Sorry, even as a developer, "but, you can use ADB" is a big big copout.

What's the next step when ADB requires some hoops to enable? Will we say that but the eMMC has an unencrypted EXT4 partition, we can just desolder and write into it?

It's not a copout, it's a comparison to iOS. You're seeing an argument they didn't make.

As a dev, i'd say having to use adb is a minor inconvenience.

Still unacceptable, a better option would be to use something like lineage or some other aosp distro without the google services (hoping that nothing makes you dependent on them).

This still doesn't address the vast majority of people though (and that's what I'm concerned about the most).

What we need now is:

- short term, work on pushing apps not to depend on the google services so phones preinstalled with something like /e/ become a viable option for most people. Push our public services to stop mandating Google and Apple OSes for random stuff.

- longer term, work on making alternatives to Android and iOS viable options for most people (stability, usability and availability of services people use). The best candidate for that today is Linux mobile.

Breaking network effect around proprietary services is one of the strategies towards this.

Another one is reducing our reliance on computers (of any shape) altogether, maybe.

There are ways to wrap adb in a friendly interface. I can totally see a desktop based manager and marketplace for phone apps as a workaround.