This is a tough problem to solve, there isn’t one solution for everyone.

Many years ago I tried various options such as vanilla Android, LineageOS with gapps, Lineage without gapps and even Replicant. Every option came with pros and cons. If all you need is phone calls, SMS and some simple apps, you could go with any of these options as long as it meets your ideological requirements.

At one time time I had just the pure LineageOS without gapps, and that’s when I realized I was about 10 years late with this project. The world had changed to such an extent that being this strict about FOSS was going to require some pretty hefty sacrifices. When my bank announced that they would eventually phase out the security code papers in favor of their mobile app, it meant this option was a dead end for me.

I couldn’t make the bank app work at all if I didn’t have gapps. If I did, it still refused to work properly, because LineageOS wasn’t the OEM system. After trying a bunch of different workarounds, it was clear: this ship had sailed already. Either I would have to embrace the downsides of current technology or live off the grid without access to money. Doing that would also make my life very inconvenient in a number of other ways.

Online banking was the deal breaker for me, but other apps caused similar problems too. Just about all the modern apps the society expects me to use were either slightly broken or completely unavailable. In many cases, it felt just like using a dumb Nokia 3210 again, with the exception that I had a mobile browser, nice calculator etc.

I wasn’t happy with the situation, nor with the options standing before me. Google is an ad company and users are the product, so obviously Google was the worst option available. Actually, Chinese Android phones are the worst option, but other companies aren’t far behind because of Google.

Apple was a little less bad, but still an unpleasant option. Strangely enough, I became a reluctant iPhone user. Fortunately for me, iOS had finally reached a point where a lot of the basic standard features Android had about 5-10 years ago were finally available on iOS. The decision was far from ideal, but at least I found the right kind of balance between functionality and privacy.

I’m not happy with the result and I can’t recommend you follow in my footsteps, but I highly recommend trying out different options and banging your own head against the brick wall. That’s the only way you can find out how idealistic you really want to be.