Don't use apps with ads then? Or set up an ad blocker.
Root access, that is, being admim of your own device.
That's just how most Android versions are shipped. It's still technically possible to get root access, and really enjoy every privilege of Linux. Not all devices allow using a custom OS though, sadly
Do you have any sources or docs on that? Sounds pretty backwards but also new to me. I pretty recently tried to download images (using Glide) without any special permissions and it failed since the app was missing the android.permission.INTERNET declaration (just like HeliBoard)
Any way/plans to make it an almost 1:1 Gboard replacement including layout and Material You styling support? I use FlorisBoard with Gboardish rn to achieve that, but it's got some issues like missing word suggestions
It doesn't even declare any network access permissions (and according to the README's policy, it won't in the future), so it couldn't even be a keylogger.
They have like 3 different, official codebases and clients (and so many 3rd party ones) for so many platforms. No other app I know of is like that, not really a great example imo
Man that rule is such bullcrap. Imagine a photo editor that only allowed you to edit your own pictures and only those matching the app's content rating.
Private DNS since Android 9 can do that without root access afaik, like with AdGuard's public service