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Landed8507 I use Signal, without any Google Play stuff. Permissions are as follows: Camera, Contacts, Location, Microphone, Nearby devices, Network, Notifications, Phone, Photos and videos, Sensors, SMS. No local VPN on Pixel 7 Pro, but router based wireguard is in play while at home. No issues with notifications or sending / receiving GIFS. Not sure if it is relevant, but I get Signal as well as all the updates directly from https://www.signal.org/download/android/, as the version on their site allows me to receive messaging notifications without any of the Google stuff installed.
It's not that I don't have faith in the Graphene Dev Team, its more of an issue of I categorically don't trust Google, as well most of the big tech organizations. I value my privacy and am not able to accept them monetizing me without at least offering me a cut.