For visa holders and green cards they have been doing that for a decade at least, I wonder if it is optional for them too.

Regarding opting out, we should. It is inconvenient, we get faces, but we should.

1. The more scans they get of your face (age, expressions,…) , the more accurate their profile of you will be…
2. To make an statement. If we just accept these things, they will keep pushing for more.

I presume the concern is governments banning apps left and right so a federated repository will be mostly immune from that. But you are right, technologically is not as straight forward.

What surprised me is that F-Droid is avoided by many FOSS enthusiasts (due to signing it themselves so delayed updates and potential tampering). Aurora is great but 100% on Google’s merci and Google frequently cuts its winds. Did not know Aptoide was community based… have to check it out.