I’ve been interested in switching over to a phone that isn’t a gold mine of my data for random companies etc. I’ve seen stuff for calyx, fair phone, graphene, and Linux phones. I’m curious as to how I would go about switching over. As of right now I use Android and mostly message through signal unless it’s for work and I’m unfortunately on Verizon. Which privacy first smartphones would people recommend for US users and how does it work putting it on a network? Do they go on the regular networks like at&t, sprint, Verizon etc? Or do they have their own or privacy first networks? Sorry if these are dumb questions I’m just interested in switching and figured this would be a good place to find info.
Look at the list of available phones for each OS and verify that they can use the cell towers in the USA. Most will be able to. Calyx can work with Motorola phones that are cheaper than pixels but last I used Calyx which was years ago it didn’t function as well as Graphene with their sandboxed Google Play services. Since you’re just beginning I imagine you’ll still use some proprietary apps and Graphene will make that transition much easier.