The method the other commenter suggested also works.

But yes, these are anecdotal for WhatsApp, which I presume was just an example on your side.

You'd have to mainly use F-Droid and then make some exceptions for those apps. You could also use Yalp store (which interfaces with the Play Store) or Aptoide to get those apps, if you don't want to keep the Google Play Services around, though I cannot make any claims of these being more secure.