I use Graphene OS. While you can run it completely de-Googled, in order to run Play Store applications Graphene OS takes the route of sandboxing Google Play services. This means that they run with the privileges of a regular application and you can deny it access to e.g. sensors.

Sandboxed Google Play is practically identical in functionality to its non-sandboxed counterpart from the stock ROM, and nearly all applications should work. I can confirm that WhatsApp works for certain, as well as my banking app.

Calyx OS is another one that uses MicroG as a replacement for Google Play Services instead, but I have not used it.

Russian people are not as unaware of current events as you may think. It’s not like they don’t have access to the internet, and the Russian media reporting on the day was not any less detailed or timely than Western media.

A common take that I’ve seen is that both Putin and Prigozhin appeared weak: Prigozhin by backing out, Putin by having no one standing up against Prigozhin as he drove into Rostov, and then letting Prigozhin off without any major repercussions.

It’s unlikely that Prigozhin will come back due to completely discrediting himself in front of whatever support he had, but it’s possible someone else may attempt the same thing at a later point. After all, if they win, they take everything; if they lose, they get a slap on the wrist.

Hexbear uses “comm”

The Xbox app had a tendency to silently break for no apparent reason the last time I’ve tried gamepass, and they also made it quite difficult to access game files. A torrent client provides a much better user experience.