Google Pixel 8, Pixel 8 Pro to reportedly boast anti-hacking functions

Google is reportedly on the verge of unveiling the much-awaited Pixel 7 series successors, the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. While nothing is set in stone yet, the Pixel 8 series rumour mill is in full swing. The American tech giant is expected to put these speculations to rest in the coming days.

In the meantime, a shred of vital information regarding the Pixel 8 lineup has surfaced online. The upcoming Pixel 8 series is expected to comprise a standard Pixel 8 and a Pixel 8 Pro smartphone. Now, XDA's Mishaal Rahman recently discovered a security feature called Advanced Memory Protection.

This feature will be reportedly available in the next Android build. Apparently, this security feature protects smartphones from memory safety bugs. Google refers to these bugs are "errors in handling memory in native programming languages." Moreover, the search engine giant revealed they are "common issue in the Android codebases."

In fact, these bugs account for more than a whopping 60 per cent of high-severity security vulnerabilities. They are also responsible for most user-visible crashes. Moreover, these bugs make Android devices unstable and cause software crashes. Those running Android 14 Beta, Android 14 Developer Preview, or the Android 14 stable version can go to Settings, Security & privacy, More security settings, and toggle on Memory tagging.

Notably, MTE (Memory Tagging Extension) alludes to a mandatory hardware feature on ARM V9 CPU cores. This prevents phones from being subject to memory violations. So, it is safe to say that MTE protects your phone from memory safety bugs. Regrettably, this feature doesn't work on the Pixel 7 series duo since the handsets have ARM's V8.2 CPU cores.

Interestingly, the Pixel 8 series will comprise the first smartphones to get this Android 14 memory protection. However, it is worth mentioning here that the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro smartphones aren't likely to go official until the final quarter of 2023.

In other words, the Tensor 3 chip will use ARM V9 CPU cores just like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipsets. However, there's also a possibility that the American tech giant will get rid of the feature before rolling out the Android 14 stable version.

The word on the street is that Google is prepping to launch the mid-range Pixel 7a, a Pixel tablet, the Pixel Fold, as well as Pixel 8 series before 2023 comes to an end. In fact, the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro could be the only smartphones to launch with the Tensor 3 SoC this year.