Following the launch of the Pixel Drop in September, Google released the stable Android 17 QPR1 update, which brought many new features and changes to supported Pixel smartphones. However, representatives of the GrapheneOS project accused Google of restricting Android device manufacturers and developers based on AOSP projects from accessing certain new features and security updates.
Image source: grapheneos.org
GrapheneOS Developer noticed Google’s approach to using Android APIs has undergone an unusual change. With the release of Android 17 QPR1, new APIs are available for developers not included in the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) for the first time since the 3.x Honeycomb version – the document does reflect the API differences between Android 17 version 1 and Android 17 QPR1. Previously, Google also provided GSI (generic system image) versions of QPR1 to developers, emphasizing that they were created based on the same AOSP and GMS source code as their Pixel counterparts.
However, the situation is different for those projects that produce their own Android-based operating systems. “We ported the code to Android 17 QPR1 before the release on September 15, but still do not have release permissions.”GrapheneOS said. The project is currently backporting Pixel firmware, kernel and userspace drivers, and hardware abstraction (HAL) from QPR1 to Android 17 version 1.
Differences between the September security update announcements for Android and Pixel itself were noted – the Google device received fixes for a number of other vulnerabilities. GrapheneOS claims that some of these affect standard Android components used on other devices, but they are not included in the initial patch bundles from other Android device manufacturers – they will only receive these fixes when Android 17 QPR2 is released in December, according to the project.
The question arises: Will early access to new Android features, bug fixes, and security patches give Pixel smartphones an advantage over devices from other manufacturers? Third-party platform developers have found it more difficult to support Pixels than other devices; although they have also proven useful to GrapheneOS projects due to their capabilities in the areas of updates and security.
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