrapheneOS and other custom Android ROMs must reverse engineer the device trees to work with their hardware. GrapheneOS is biting the bullet to make this happen despite this challenge, Hakeem from #TBOT donated $5,000.00 - Support their work to preserve mobile privacy: https://grapheneos.org/donate
There are very few ways to use a phone privately today. And Google is attempting to make that much harder for everyone.
The latest release of the Android Open Source Platform (AOSP), Android 16 was released June 10th, and with it came major changes to the development cycle for Android.
A recent change by Google threatens the “de-googled” ecosystem as a whole, signaling growing adversity to the quickly growing privacy phone community.
To give you some context, for years AOSP has been the foundation upon which manufacturers create their own versions of Android, like Samsung’s One UI or Huawei’s EMUI. Its also been the foundation for “de-googled” operating systems like GrapheneOS.
This year Google left out the device trees for the Android 16 release and have not released a repository with historical changes.
The latest Android 16 code is missing device trees and a git history.
How does AOSP development usually work? Google makes changes to the Linux kernel, adapting it for AOSP and release those change incrementally patch by patch.
This allowed custom ROM developers to follow along, and apply their own modifications, while leaving out things they didn’t want - getting to functional Android system.
Now Google is working behind closed doors, releasing the finished product - developers must reverse engineer changes.
The shift is also painful because Google has not release device trees, which it did in the past. These trees are very important to the entire process, they ensure that a working version of Android can be built specifically for a device and its components.
Google previously used its Pixel phones as the reference device, which GrapheneOS uses, but now they have reverted to using ‘cuttlefish’ a virtual device which works on computers - not actual hardware.
This is yet another thing custom ROM developers must build from scratch and reverse engineer to even get a bootable Android version.
Meanwhile the big-wigs at Samsung through their licensing agreements have gotten a head start, typically getting access to the AOSP source code months ahead of time.
But for community driven independent projects, these changes are a huge hurdle.
The GrapheneOS team heard rumors this might happen ahead of time, but without confirmation they weren’t sure. Now they are and they’re stepping up to the responsibility of the difficult work in order to get this Android release out.
How does it impact GOS users? GOS is confident in their ability to get this release out, although it will be delayed and will be able to support existing devices for the forseeable future.
However there will be delays for any new devices, or major AOSP releases.
Why is Google making these changes? They may be taking pre-emptive action preparing for the Google AntiTrust remedy decision (discussed in detail in #TBOT Show 1). If another company is taking over Android, they want to make it as hard as possible and begin saving money right away.
Meanwhile GOS is stepping up, despite losing a recent lead developer. They are hiring more, and also in talks with OEMs to build their own device that meets stringent security requirements.
This is a project that’s always earned my respect, and I believe is changing the world. I made a $5,000 donation to the project and I encourage you to as well. You can support them to, through credit card, cryptocurrency, or bank transfer at https://grapheneos.org/donate ‘
There are many things happening that signals Google’s and big tech’s adversity to custom ROM alternatives under the guise of ‘security’.
The future of a private and free Android rests on our shoudlers, we must support these alternatives so we have choices in the years to come.
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