Yo yo!
I have very little technical knowledge so please excuse any senseless mistakes.
I want a phone that I can use that is private and secure for the next couple of years. I understand that new android phones will be made differently so I can’t side load (whatever that means, I just know it is important). I have an iPhone 12 rn but I’d rather leave the iOS ecosystem. Rn I’m typing this message on a pixel 3.
Is a pixel 3 old enough to still be a safe and secure phone that I can side load apps on in the future?
Pixel phones have been the general recommendation for de-googling, because they’ve been very friendly towards unlocking and running 3rd party ROMs, among other things. Graphene, Calyx, Iode, and e/OS are some of the more popular privacy/security centric ROMs. Lineage is another, but is more focused on compatibility for older phones. I’d try to run something that re-locks the bootloader, and to not run the device rooted.
Graphene is currently Pixel only, but Google has been making it more difficult to port to new devices, and to get the source to security patches in a timely fashion. They’re looking to release their own phone in 2026 or 2027.
The Fairphone is another option that has Calyx and others support. But the Fairphone 6 is new and not really supported anywhere but stock and e/OS right now. You can actually purchase straight from Murena with e\OS. Lineage is developing for it, and I know Calyx plans to support it. A lot of us aren’t fond of e/OS, but others love it. They do have their own ecosystem, which might make it easier to switch, but they don’t contribute much upstream from what I understand, so…
Shiftphone is another option out of Germany. Calyx has plans to support them, and probably some others. But they’re harder to get outside of Europe, and aren’t the focus of as much development as the more known Fairphone.
Calyx is on hiatus until February, so you can’t/shouldn’t install on anything right now, and support for Fairphone and Shiftphone is likely a ways out.
Volla Phone ships with their own de-googled OS. They’re also harder to get your hands on outside of Europe.
Finally, there are Linux phones that don’t run Android at all. Sailfish OS with the Jolla C2 is probably the most mature. Volla and some others can run Ubuntu Touch from UBPorts. Furi just released the FLX1s with a Linux-based OS, though it’s really an Android phone using the Halium compatibility layer. There are some other Linux phones as well, some of which are more hardware-centric with an expectation that people will target them with software, and Postmarket OS that supports running Linux on a number of phones.
Also keep in mind that a lot of these phones have limited bands supported, and so may not work well on your preferred carrier, or at all in your country. A lot of Linux phones also won’t support VoLTE or wifi-calling well or at all, just yet.
Oh, and there’s the Brax3, though I have no idea what to think about it.