Regarding the release date, the FP2 does well, but of course this doesn’t help you if you bought it just before the release of the FP3 in 2019. Sadly, I even read from time to time about people buying a bunch of the same spare parts “just in case” before they aren’t available anymore and some of these will surely go to waste unused, leaving another FP2 unrepaired.
For me, it’s like reducing plastic waste. Easy to start with and you will get more passionate over time until you reach your personal balance between comfort and the goal. Going zero waste is close to impossible, just because you don’t see it anymore doesn’t mean that there is no waste produced for you.
At this point, I wrote a lot. Then I realised that it’s way easier to ask first at which point you currently are and how much you depend still/at all on Google services. I will still leave my wall of text there in case it’s helpful, it is just not finished.
Most important thing first: Always keep “No backup, no mercy!” in mind. A phone with Google services will backup a lot of data in the cloud, photos, app data, settings, contacts, calendar entries… Don’t keep important data just on your phone!
My personal journey:
-
Get aware of the data Google has about you and decide what you don’t trust them with:
https://takeout.google.com
Set the permissions to use your data as strict as possible.
Replacing an app is relatively easy in most cases (Camera, Gallery, …), replacing a service will most likely cost you money, time or both (data backup). -
Not just apps provided by Google share data with it, many other companies do so. εxodus is a good starting point to check your other apps for trackers of all kind.
-
Start replacing the easiest apps first, this will get you motivated. The best approach is to use FLOSS apps (from F-Droid, the PlayStore or whatever safe(!) source you found), otherwise you will most likely just distribute your data even more.
The list in the first post of this thread is a good start, you may find more up-to-date apps with more specific requests. -
Disable the replaced Google apps or just don’t use them anymore for some time until you are sure you can live without them.
-
Use a tool like Universal Android Debloater to get rid of the unwanted apps you can’t disable. It’s relatively safe to use with the presets, but I had to do some factory resets on my old phone after playing around and removing too many apps. Check this after every system update.
-
Now it’s getting tricky, since you pay for Google’s services with your data. Replacing the dialer will prevent Google from knowing about your calls, but they still have all your contacts. If you have a trustworthy mail provider and it offers this service, you could sync your contacts and calendar entries there. If you have some webspace for example, you could connect it via a file manager and synch your photos with it.
Of course you can jump between the steps at will. If you got this far, enjoy it and decide how far you want to go next.