I’ve been about, and so far, almost everyone’s advice has been, “Buy a Pixel and install Graphene,” which I think is frankly quite unrealistic. Even the cheapest device that’s still supported (Pixel 6) is still about $200 refurbished, and that apparently loses support one month later (October 2026).
So basically, are there any options for people who aren’t wealthy?
Yeah, except for developers who don’t want to give their ID to Google. Those apps won’t be able to be installed on standard android devices at all as far as I can tell.
The situation is pretty confusing, but you’re still gonna be able to side load unverified apps. The “advanced flow” that makes sideloading obnoxious to do is specifically for unverified apps, whereas verified apps (where devs have to fork up their ID to google) can be installed without any hassle.
I see. Safe to assume the confusion is part of the design.