same with me. I'm buying a new phone soon due to mine being too old and slow. Librem seems like a great choice, even though it still has a quite good share of bugs... but I need to support this effort. It's sad the lack of alternatives
And you don't think this is related to Google Play Services constantly running in the background, searching for networks, location, open & installed apps, and OS metrics, per the linked article?
Reading through r/BlackBerry, it seems my KeyOne is only useable because I've disabled Google Play Services - otherwise it would be dramatically slower with much worse battery life.
you may have gotten that wrong
'google play services' is software package (app) that sits between the os (android) and the (other) apps. it provides a lot of middleware like maps and push-notifications. it has grown in power to the point that an android phone without them is pretty much pointless, hence micro-g tries to substitute.