> In my case, inserting a SIM card from ALDI’s carrier used to auto-install some weather, news, and similar stuff. Luckily that stopped recently.

Surely there is a prompt. I never had apps silently auto-install in my phone. If that is true, one more reason to go with the custom rom way.

> The only risk is governments not returning the power they got during this pandemic, but that’s more of a worry in 3rd-world-dictatorships.

In my life I've seen a lot of just-for-emergency-temporary-only laws that become permanent once the outrage subsides. In supposedly first world countries