The last thing that appears recently is the setup of the voice assistant forcefully showing up each time you connect and reconnect to a Bluetooth audio device. I'm so pissed off about that.
That's it. That's how to get an Android without Google forcing anything on you.
changing the launcher and browser have to be done first as the Pixel Launcher and Chrome really do expect the Google app to be running.
I want the feature, I just want to be in control of when and how that feature is used, not have it pushed hard in my face repeatedly.
Pixels are great phones, I've been on them since they were still called Nexus. There are hints of enshittification, with Pixel-only features and what not, but it's not gotten out of hand yet, and I will argue Pixels are the best (non-de-Googled) Android experience -- as they are meant to be Android showcases.
(and you can disable it from settings if you'd rather not have that)