I mean, the best way is to throw iPhone money at Google, and get iPhone 11 level performance out of a Pixel 10, then wipe the firmware and replace it with GrapheneOS. This is problematic for a couple reasons. One, if you’re gonna pay iPhone money, maybe just get an iPhone? Solves a big chunk of the privacy issue, but doesn’t get you away from American tech companies, which was your original point. So we set that option aside. Two, you have to give Google money, so they win either way. Sure, they lose out on that targeted ad money, but they sold you years-old tech at a premium price — so they win. Of course, you can buy a used Pixel, but it’s gonna be even less powerful (assuming it’s an older model).

I think the best option is to take the open-source AOSP (Android Open Source Project) that the closed-source Android is based on, and make a fork that doesn’t use Google, like Amazon did with Fire OS. Then you’d just need a hardware partner.

Apparently, Graphene OS is looking into this, but I don’t like the idea of a stripped-down Android phone. If I’m paying iPhone price on years-old hardware, the OS better kick some ass. The alternatives to iPhone just offer too many compromises in the name of virtues that I don’t really think matter enough. If we can’t get an alternative that can match iPhone on performance, it should have an awesome user experience.

i remember learning to degoogle with adb. it wasn’t easy and i had to reset more than a couple of times

then i installed LineageOS, after adb it was easier. For somebody else it may be “difficult” indeed

then i installed GrapheneOS for a friend. It can’t get any easier. Their web installer makes degoogling accessible to everyone.