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?
Your phone isn’t supported by Graphene, but it is still supported by LineageOS. You’ll lose the sandboxed play services, but still get monthly security updates. Fair trade off for your current device.
I installed Lineage once and it fully wiped my phone when I updated to OS. Needless to say I’ll never do that again.