There are a ton of things to be upset at Apple for, but as someone who would never consider owning an iPhone I do understand where they were coming from. The problem was the aging batteries no longer being able to source sufficient current to run the processor at full speed. Since the batteries in iPhones are nearly impossible to replace this meant the phones would crash whenever performing a demanding task leaving much of the battery capacity unusable and the phone e-waste. By throttling the processor they reduced the current peaks and allowed these phones to continue operating.

My Moto G4 had the exact same thing happen, but without a software update to throttle the phone and hide the issue from me it started to crash all the time. I simply replaced the battery, but for most people the only option in this case would be to buy a new phone.

Apple probably should have made it an option even if enabled by default on phones with aged batteries. That way you’d need to acknowledge the risk of running at full speed again and not be upset when the inevitable crashes come. Of course Apple being Apple they refused to give the consumer the option so simply throttled them all.

Despite the outcry claiming the opposite, I’d bet that decision significantly reduced the amount of phone waste from non tech savvy consumers.

Tasker has a similar companion app, it just doesn’t work with as many things on my Pixel 8 Pro as Macrodroid. The only phone automation I rely on anymore is Wifi hotspot toggling based on connected Bluetooth devices, which Tasker is incapable of now even with the companion app. I really don’t know how Macrodroid does it.

Of the automation apps my preferred UI Automate with its flows. It allows the complexity of Tasker without becoming unreadable as the automations become big. It’s harder to edit and even worse without root than Tasker.

It’s still a cat and mouse game between Google and playintegrityfix/next. If you need to rely on your phone at any time rooting isn’t really an option anymore. I don’t see Google changing to be less hostile toward device automation unfortunately.

We really need a 3rd competitor or better workaround. It would be cool if you could have a virtual Android device inside a rooted device to run apps requiring safetynet. But that’s way way way easier said than done.

It’s not even just banking apps anymore. Tons of libraries just check by default before allowing apps using them to run. I can’t use my local transit agency’s app with root, not can I order a fast food burger.

It barely works for Android 14+ without root. Macrodroid has much better compatibility for whatever reason.

Unfortunately rooting while passing safetynet verification is very hard or impossible lately depending on the device. If apps didn’t unnecessarily check safetynet status this wouldn’t be a problem, but since so many now the rooted phone effectively becomes a brick. I really miss the days of custom ROMs and full device automation without stupid workarounds. Unfortunately, I don’t think there’s any going back without app developers getting on board with an alternative to Google-verified security on Android.