I've found that many applications work without Play serices or simply complain but work. Whatsapp even offers an .apk for Download with a self Updater and everything else can be installed with "AuroraStore" (third party play store client).

I wanna add Xiaomi, however with the caveat that I like neither bootloader unlock procedure. Xiaomi wants to install their software on the host (I recommend a VM), you need a SIM installed, and you have to wait 7 or 14 days for the unlock to work (on MIUI at least, Android One does not have that). On Motorola you have to connect to the internet for 3 days at least and you may not interrupt it otherwise it resets (I heard 7 days max, but not sure if it resets indefinitely). You need an account on both of them btw.

The best experience is probably with Google and maybe OnePlus, but I did not have any myself recently.

> Xiaomi

mtkclient [0] would let you skip the whole 7/14 days thing (also: unrestricted partition dumping/flashing). Though there are chances of ending up with soft/hard brick (normally possible to revert back to working state as long as you have backups), and there may be no support for your specific chipset/device/software revision at all.

0. https://github.com/bkerler/mtkclient

I went through a lot of trouble unlocking an old Xiaomi. mtkclient bypass methods do not work as a for all Xiaomi (or at least did not for my device). Thread: https://github.com/bkerler/mtkclient/issues/110

Neat! Although there are Qualcomm-based Xiaomi phones, too (e. g. Redmi Note 8T).

You need an account for Motorola bootloader unlock, but at least a few years ago they used to email the unlock key instantly. It could have changed since, but if you see the supported devices, there are far more in Motorola compared to other OEMs.

reading the sibling comments... the current state of smartphone software is absolutely disgusting. Great were the days of the PC, where you could just install any OS, could make and restore backups of the whole disk. With smartphones now you have to beg the manufacturer of a device you paid money for just to maybe be allowed to install a different OS. It is sad that so many people supported this shit in the past and still do.

Are you sure WA needs the play store? I use Android but with most apps disabled - no browser, no Play store, no Google services, all the Samsung crap disabled, and so on. When I need to install an app, I enable the Play store, install it, then disable the store again (using ADB). I also do a monthly update of all the apps.

WA works fine. Messenger works fine, Spotify etc., they all work. The only app I've found so far that doesn't work - logs me out five minutes after disabling the Play store - is the ChatGPT app.

Aside: my phone is so much better for my mental health since I've done this. The constant desire to research things is quieted. Now, if I really need to look something up I open TickTick and set a reminder to do it later on my laptop.

Icm not too certain on the details, but Google uses a framework separate from the play store itself to provide certain APIs. It's this part that microg replaces.