With Apple, yes, all of their phones are all Apple, all the time.
But with Android... Android is open-source. There are a wide range of manufacturers for Android phones (Samsung, LG, Motorola, the list goes on and on). Many of these manufacturers, often in conjunction with phone carriers, will use their own closed-source variants of Android. But none of this is really on Google, except when they do it with their own line of phones (Google Pixel).
The issue is the de facto duopoly on app stores. Android phones are not limited to only downloading apps from Google Play. But most consumers only bother using Google Play. Some manufacturers will have their own app store that have some marketshare (Samsung has an app store).
This makes it a very difficult situation. Because Google has the market share on app stores almost legitimately. The consumers mostly have a choice, even after purchasing a device, and choose to give it to them. Sure, there are some ways that this is "enforced," like the Play Store coming pre-installed and such, and some phones making it needlessly difficult to download apps from elsewhere, but still.
I'm not saying Google is the good guy here. But I'm saying we need to first recognize what the problem is in order to tackle it.
I’d highly recommend everyone who cares about privacy looks into GrapheneOS. It allows you to run Google apps in a “sandbox” where they do not have access to your data unless you give it permission. iOS does this same thing, but it has been found that Apple collects the data anyway.
It's more complicated than that.
With Apple, yes, all of their phones are all Apple, all the time.
But with Android... Android is open-source. There are a wide range of manufacturers for Android phones (Samsung, LG, Motorola, the list goes on and on). Many of these manufacturers, often in conjunction with phone carriers, will use their own closed-source variants of Android. But none of this is really on Google, except when they do it with their own line of phones (Google Pixel).
The issue is the de facto duopoly on app stores. Android phones are not limited to only downloading apps from Google Play. But most consumers only bother using Google Play. Some manufacturers will have their own app store that have some marketshare (Samsung has an app store).
This makes it a very difficult situation. Because Google has the market share on app stores almost legitimately. The consumers mostly have a choice, even after purchasing a device, and choose to give it to them. Sure, there are some ways that this is "enforced," like the Play Store coming pre-installed and such, and some phones making it needlessly difficult to download apps from elsewhere, but still.
I'm not saying Google is the good guy here. But I'm saying we need to first recognize what the problem is in order to tackle it.
Android is fine. Consumers are the problem.
I’d highly recommend everyone who cares about privacy looks into GrapheneOS. It allows you to run Google apps in a “sandbox” where they do not have access to your data unless you give it permission. iOS does this same thing, but it has been found that Apple collects the data anyway.