Android

Right, so it's still open in the broader sense, but if it does or does not fit one open source license or another... kinda beside the point. The point being that what you buy when you buy Android is not open source, and that's the problem, especially when you're also looking at an iPhone and saying "well this one is open source and that one is not."

Of course, you can still say "I can install whatever I want" about the Android phone. Apple has been unkind to developers of certain apps, but then again, so has Google. Both platforms banned emulators. Both platforms allowed them back — Google did it many years before Apple, though. Both platforms banned Fortnite because of Epic's misdeeds going against the terms of both stores. Apple was forced to re-list Fortnite in the US and maybe some other areas, but not everywhere. You've always been able to install the Epic Game Store on Android, you just gotta jump through hoops.

The real issue is ad blocking. Google is obviously trying to stop that. On my iPhone — I use both platforms, by the way — if I install the Google app and Google something, and go to a site, like, say, Fandom (the gaming wiki site), I get ads. I don't get ads on my iPhone because I know what I'm doing on both platforms. But Google will tunnel around my ad blocker to deliver ads. That's sketchy AF and why that app is not allowed on my phone. So on iOS, you can block ads via DNS, same as on Android. The apps work exactly the same, they do the same thing. They do the same thing as a Pihole, essentially. They set up a DNS server (presents as a VPN on iOS) which blocks hosts. Of course, a rooted Android phone can take it a step further and edit the HOSTS file, which is way more effective. I didn't think AdAway was in the Play Store (I always sideloaded it, installed from apk), but, that's the kind of thing Google is going after.

It's just petty AF. You're gonna charge iPhone 17 money for a phone that performs like an iPhone 11 (at least the CPU; obviously, Google's AI stuff is far in advance of Apple's, and their cameras are pretty smart too, but my old ass doesn't give AF about AI), they're selling my personal data out the back door to boot? Yeah, that's a hard no from me. I mean, yeah, I do still use Android, I have a Galaxy S10, I kinda want a newer one but I don't trust any of the OEMs (or Pixel). My iPhone is newer (16 Pro Max), so the Android is the next to be replaced. I just hope in 4-5 years when I'm looking to do so (the S10 still runs awesome, by the way), it's worth doing. Not that Apple is any better, they've been boring since, I dunno, a few generations back, and their next big thing is a foldable? GTFO. I miss when phones were exciting.

If you stop using original roms this isn't an issue as it's part of Play Services.

Not using Play Services is the key.

Lineage and Graphene don't have Play Services by default.

That's the tough part, and why FDroid is pushing hard on this too - basically all phones have Play Services.

Damn few of us flash Lineage or Graphene and run without Play, and damn few phones allow flashing anymore.

Fortunately Graphene is working on their own hardware. Looks like it's time for me to stock up on every kind of flashable phone I can find.

The lack of backwards compatibility is a major issue too. Many of my apps are fine - I don't need updated versions despite everyone screaming "you'll get hacked using old software". I have some stuff on my phone from 2010, and far older on my PC. This "hack" is just repeating the party line for orgs like Google to keep pushing us to newer devices.