The background first / Questions follow:
I confess to being a privacy nut, but with only slightly-technical knowledge so, if you would like to help, PLEASE assume I'm mostly ignorant, and please don't assume I automatically know where something you mention resides, or how to download or enable ... I probably need step-by-step instructions, thanks.
By the way, really good privacy solutions ... like GOS ... need to be easy enough for everyone, and SO much normie-er, and not a down-the-rabbit-hole process, so everyone can middle-finger the app spies!
GOS was actually a surprisingly easy (web) install, but the rest ... not so much. I find lots of feature information online or YouTube, for example, but not much current setup/usage info. As an example, the GOS usage guide doesn't seem to address the following issues. Maybe I haven't found the right sites.
1) APP STORES ...
I switched from Samsung to GOS on Pixel 9 about a month ago, and had some "non-network-reliant" apps on my
Samsung that I want to use again, and I will be careful with allowed permissions.
I managed to install default GOS App Store, Accrescent, Obtainium, Aurora and sandboxed Google Play.
Using GOS App Store, Aurora, and sandboxed Google Play was easy but:
a) **Obtainium**: I'm mystified by how to use Obtainium. I see Obtainium itself and Aurora listed in the app,
but adding an app is a mystery to me ... for example, getting Seedvault and F-Droid. I couldn't get anywhere.
(_More questions about Seedvault below_.)
(F-Droid is where I obtained some of my old apps that I trust and want again.)
b) **Accrescent**: Is it just limited to those 18 apps listed?
c) **APKs**: If I want to download and install an APK, how would/should I handle that
(source site, install permissions, etc.)?
2) BACKUP ...
a) I'm confused by this ... I put a USB stick in about a month ago, and appear to have a backup from that date
(by looking at the System-->Backup settings). Although, yes, I have a restore-key saved, I can't remember how I
started that first backup ... and with the USB stick re-installed, GOS doesn't seemed to automatically begin a
fresh backup (I can see the original backup folders on the stick using Files), and I can't find a way to force one.
System-->Backup continues to report the original backup date. Please let me know how to update this backup.
b) Is that original backup that I did a GOS-default, and is that default actually Seedvault?
(I didn't, separately, obtain Seedvault.)
c) Is another backup app preferable and, if so, how would I obtain and install it?
3) PROFILE NOTIFICATIONS ...
If I install an extra profile called, say, "Google Apps":
a) If I'm currently in "Owner", will I see a notification from "Google Apps"?
And, conversely, if I'm currently in "Google Apps", will I be able to see a notification from "Owner"?
If either direction is not default behavior, is there a way to enable the crossover notifications?
Thanks in advance for any help!