>Why do you want Apple to be in control of your device though?

I don't but I'm not hesitant to cede some control of my device to Apple in order to not be a technology janitor. I do not want absolute control of my device which is not even possible with any commercially available device anyway. (And no, Android does not give you absolute control of the device)

>Wouldn't you rather be able to let an app do something that it needs to, when you need it to?

Does Apple's current model really hamper any app to do something that it needs to, when I need it to?

>Or, would you honestly prefer Apple to make all of your decisions for you?

Again, I am happy to meet Apple in a middle ground where it makes some decisions for me and I make some decisions. I am happy to decide which apps gets access to contacts, notifications, location etc etc. What gives the assumption that you are in all control of decisions on an android device? Remove the Google Play Services and 3/4th of the ecosystem falls flats on its face.

>If you really want Apple to be in control of your devices and not you, that's fine... but can you understand why other people might not want that?

I totally get that part. I never denied that.

>Are there any Apple decisions that you disagree with?

Plenty. Touchbar is useless. Removal of headphone jack was rushed. Before iOS 8, I was practically in the android camp because iOS devices were severely limited then compared to now. iOS's notification game is weak. There is no need for iOS to block the whole screen for an incoming cellular call. Devices can get very difficult to repair.

>Also, how about a replacement for the most important apps?

You moved the goal posts. Original reply was against the assertion that apple does not permit certain apps because of "competition" which is not true. Otherwise Spotify, Evernote, Todoist etc won't exist. Greater than 3/4th of native apps have proper substitutes available in the App Store. You expanded the argument to include apps whose functionality is not replaceable because of ideological grounds or design choices. I never posited that Apple permits all apps. This would be akin to me demanding an alternative for Google Play Services with comparable functionality.
Anyways -

- Contacts -> Full Contacts
- Phone Dialer -> Simpler Dialer (Not a true replacement though)
- Message -> True. No Alternative as in you can't access SMS/iMessage
- Safari -> Chrome/Firefox. Does an ordinary user care if they are running Webkit or Gecko? V8 or Rhino? As long as you are getting the feature of your favourite browser (chrome syncs your data between devices just like safari would between apple devices) why do you care if its Chakra or v8? OTOH, I'm glad that Apple does not let Google roll it's own javascript engine in iOS Chrome. Otherwise surfing youtube on Chrome iOS would like garnish the battery life. This hits Android devices too which do not have a VPx capable hardware decoder.

>Can you even uninstall those? Are other apps even allowed to receive phone calls or SMS text? (To replace Safari - I'd require that it never get launched from a hyperlink in an SMS text message.)
No. You've got a valid point.

>I'd like to replace these because Apple only gives you the most bare-bones features for them and they strong-arm you into using Apple Maps and Safari from them. I'm guessing you're fine with that though.

I just sent a link on iMessage from my desktop to iPhone. Clicking on the link opens the location in Google Maps and not Apple Maps. If there's a specific case which forces Apple Maps I'd like to know. Every app I know and use (Outlook, food delivery, taxi services, online stores) force open Google Maps on my device and not Apple Maps. The only time I actually opened Apple Maps since owning an iPhone for 2 years is when I went to see if navigation is being provided in my area or not. Practically it doesn't exist for me. Even Apple's own Workflow app gives me Google Maps directions (I can choose between both when setting up the workflow)

>Pffft. Do you know the history of Apple? Their whole business model is a shenanigan on the users. I look forward to when their time is over.

Please give me concrete examples of "Their whole business model is a shenanigan on the users." There are few ups and downs but overall, interaction with Apple is much more pleasant than dealing with other tech companies. That they are expensive is not a shenanigan. You know what you are in for when you're purchasing an apple device. I've yet to see Apple engage in deceptive practices or misleading claims or gotachas like Sony which claimed all multimedia support on my TV but turns out only mp4 and mkv are supported on only an NTFS formatted partition. And if you are using a hard drive you can only use specific USB ports because not all ports provide maximum current. Half of this info was buried in the manual and half I had to figure out manually by taking a USB Voltmeter to my TV. Or like Canon which claimed "full compatibility across all Operating Systems" but turns out duplex printing is not supported on mac os or linux which was confirmed to me in a forum post. Or like Dell which claimed 2560x1440p @ 60hz on my monitor but conveniently failed to mention, on the box or in the quick start, that it's supported only on DP and if you've got to use HDMI then you have to go out of your way to create custom profiles and what not. This was not even mentioned in the manual and I had to scavenge for it in the dell forums.

The closest I've come to a "gotcha" with Apple is the lack of DP MST support in mac OS some years back and which was not readily confirmed in apple support article. The only other egregious issue I can remember is the refusal to acknowledge and fix the iPhone 6 bending issue. For all other issues, Apple generally came forth with an acceptable solution (like free bumper case for iPhone 4 cellular connectivity problems, free display replacements for the staingate thing, free motherboard replacements for the 2011/2012 Macbook Pro Graphic Card issues, 6s free battery replacement even after 3 years if you have the "defective" first batch phones). Unlike, say LG which threw a tantrum on replacing the motherboard of my mother's nexus 5x, or OnePlus which quoted a repair bill higher than the cost of a new device, or HTC which promised to repair the device in 3 days but delivered only after a fortnight, or Logitech which claimed to process a refund within a week but took 45 day. OTOH, I have had exactly one interaction with Apple support over the past 5 years and they replaced my phone in 24 hours (while claiming 7 days). And this is when Apple does not even sell directly to consumers in my country. I can only image what the support would be like when the middle men are removed. This is compounded by the fact that every other person in my close circle, who has interacted with Apple support, speaks highly of them. So my one single interaction is not an outlier.

>I look forward to when their time is over.
I look forward to that time too but alas, I'm pretty sure that I'd be gone from this earth by then.

Apple has its fair share of issues (tax avoidance, being stingy with new product launches etc; I can jot down a whole list) but hands down the products are a joy to use and the company pleasant to interact with, for an average consumer, compared to any other option available on the market.