That's not what I meant. Will the other OEMs have to pay Google for using Android 17 (since it's not open-source anymore) ?

This myth needs to die. The only parts of BSD that Apple used for iOS/osx, were from bsd4.4 (released in like the 1990s). And even then it was only parts of the user space.

The kernel is a completely different beast.

iOS isn't any better. I'm looking to OnePlus and maybe LineageOS. Hopefully GrapheneOS isn't dead.

Lineage os and graphene os are both based on AOSP, no ? How to expect these projects to survive if AOSP becomes closed source ?

What worries me the most is the support for our phone. Constructor provides bad to average support for new android versions. Meanwhile, these projects can last for a long time. I have a one plus 7 pro and it is running on YAAP, receives OTA security updates every month and all the major versions of Android. Killing AOSP will lead to killing long term support of our phone.

I think iOS is better than stock Android because Apple is not in ad business so it has better privacy protections. Its locked ecosystem sucks but privacy wise it's better.

I went with GrapheneOS because it's fairly large user base means that it will last longer than other, less used mods. But in the end it will only survive for as long as Google let's it.

Where, exactly, do you think the source code will go for aosp? It'll just get forked. See ZFS and openzfs, or Solaris, and illumos.

To use the word "Android" on their devices, they already have some kind of backroom deal with Google. Nobody really knows what that deal entails, though. It would take a(nother) lawsuit to find out.

It's not. iOS has just been awful for a long time and since it hasn't been downgraded in recent memory and some people take that as a positive thing.

iOS does not have better privacy protections. Privacy is more than putting the word Privacy in an ad. French Regulators fined Apple millions for illegal data collection AND they're still being sued by multiple orgs. In fact, you have no choice to opt out of the collection, only to opt out of it being used for personalization. Android has more granular controls over every permission. Until they really pull the plug GrapheneOS and others still count on Androids side as well.

Apple was cool before the iMac in '98. After that they've been drumming their products down. There is genuinely no advantage. "It just works" except it works less than my windows machine. "It's more Unix like" Windows has WSL now. "Muh Enclave Chip" TPM is better. Both collect your data.

Anyone who prefers or likes Apple products does it because of vibes and appearance rather than anything with technical.

I do want to add, Android beating iOS in privacy isn't a high mark. It doesn't mean Android is good with privacy.

Electronic Frontier Foundation doesn't agree with you: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/04/apples-apptrackingtransparency-upending-mobile-phone-tracking

"Looking ahead, the mobile operating system market is essentially a duopoly, and Google controls the larger part of the -opoly. While Apple pushes through new privacy measures like ATT, Google has left its own Ad ID alone. Of the two, Apple is undoubtedly doing more to rein in the privacy abuses of advertising technology. Nearly every criticism that can be made about the state of privacy on iOS goes double for Android. Your move, Google."

I trust EFF more then I trust you, sorry.

I trust ads more than I trust them being sued for millions by regulators across the globe.

No wonder you ended up with an Apple device. Lol.

As I said, I'm using Graphene OS. I think you're confused about it the same way you're confused about what EFF is and who is fighting Apple and why.