Hello all,

Currently, I am on iOS but I want to switch to a new phone. I have heard of GrapheneOS for some time, and now with long-term support promised for the Pixel 8, I wanted try it My main goals with using it are anonymity/privacy and avoiding mass surveillance, though, I don't want to give up too much convenience, so I'm writing here to ask questions about what I should actually expect in regards to that, what compromises I have to deal with, and If anything I mention is irrelevant given my situation.

It seems that the biggest problem regarding phone privacy is cellular networks. I just want to start by saying that I use a credit card to pay for my service, so my carrier knows lots of information about me. Obviously, I'm willing to try something else, but I assume I would have to give up my phone number, since I have already shared my data with them (before I got into "privacy"). Ideally, I want to keep my phone number, so what would I be giving up by just taking the SIM from my iPhone and using it in my Pixel 8? Presumably, they would just associate all my activity from my old phone with the new one, but is there anything else? Would switching carriers do anything? I have also recently heard of people using phones without a SIM card/eSIM, but I have no experience with this. How do they even utilize the features of the phone?

Given what I said above, does the way I purchase my Pixel 8 even matter? I know it just has to support OEM unlocking, but would there be a problem with just ordering it online from Best Buy/Amazon and having it shipped to my door?

Once I have that figured out, I then have to install GrapheneOS, It seems that even installing the OS in the first place can be a privacy risk. I have an old Android phone I can use for this, but is it possible to install it using the CLI method, or does it have to be done using the web-based installation method?

Next, I will have to configure everything. I'm sure I will find guides on my own for this, but I want to ask: what is the next biggest problem for my threat model, barring cellular networks?

That is all I have to ask for now. If someone has any suggestions or other "guides" I should follow, then please let me know!