I've had both Android and iPhones and honestly they're much the same. Google gives you a little more freedom in app development but you lose a lot of privacy. Neither company champions jailbreaking.

Ultimately there isn't a single consumer handset out there that has the same principles of "now you own the device it's yours to do with as you like". Consumer tech just doesn't operate that way any more.

Lots of Android phones have unlocked bootloaders and it's easy to sideload apps without rooting/jailbreaking.

Some handsets might have an unlocked boot loader but that’s only half the battle. It doesn’t mean there will be a working port of Android available, that any proprietary hardware will be supported nor that you’d get the full features of Android (at least not legally since the Google Play is only available for licensed OEMs).

Also I’d already acknowledged that it was easier and cheaper to sideload apps on Android.

Before you jump in and say something like “why should OEMs / Google offer you all this stuff for free etc”, I do completely agree. This isn’t a rant at Google (nor Apple) specifically but just at the state of technology these days. It’s not just an issue about geeks like us having ownership of our devices, it’s also creating a problem for environmental waste since it’s becoming increasingly hard to upgrade or replace parts. Laptops have components soldered in and old phones often end up in landfills. It’s such a shame to see.

Anyhow, I’ve drifted way off topic. Sorry for that

So you want both freedom over software you install and strong privacy and security.

This will be fine for HN folks but will result in the erasure of security and privacy for normal users.

Not necessarily. However I’m under no disillusion that I’m anything but an edge case.