GrapheneOS Releases QPR1 Update

GrapheneOS users have received the long-awaited Android 16 QPR1 update to GrapheneOS.

The update brings with it the Material 3 Expressive UI design overhaul with the new Motion physics system, as well as desktop mode, so you can use your phone as a desktop computer.

The update was originally launched for Pixels in September but it was only released into the open source Android Open Source Project (AOSP) 2 months later.

The long wait for Google to release the source code is the reason why AOSP-based projects like GrapheneOS that rely on Google’s open source code haven’t been able to release the update until now.

With desktop mode, you could theoretically replace your less secure desktop computer with your GrapheneOS phone, giving you a highly secure option for tasks like doing your taxes that require you to process highly sensitive data.

As phones continue to get more and more powerful, we might start seeing more and more tasks we used to need a desktop for done on our phones instead.