https://grapheneos.org has a lot of info. Make sure to buy a phone with an unlocked bootloader. All carriers lock it so buy it used and make sure that its unlocked or buy it directly from Google. You can install all google apps through Aurora store, a Play Store fronrend. You can also install sandboxed Google Play services so your Play Store apps can run and have functionning notifications, as they usualy rely on Play services. Yes you can sideload apps like normal android. Its AOSP without the google stuff. Some videos/channels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vh5xjsE4mU4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igSUmfKTXqU https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrG6IID2FX7-GxyKtavRhEA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1KZWjZVnAw

I'd really like to hear from some people that have actually done this about what to do and what their experience is with grapheneos. I'm leery of spending hundreds of dollars on a phone that may or may not work as I want.

I've done this, here's my takeaways:

On the install:

• The install guide is long and detailed, and it felt important to take my time and do every step exactly as it says.
• In spite of the length of the guide, I was done with my install in about 45 minutes. I spent about 30 of those minutes sipping coffee and reading on my Kindle while my phone applied updates automatically. -By the time the install finished, my feeling was "that was it? I feel like I clicked like 4 links and it did everything."

On owning it:

• My $300 GrapheneOS Pixel 6 is substantially more responsive than my previous $1000 phone. I migrated to a 3 year old phone and if feels like a big upgrade.
• My camera opens quickly, snaps pictures quickly, and is ready to snap another picture, quickly. This shouldn't be a big deal, but some of your with $1000 Android phones know what I'm talking about. I'll die on the "this should never have been hard in the first place" hill. But in the meantime, the responsive camera is the most important quality of life upgrade I got from GrapheneOS.
• Installing apps from Aurora, with it's privacy insights, was very eye-opening for me. I mention this mainly for context on my next point.
• App compatibility has not been an issue for me; but I quit using certain really invasive apps when I saw their tracking details in Aurora store. (Cough - Paramount Plus - cough)
• I've heard bank apps can be a challenge, but mine works perfectly. I now love GrapheneOS enough that I am realizing I will move my money if that changes.

The stores I have on my GrapheneOS pixel 7a: F-Droid + droidify, Aurora store, and the Google Play store as well for some official apps I cannot do without. Between these, there isn't an app that I couldn't find or install.

I bought my pixel second hand, to not put more money in Google's pocket, and to avoid any carrier locking. Not sure how that will impact the installation, but it might. Best to investigate that matter.

I have to mention: I still cannot believe how easy that installation was. I rooted my previous phone and put lineageOS on it, which was such a tedious procedure back in the day, I really dreaded installing GrapheneOS. But that web interface, detecting everything and guiding me along was pure heaven. I hope that'll become the default for any custom installs.

I'm a GrapheneOS user. You can use whichever store you like. Sideloading works too if you want to get stuff directly from GitHub, for example.

If you use esim, probably better to activate before flashing GrapheneOS. Otherwise, doesn't matter imo.

I'd suggest you take a look at the discussion forum. You can ask questions there or just browse and you can probably learn a lot about GrapheneOS there. Also the homepage has tons of info, of course.