On app stores
One of the less endearing things about Android phones is that Google is all over them. (And if you're feeling smug about your iPhone, let me tell ya). In particular, there's the Play Store, where you get all those lovely apps that have essential information about you like your shoe size and where you were last night, things that of course Google would never tell anybody else about.
But the Play Store isn't the only game in town. F-Droid is a well-stocked repository of free and open source apps for your Android phone.
For instance, there's Newpipe , the app I use to watch Youtube videos outside Youtube itself, so no tracking, etc. By the way, on the desktop there's Freetube which does the same thing.
Today I installed AntennaPod , an open, non-commercial podcast player that allows you to subscribe to any RSS feed. And if you don't know what RSS is, you're not alone. It's the greatest thing since sliced bread, and it deserves an entire post to itself, which is coming very shortly.