ex-AOSP dev here> Hiding their app icon from launcher...
Well, apps that don't have a declared launchable (homescreen) UI don't get these icons. Granted it has been abused by spyware apps to "hide" from unsuspecting users, but you'll find these in Android's Settings app.
> One app would install other apps from the same company in the background without user consent.
I doubt installation without user consent is possible at all in Android 9+. Afaik, only Google PlayStore (or other OEM embedded stores) have permissions to silent install, as it were. And I haven't seen anyone allege PlayStore silently installing apps. See also: https://www.xda-developers.com/android-14-background-install...
> Multiple apps will wake each other so they always stay in the background and become impossible to kill
One can Force Stop an app to make sure no component (service, activity, recievers, or resolvers) can run in the background, until the user explicitly starts the app process again via the Launcher.
Android also limits background processes, tracks per-app CPU and memory use to limit it, and "caches" processes aggresively if need be (puts their threads to sleep so they aren't executing anything but could be resumed quickly).
> Requesting every permission under the sun and transmit as much info to the mothership as possible
The Trust on First Use model has been taken to the cleaners by Android apps hell bent on tracking their users. Starting Android 12 though, Android auto removes permissions granted from installed apps user hasn't interacted with.
> Secretly turning on the camera and film their users
Android 13+ has camera and mic indicators. And for earlier versions, even if inconvenient for end users to setup, there exist open source apps that continuously log cam or mic access from other apps.
None of this is perfect, mind you; but I wanted to point out that Android has been responding to growing privacy concerns: https://security.googleblog.com/2022/12/app-defense-alliance...
> Hiding their app icon from launcher...
Well, apps that don't have a declared launchable (homescreen) UI don't get these icons. Granted it has been abused by spyware apps to "hide" from unsuspecting users, but you'll find these in Android's Settings app.
> One app would install other apps from the same company in the background without user consent.
I doubt installation without user consent is possible at all in Android 9+. Afaik, only Google PlayStore (or other OEM embedded stores) have permissions to silent install, as it were. And I haven't seen anyone allege PlayStore silently installing apps. See also: https://www.xda-developers.com/android-14-background-install...
> Multiple apps will wake each other so they always stay in the background and become impossible to kill
One can Force Stop an app to make sure no component (service, activity, recievers, or resolvers) can run in the background, until the user explicitly starts the app process again via the Launcher.
Android also limits background processes, tracks per-app CPU and memory use to limit it, and "caches" processes aggresively if need be (puts their threads to sleep so they aren't executing anything but could be resumed quickly).
> Requesting every permission under the sun and transmit as much info to the mothership as possible
The Trust on First Use model has been taken to the cleaners by Android apps hell bent on tracking their users. Starting Android 12 though, Android auto removes permissions granted from installed apps user hasn't interacted with.
> Secretly turning on the camera and film their users
Android 13+ has camera and mic indicators. And for earlier versions, even if inconvenient for end users to setup, there exist open source apps that continuously log cam or mic access from other apps.
None of this is perfect, mind you; but I wanted to point out that Android has been responding to growing privacy concerns: https://security.googleblog.com/2022/12/app-defense-alliance...