[suprjami]

> I would have thought Google would require a minimum of quality for approving a device to carry Google Play

iiic they require a license to redistribute their binaries, including Google Play. Obviously these boxes running a stolen phone ROM have not paid the licence fee.

As for the rest, these Allwinner chips are actually pretty good, but they're crippled by proprietary drivers and closed device tree. With open drivers and proper software support, they'd probably be equivalent to a Raspberry Pi 3 or better.

I love Android but the ecosystem is already ruined, both by vendor cruft like Samsung's sluggish UI, and by Google Play store being filled with microtransaction cancer. Google Play was good maybe 8 years ago but the lure of Google getting a cut of everyone's IAP destroyed it long ago.

Some obscure cheapo unenforceable Chinese copyright violation has almost no effect in comparison.

[Abishek_Muthian]

F-Droid on LineageOS addresses most of the concerns with Playstore as only talented developers who care about open-source release their apps on it.

Ofcourse, Apps of 3rd party data hoarding, Democracy destroying services wouldn't bother releasing to F-Droid and I'm glad for that.

With microG version of LineageOS the app updates are seamless due to the F-Droid PE patch bundled in the ROM.

Lately I'm finding myself increasingly dependent on F-Droid only apps like Termux and Tusky.

[suprjami]

I also have F-Droid and Termux installed, but to say this offers a complete or optimal Android experience is false.

There are many good apps only on Google Play, if you know where to look, usually specifically for the app name or by trawling through a dozen inferior alternatives first.

The chances of the best mist respectful apps being suggested to you instead of the Editor Choice in-app-purchase garbage are zero.

[Abishek_Muthian]

That's if you don't consider having rootkit-like Google play services as a threat vector or don't mind its impact on the Privacy/Battery backup in the first place.