Once upon a time, we proclaimed the first-generation Google Pixel to be “a really nice phone.” The Pixel 7 and 7 Pro are now among the top Android smartphones available, and they both run the most recent version of Android. However, users have been able to try their hand at installing a certified version of Android 13 by sideloading Google’s generic system image onto their devices, even though this will never happen officially for the Pixel and Pixel XL. Drive partitioning made feasible by Project Treble has made this previously impossible task possible, and it has recently been completed.

Twitter user Husson Pierre-Hugues is rejoicing since the October 2022 security patch-based Android 13 GSI is now functional on his Pixel. And he accomplished all this in a little four hours.

He had access to all of the phone’s features save for data, including voice calls, Wi-Fi, GPS, cameras, a fingerprint reader, and the accelerometer (useful in an earthquake).

Pierre-Hugues is well-respected among Android developers for his skill in making GSIs that are compatible with several OS versions and a wide variety of hardware platforms.

Getting a GSI to operate on devices that nobody would have guessed to run such a recent version of Android requires a lot more work than you may think. To learn more about how they function and Pierre-work, Hugues’s we advise reading one of Esper Technical Editor Mishaal Rahman’s Android Dessert Bites blog pieces.