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The problem with being G**gle-free (and you're either G**gle-free or you're a G**gle slave) is that you can't access the G**gle Store. You can always download your apps by other means (e.g., F-Droid.org) but more and more apps insist on being able to communicate with the Google Store to confirm their authenticity, else they won't work.

One solution to that problem -- which works for me, but I have no idea what percentage of G**gle-free users this will work for -- is to use MicroG to "spoof" the G**gle Store. MicroG makes its own fork of the LineageOS ROM but they haven't "micro-geed" every Lineage ROM in existence, so there aren't MicroG ROMs available for as many devices as there are LineageOS ROMs for.

But you can always apply the MicroG patch to the OE LineageOS ROM's kernel, but that requires you create the patch for your hardware using the Smali patcher. Connect your LineageOS device to a Windows PC by USB and run the Smali patcher application. It will extract the files it needs from your device and patch them. Copy the patched file to your device and flash it from recovery and your device will be Micro-Geed.

If that sounds overly complicated, that's because it is. Unless you live for this kind of stuff (and are a glutton for punishment), better you should buy ready-made.

That or submit to G**gle. And I'll burn in hell first.

"The problem with being G**gle-free ... is that you can't access the G**gle Store.

Why exactly is that an issue?

I get the distinct feeling that some people want to have it both ways. They want to ardently, ardently stay on the Google platform while at the same time they just want to find some way, any way, to FORCIBLY make Google stop their espionage.

I know, it's just me. It used to be there were a whole lot of apps in that store that I really thought I needed. But its been some years since leaving Android and I've come to realize that I didn't need any of them after all.

It's all about priorities and nothing more. I'm under no illusions the multitude of reasons why it is that we can't get rid of Big Tech. Most people don't actually want to. They say it but they don't mean it otherwise we could find the evidence in each individual case. If you're just switching a browser or closing down Twitter, these are simple and have little meaning. They aren't game changing. They aren't re-writing the rules.