[qaute]

I'll second (third?) LineageOS + microG! Full ROMs combining both are available [1] (OS updates often seem to have to be installed manually, but are supported on popular phones for years). In addition to using everything from the F-Droid repository, I can run Slack/Discord/Messenger/WhatsApp/GroupMe (though notifications are hit-or-miss) and a good few other apps (Duolingo, bank mobile apps, Uber but not Lyft). Many of these apps can be installed via Yalp Store [2], which is a frontend for the Google Play store with a built-in account to provide some anonymity. It'll do until I get a Librem5 [3].

TL;DR: no Google, most things work, but not necessarily smoothly. I've used it for a few years now.

[1] https://lineage.microg.org/ [2] https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.github.yeriomin.yalpstor... [3] https://puri.sm/products/librem-5/