Google Play Services is at the very core of Android and it will only get worse from here, and a very significant portion of the Android ecosystem requires GPS to function. Auto updates, built-in Android security features, a significant portion of secure apps like banking and financial service applications, Find my Phone, Cloud Backups, etc. The list goes on. And it’s funny because each one of these removed features are generally replaced with a third party alternative, which means you’re still trusting a third party with your data… I could understand if you didn’t want any company to have your data. That makes sense. But you specifically curtail Google who authors the OS in favor of a third party who also might be doing the same things with your data anyways. It’s all just so incredibly stupid.

You may be completely happy with Graphene, but the overwhelming vast majority of people won’t be because it removes the specific advantages of using Android as an ecosystem.

If you want to be free of Google, then be free of Google and don’t use hardware and an OS that they designed and made. It’s like hating Nazi’s but wearing an SS jacket because “it’s warm.” It’s fuckin’ mind-blindingly crazy.