I don't really care about 'stock', tbh. It just needs to run the apps I want to run, and it's nice if it can also take decent photos. I would also strongly prefer for it to preserve my privacy, but I realize that's kind of a wash between Google and Apple.
How so? Google collects more data in absolute terms, but Apple collects quite a lot of data too. Neither of them can be said to be a truly privacy-conscious choice.
You originally said "it's kind of a wash between [them]".
I think most enquiring minds would disagree that there isn't much between them on this matter. You're staking out a fairly extreme stance on this topic. Nothing wrong with that - but don't sound surprised when people disagree.
Well, which one of the two do you consider particularly privacy-preserving?
Referencing the paper I linked, they both collect IMEIs, hardware serial numbers, SIM serial numbers, phone numbers, device IDs, telemetry, cookies, and MAC addresses of nearby devices. iOS additionally collects your location and local IP address. All this data is transmitted even when opted out of telemetry.
