I implore you not to advise me to ditch the phone for Pixel. That's a topic for another day. This post is about how far I can push the limits on an inherently spyware riddled Samsung. I use the Play Store for USB Audio Player (paid) and an electronic ID app required to do most payment and government related tasks here. I am not logged into Google or Samsung. Here are my apps, which I manage with Obtainium:
I have blocked most internal trackers and "dangerous" permissions/app ops with the AppManager. I have also removed all the safe and some expert level stuff with Universal Android Debloater. Any and all constructive advice is welcome! :D
Definitely second switching to heliboard- open board is abandoned unless it got picked up by someone, heliboard is a fork thats actively maintained and has made a bunch of improvements
Its a strict upgrade, I think you'll be happy with it :)
If you dont have a gallery app I really like both aves libre and lavender photos. Lavender is newer but the Dev has been super nice every time I've made a bug report or something. Aves is super feature complete and works really well