[a_nop]

People get along fine without accounts in FAANG. You don't even need an account to use many Google services.

[trashtester]

Increasingly, even public agencies require/assume people to have a smartphone now, either an iPhone or an Android.

At that point, you literally cannot live as an adult in the society without FAANG dependence, even if it's a third party Android phone, at least not legally.

[toomim]

You can't download apps on your phone without logging into a FAANG account in the app store.

[smeej]

This is patently false.

I've been using GrapheneOS with F-droid and Aurora Store without logging into a Google account for years.

I've yet to run into a single thing I either couldn't use or couldn't work around.

[franciscop]

Who lives fine without a smartphone today? See your sibling comment for an example.

[rex_gallorum2]

I do. I am beginning to feel the costs though. Even telling people that I don't have one is getting a bit awkward. Imagine the look of incomprehension.

A lot of people talk about 'needing' a smartphone for services/stuff I have never used, and probably would never use. I suppose I just kept living my life as I did before the 2010s, while everyone else changed. I was already in my 30s at that time, so not subject to the same social pressures a younger person would have felt, so perhaps it was easier.

[zogrodea]

I do in the UK (use a desktop for digital services), but I will need a phone next year after my current contract ends since employers like to have a chat via phone after applications.

[cobbaut]

I do.

[taxcoder]

Here, desktop for online services, flip phone when traveling, VOIP for most phone usage.