[jwagenet]

Shellac is just a varnish/coating, so the implication is Google features are metaphorically painted on the phone hardware and software and you just need to scrape it off.

[jqpabc123]

Unfortunately, what Google embeds into Android software is significantly more adverse than just "shellac".

A standard Android phone sends your IMEI and SIM card info to Google servers on boot up before you even have a chance to login.

[BenjiWiebe]

My phone won't even connect to cellular data until I log on after boot.

[jqpabc123]

What the UI shows you and what the phone OS actually does are not necessarily the same.

[QuikAccount]

Citation for this?

[jqpabc123]

https://www.scss.tcd.ie/doug.leith/apple_google.pdf