Agreed, although the only PITA for me was buying a phone that was OEM / Dev unlocked. I was buying on eBay and the sellers just couldn't understand, despite my explanations, that I wanted a phone that was Developer unlocked, not carrier unlocked.
> I personally couldn't stomach getting a pixel 4a
Yea, I considered getting a Pixel newer than the '4' but I didn't see any advantage
> Most painful tradeoffs is the camera app
I don't take a lot of pictures but I did notice the photo quality is inferior now. I'm not sure what 'magic' the software was doing before, but it was a lot
> I replaced YouTube with NewPipe
Yea, NewPipe works well. I imported all my subscribers from YouTube. The lack of discoverability doesn't bother me though
> ..have to find it on a search engine
If I couldn't find it on f-droid I got in the habit of just searching for <app I want> + "apk"
> boot loader is unlocked..I'm not sure all the security implications of that
Security implications are.. no security
Also, some of my infrequently used apps will have a pop-up at the first about requiring Google Play Services but I just hit 'ok' and continue to use the app
There is some site that shows apps that "for sure" work, but I'll add a summary of my apps:
* Browser: Bromite
* YouTube Replacement: NewPipe
* 2-factor app: Authy
* Maps (discoverability): Organic Maps
* Maps (directions): Magic Earth
* Pictures: Open Camera
* Mail: Proton Mail
* Messaging: Signal
* Music: Spotify (glitch-free)
* Audiobook Player: Smart Audiobook Player
* Podcasts: Pocket Casts