N.E.P.T.R

No, it is not a proxy for another search index/engine.

Yes, you can add Brave search to your other browsers.

I wouldn’t stress much. It would take a targeted attack to have actually compromised your phone. It is alright.

Docker is good when combined with gVisor runtime for better isolation.

Sydbox OCI runtime is also cool and faster than gVisor (both are quick)

In that case it is a ToS violation, not piracy. You aren’t paying anything, nor does google lose any money since they have been already paid. We would have to stretch the definition of piracy to include other ToS violations since it is not a financial lose.

Let’s extend the scenario. If YouTube ToS required you to click every ad to use their service, would it be piracy if someone doesnt follow those instructions? I think it would be a ToS violation, but what damages could Google even seek?

I hear people sometimes mention that “Google needs to pay somehow to keep YouTube running.” I have no sympathy for Google since they conspired to intentionally push out other video hosting platforms to create monopoly on the market. It is their own fault that videos aren’t more spread out among providers.

How would you even pirate YouTube anyways?

I recommend Mull. It is security/privacy hardened Firefox and built by using Fennec as a base. Always use Fennec over Firefox because it removes telemetry, proprietary code, and strongly protects against browser fingerprinting. Comes with support for most (if not all) desktop Firefox extensions. I highly recommend using uBlock Origin, ask anyone and they’ll tell you it is the best content blocker available.

Another good browser is Cromite. It is security hardened Chromium with built-in ad/content blocking, decent fingerprinting protection, and strong site isolation. It doesn’t have support for extensions because upstream Chromium on Android doesn’t either and it is hugely complex to port.

Did you enter into a contract saying you must watch ads to use the service? Is ad blocking against ToS? I don’t think either are true, and a “click to consent” isn’t legally binding. Either way, I will never not block ads as it is important from a privacy and cyber security perspective.

Where? Have a link?

Until a port to Wayland is made, I would avoid using this DE. X.Org is unmaintained legacy software. Maybe Sway would work as a replacement?

For games, use Steam and Lutris Flatpaks. Should make it pretty simple.

It removes more proprietary binary blobs and I dont care about gapps.

I heard that he was a scammer or pseudo privacy expert from other comments. I wouldn’t recommend that phone. If you care about the privacy or security of your device, use DivestOS with a supported Pixel/OnePlus, or GrapheneOS with a Pixel. Only buy the phone new if you are super paranoid of some zero-day vulnerability being used on you. I recommend swappa.com because they have quality control, returns, and good prices for used devices (you can even get mint quality devices).

Comparison of Android ROMs: https://eylenburg.github.io/android_comparison.htm

iodeOS has been behind on security updates often (still better security against unsophisticated attacks than Ubuntu but not a good ROM): https://divestos.org/pages/patch_history

My recommendation is GOS if you care about out of box experience and using gapps, DivestOS if you care about degoogling and removal of proprietary code. Both are hardened.