Fossify – A suite of open-source, ad-free apps

I use them and like them. One thing to be aware of with the dialer (that might not be unique to Fossify): when dialing the number of an emergency service (like 112 in Germany), there is no indication in the app's UI that something is happening and it looks as if the call failed and you will be back looking at the dial pad, even though the call will eventually be connected. The reason is that these types of calls get handled by something deeper in the Android system and will show up neither in the "calling" UI of the dialer nor in the list of calls.

My phone crashing when I dialed 911 after a car accident was the reason I stopped messing around with android roots and custom roms and whatnot. When it comes to my phone being a phone, I need it to Just Work(tm)!

My personal motivation for doing these things is precisely because the device doesn't just work™ out of the box. If it was sufficient at its job, such hacks would not be required. It's because it isn't that they are reached for.

Yes, the current trade-off seems to be that stuff like that can break. That isn't the desired state, but it is what was prescribed by the manufacturer who seemingly has an interest in making the device less functional than it could be.