Retail phones for sale without Google Play Services:

All Huawei phones, which uses Huawei AppGallery after sanctions

FairPhone 6 /e/OS

Practically all modern feature phones: Nokia phones, HMD phones, etc. As I understand it, predominantly used by elderly and kids. But it's also gaining traction among millennials and Gen Z for digital detox and defeating mobile addiction.

Linux phones (Jolla Phone, PinePhone, FuriPhone, etc) - these you probably won't find in your local retail store but this is another competing platform being built from effectively an entirely different lineage minus the kernel

They're using their position to force people to buy a certified Android phone or iPhone in order to use millions of websites Google doesn't even own. People without a phone, people with dumb phones and alternative operating systems (deGoogled Android being just one example) can be totally cut off.

> because the EU currently doesn't want to antagonize US any more with their tech fines

Yeah, I say it as "because the US bully the EU to prevent them from doing it".

Alternative explanation: they're following the Meta playbook of releasing surveillance features during a "dynamic political environment" that's keeping their opponents distracted.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/technology/meta-facial-re...

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/10/google-meta-big-tech-6-billi... :

> April 2025: Apple fined €500 million for failing to comply with "anti-steering" obligations. Meta fined €200 million under the Digital Market Act for requiring users to consent to sharing their data with the company or pay for an ad-free service.

> December 2025: X fined €120 million under the Digital Services Act for breaching transparency obligations.

(Sure, not this year, but that's pretty recent by most standards. And not sure if they're still being contested and unpaid)

And recently, Google is working with the EU to avoid a fine: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-06/google-ma...