I cannot use a custom ROM as I need apps that sadly enforce the Google Play Integrity API, and no GrapheneOS with Google Play Services dose not passes this check.
I am stuck between an iPhone and a Google Pixel.
I have government apps and a work app on my phone that I do not want to route through a VPN or any other type of proxy(All apps are in the Android privet spaces). The only thing I need to go through a VPN/proxy is my browser (I know brave have a VPN in their browser but I don’t want to use or pay for it and the DuckDuckGo vpn is system wide and the Firefox vpn does not have a Firefox exstention on iOS or android). I need to be able to change countries myself (I don’t think you can do that with Apple’s Private Relay), as I live in the EU and ID checks for social media, other things, and maybe even Wikipedia are coming soon. Android support split tunneling but iOS don’t.
I need to have Facebook Messenger installed on my phone and active all the time (I cannot put it into the private space feature on Android).
I use another service for mail and backup, so iCloud end-to-end encryption is not a plus for me.
I don’t communicate much over SMS, but I would be able to chat over iMessage instead of Facebook Messenger with some contacts.
Work phones are unfortunately rare, at least in my field. The number of people who put work apps on their personal phones without a second thought and expect I do the same is astonishing.
I don’t find it surprising, since its not too common a thing for the average person to even consider it could not be ideal. Does lead to some concerning situations though like doing personal projects on a work device that could end up being considered now property of the company.