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>> Google allows third-party app stores and most of the source code for Android is out there in the open.

Is that true though? I though pretty much all of the Google services and vendor-specific skins and OS modifications are just as closed as iOS? Last time I heard vanilla AOSP is pretty much unusable because besides the core OS functions everything is grossly outdated? Is anyone using Android phones without any of the Google services?

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> Is anyone using Android phones without any of the Google services?

Yes I have a couple of phones running LineageOS without GApps. The apps are installed through FDroid or direct from the vendor ( e.g. WhatsApp.apk from their website, which also manages its own updates ).

I'll play the part and mention microG, an alternative which supplies many of the Google services that are required by a ton of apps these days. Fair warning, though. Installing microG on a lot of popular phones is non-trivial.

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