Re: Why is this shocking?
Sorry that is horseshite.
"Even things like disk encryption have been half-assed." Please explain. My 5x had hardware backed full device encryption, same as iOS, and has done since android 5. and also the option of hardware backed file encryption. Since android 7, which has some significant advantages over apples offering.
https://source.android.com/security/encryption/
At least 2 of this month's May 2017 security update (which turned up last night on my device) were reported within this patch cycle..
You seem to want to move away from a monoculture, as long as someone else is willing to accept the shite Apple and Microsoft closed source stuff.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
