I'm the same way. I rarely have even used the web browser on mine, and only have the Walmart app installed (because where I am, it's the only place to shop.) When I read the Permissions on other apps, I change my mind. It seems that apps are solely designed for me to install spyware on my phone.
I'm glad you posted this. I would not have known. I guess I'll be hanging onto my phone for a while, until they intentionally make the "gotta have it to connect" software incompatible with legacy hardware.
I have an old 'smart' phone that I use for phone calls and texting. texting took a while to get into. They are short and sweet and rarely contain government secrets. But the phone keeps offering upgrades and apps which I ignore. Eventually they are installed and sometimes I can figure out how to uninstall. I think chrome is trying to 'link my devices' This should prove interesting.
I also still have an iPhone 11 and it works fine. I figure as long as they are updating the OS there's no reason to upgrade hardware. I don't use my phone a lot so it still looks and works like new. I have not gone to iOS 18 because I read on a car forum that people's "CarPlay" and other features are broken after the upgrade. I don't want to deal with that right now. I have read that there is a real up-tick in the market for old style flip phones, though. I always loved my little plain flip phone.
I’ve looked around and learned 2 or 3 things. Apple is releasing IA features a little at a time. Apparently Siri is first and it’s for certain phones and in iOS 18. I used to be really eager for a new phone when my boss paid for it and it didn’t have scary features but not anymore. The main updates I want are security updates. When I can’t get those anymore i will do something for sure. The thing I’m watching on my 11 is battery health. It’s still ok and the battery can be replaced so I should be fine just watching all this play out. Maybe I won’t need a flip phone after all.