Is that really so? Does the average iPhone user actually factor the app store tax into their decision to purchase the device? Or do they just assume that is just how all software works because they have no exposure to software ecosystems outside the iPhone app store
As I'm the IT tech support for some family members, I certainly do. A lot less drama and garbage when using Apple products (generally speaking).
I've sysadmined Linux for a living for many moons now, and used to run Linux and then FreeBSD at home, and I switched to Apple for personal stuff during the PowerPC and early Mac OS 10.x timeframe because I did enough fiddling with tech at work and minimized it at home.
I used Linux desktops at work in the pre-COVID era when we still had offices and such. I now use a Apple laptop as I can get Unix-y tools to admin: I spend >80% of my time in Terminal (the rest in Safari and Mail).
I'm not saying it's not a problem, but I am saying it's not a problem that has caused any problems with any Android user I've ever met.
You are an HN user of some age. You might even be the family IT person. You may well be changing the experience of people in your orbit.
In contrast, my grandfather’s android phone had somehow 3 different SMS apps, all of which must have tried to remove the default app.
I doubt you think some chap living in rural India, has good data hygiene and habits.