[mrcrumb1]

1st party doesn't mean "part of the system", it means built by the same people who make the OS. I said nothing about purity. I'd argue people's preference for "stock" Android have nothing to do with purity; they just have a preference for the apps google makes for Android because they like the experience better. Android has always had the capability to switch your default app, but there is a subset of people who prefer the stock experience. I don't know why that has to be some sort of cult like obedience rather than a rational choice

[Xeamek]

You say "people who prefer stock experience" but stock means pure android with no changes. But that's not what pixel is.

[mrcrumb1]

But Pixel is the 1st party google experience, and that's what those people are looking for. I'd hazard a guess they don't care about what default applications are in AOSP.

[Xeamek]

Then if you say "I'm looking for 1st party google experience" that's all good. But when you equate AOSP experience with Google experience, or what's worse: criticize other vendors purely on basis of them not inherently being google - that's when the argument stops making any sense. (And looking in this thread, many people do exactly that)