Google blocks hack that permit Pixel customers allow VoLTE anyplace

Pixel telephones are beloved for his or her many distinctive software program options, however their restricted availability prevents many individuals from shopping for them. Whereas Google has made strides in increasing entry, Pixels nonetheless aren’t bought in practically as many nations as iPhones or Samsung Galaxy units. This leads many followers to import Pixel telephones from different markets, a transfer that may sadly break essential calling options like VoLTE and VoWiFi.

VoLTE (Voice over LTE) is the characteristic that routes voice calls over a 4G LTE connection, a vital perform now that carriers worldwide are phasing out their 2G and 3G networks. With out it, you won’t be capable of make cellphone calls in any respect on many trendy networks. Equally, VoWiFi (Voice over WiFi) handles Wi-Fi calling, routing calls over a Wi-Fi community as an alternative of mobile — a helpful characteristic once you’re in a constructing with poor sign.

In idea, any cellphone with the precise {hardware} for a service’s mobile frequencies ought to be capable of use VoLTE, and any succesful cellphone with a supporting plan ought to get VoWiFi. The truth, nevertheless, is extra complicated. Many carriers solely allow VoLTE and VoWiFi on units they promote or have formally examined. Which means even when your imported Pixel has the mandatory {hardware}, the service can nonetheless block these options, probably stopping you from making voice calls completely.

This subject plagued Pixel cellphone importers till Korean developer Kyujin Cho launched a workaround in 2023. The developer’s app, “Pixel IMS,” allows VoLTE and VoWiFi on unsupported carriers by overriding the service verify that Android usually performs. Usually, Android makes use of a sign from the service to resolve whether or not to allow VoLTE for the system; the Pixel IMS app overrides this sign and forces it to at all times be enabled.

Overriding this verify isn’t one thing simply any app can do, because it’s a part of Android’s privileged telephony framework. That’s why Pixel IMS cleverly leverages a loophole meant for testing functions. Android permits the “shell” consumer — the identical consumer that runs ADB instructions — to override service configurations. To achieve these elevated privileges, Pixel IMS makes use of Shizuku, an open supply Android app that lets different apps run processes because the shell consumer.

However loopholes don’t final ceaselessly, and after greater than two and a half years, Google has seemingly closed this one. Following the latest October 2025 Pixel replace, many customers found the “Pixel IMS” app was not useful, crashing when making an attempt to toggle VoLTE or VoWiFi. The crash log provides a transparent motive: “overrideConfig can’t be invoked by shell.”

Whereas not documented within the official changelog, Google seems to have quietly patched this explicit exploit. In response to a supply, the corporate has designated this loophole as CVE-2025-48617, a high-severity privilege escalation vulnerability. Its absence from the October 2025 Android Safety Bulletin is probably going as a result of it didn’t meet the “excessive danger” threshold for rapid inclusion below Google’s new Danger-Based mostly Replace System (RBUS). Google will in all probability embrace it within the subsequent quarterly safety bulletin, scheduled for December.

Thankfully for Pixel customers, one other developer has allegedly discovered a brand new workaround. Whereas the brand new methodology isn’t as accessible — with the directions being in Chinese language and the APK distributed on the developer’s Telegram channel — it a minimum of appears to work.

Sadly, the brand new methodology solely allows VoLTE and never VoWiFi, so Pixel customers in unsupported areas who want the latter characteristic must root their telephones for now. Rooting requires unlocking the bootloader, which breaks some Gemini-powered options and complicates utilizing Google Pockets. The one different various is to attend for Google to formally allow VoLTE in additional markets — one thing the corporate just lately signaled it’s engaged on.