third party apps (particularly stuff like messaging, banking and government services) only supporting the main two operating systems is a big barrier to a new one getting any traction.
Yes, weird, niche, OSs are much harder because of network effects, but weird, niche, hardware should be getting more diverse, not less so.
Both Xiaomi and OnePlus have it on their phones. Personally I never used mine and didn't see the point. It was quicker and more effortless to just click the button on the physical remote next to me than having to navigate through the apps on my phone.
> Or FM Radio support?
You can listen to almost any radio station online nowadays and plenty of countries (EU) have roaming agreements so the benefit of having FM radio must be extremely niche. I know you mentioned it being niche, but I'm talking niche niche.
I assume you have some kind of use case that goes beyond regular consumers.
I don't even think it's that. I think companies are so blinded by copying Apple that they have lost sight of the fact that they can have a competitive edge if they don't. Like, if people wanted what Apple was offering they would just buy Apple in the first place! And companies used to try to differentiate themselves (I remember marketing specifically making fun of the lack of headphone jacks on the iPhone), but they seem to have just given up.