If there was ever a reason to get grapheneOS...

I also use LineageOS, which also comes sans Google as a flavour, but it's far less secure and much rougher about the edges than GrapheneOS. I choose hardware by alternative OS support. If you want a new tablet the only option is Pixel.

The desktop experience. Unless you've been using Samsung deX, which this is built upon.

Desktop mode finally? Anything meaningful?

No revanced on iOS either. That alone disqualifies iPhones.

The emoji thing is built into the keyboard, but it doesn't do like on-device generation or anything. They just have a list of pre-made(maybe AI generated) combos. I'm guessing they are AI generating them, then having humans approve it, before including it in the keyboard emoji list. It's kinda neat, in that it expands the options, but really not much. Overall the OS really feels the same. I haven't looked forward to an Android update in many years.

Also, as someone who doesn't use Google's launcher or keyboard, yeah, I get almost none of these features.

New Android 6 features tailored to steal more of your data behind your back. And now $500 more expensive!

I suppose the distinctions between the OS and "just an app" are blurred on any OS. One might argue anything that isn't the kernel is just userland software on conventional Linux.

On Android, anything a third party could deliver without system or root privileges is "just an app". That includes keyboards, launchers, messaging apps, image editors, and smarthome device managers, but not direct management of network connections, notifications, or direct interaction with other apps (i.e. outside of intents or over the network).

If you've used an Android device with root access, you've seen things that fail this test. Anything that needs root to work can't be delivered to most Android users unless it's part of the OS or a system app.

New OS versions feel like threats.

Would you like to kill Son Goku?

That is the duty of bacon. I do like birds though.

I feel like Android and Linux (being that it's what Android itself is based on) do the whole "everything is an app" much better than, say, Windows. On Windows, generally speaking, your entire desktop experience is built-in and so tightly coupled that it's hard to switch it out. On Linux, you don't NEED a GUI at all, but if you want one, you'll have a display server, a window manager, etc. On Android, at least without the desktop mode, the base GUI is the launcher, which is just an app.

System apps that require root access are still apps. Of course the kernel isn't really an app and I don't think Google Play Services fits most people's definitions of an app. System libraries aren't apps. So those are the parts that you could consider true "OS updates" as opposed to "app updates", but since the "apps" part of the system (if you include system apps) is so much more visible to the user, an OS update will seem like it's mostly a bunch of app updates.

You people are getting updates?

I really hate that I cannot just do everything with the pocket computer I own that is running a supposedly free operating system.