Does this discussion strike you as one where I’m deliberating whether or not to chuck my smartphone and buy into a new ecosystem to avoid ads on fandom?

These types of comments are always very unhelpful.

No, that's just a reminder that you had a choice, and chose empty talk about “ecosystems” over ability to control what you can see on “your” screen. You've stepped on a rake once, you got some experience, why repeat it over and over again?