Mudita Kompakt - the compromise
I am really happy to have my Mudita Kompakt - arrived about 2 weeks ago now and I love it. It's an E-ink screen and degoogled MuditaOS.
Up until today, and a big reason I went with the Mudita was being able to sideload WhatsApp. I am a university researcher and we are heavily reliant on WhatsApp for messaging - especially for check-ins while in the field. However, I deleted it today upon seeing just how many cached files and straight-up junk come with it. I also have issues with its integration with backing up messages to Google One. I don't want any of that shit on my phone.
Unfortunately, the compromise is that I have to keep my old Samsung active. I am working on keeping all my "personal" stuff off of it, and using it exclusively for work/research/University. That means Teams, Google Drive, WhatsApp, amongst others. I hate it, but I have found the reality is that I can't ditch these services completely... Yet. Maybe this will help me separate work from life?
Interested in others' thoughts. Open to suggestions but please don't tell me to just ditch the evil apps - reality right now is that it's not possible. I'm working on getting our research group to ditch WhatsApp but it's a long ways off still.