I appreciate you giving it a shot, then! Our experiences are pretty different; I've almost always found solid working apps from F-Droid, and my main messenger, web browser, podcast app, ebook reader, RSS reader, calendar, tower defense game, and home screen launcher are all from F-Droid. I use the Play Store mostly for Google's own apps (namely Maps and YT Music) and my banking app.

You may need a recent handset. I haven't found a nonworking app yet, on my Pixel 8.