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.
The other problem with this is that this is all controlled through the Play store API, not your device, so they can yank your access to all of those unverified apps any time they want and say “actually, no verification = no run, fuck you, pay me”
If you don’t think they will, that they’re not just dying to do exactly that and squeeze people just that little extra bit more for YT Premium subscriptions or whathaveyou, ask the people who had their movies yoinked from their library with no warning by Sony (over fucking licensing costs, at that, not even hurting their profits directly) if they thought that would ever happen and how it worked out for them.
And apps that google simply won’t approve, like ReVanced.
I’m lucky I bought a Pixel some years ago, I have been using it stock but I’ve been backing up all my shit this last month in preparation to put graphene on it. It’ll be a cold day in hell before they force me to watch YouTube with ads and no sponsorblock, I’d sooner read a book.