> The problem I see is that we're so glued to our phones, that I'd have to build my own hardware if I want to distribute my own software. Big tech is so ingrained into our daily lives that I feel powerless.
Yes. A possible solution to dependence on the tech hegemony is decentralization. Or, more generally, a sort of technical secession from the norm. This gives me the conclusion that the hacker spirit occurs in cycles or something. That there will be a sort of counter culture now like in the supposed early days of computing technology enthusiasm. I'm excited to see what technology, philosophies, and cultures will appear.
> Right now I do iOS dev, but at any time Apple can disable my account and my entire livelihood is gone.
Using any app store as a merchant can be reduced to a model of economics. The rules, terms of services, and costs and risks of doing business are just that. Costs and risks. The cost of adherence to another company's policies come with the benefits of using an app store, one benefit being easier distribution. Yes, you can see how this centralization implies certain conditions to watch out for and be familiar with. A rabbit hole of difficult knowledge if you have the motivation to learn your new craft.
> I don't mind using services like GCP or AWS, because the cases I hear of those platforms banning devs is few and far between. I also don't mind using something like Stripe for payments since I can in theory always replace them.
Like an app store, cloud hosting for providing a web app or services is like an engineering matter of balancing costs and advantages. For the most part, it's between the methods of building your own infrastructures, however you want or need, and renting, "essentially," being at the mercy of your new "landlords," as someone else once put it. Building your own Stripe or Amazon Web Services can maybe be the best solution, depending on your circumstances and goals.
> But if I make an iOS app, I am always scared I will wake up to bad news.
Being data driven might can help with this anxiety. Overall, you won't know if you don't try and acquire experience to see what is true or not.
> I used to be a writer, and my Google Adsense account got disabled 6 years ago. So I'm still living with that PTSD today. 6 years later and there's still few alternatives to Adsense.
There's some experience for you right here. If you remember why your Google Adsense account was disabled and if policies have not changed since then, you can see what works and what doesn't. And regarding alternatives there are viable alternatives, surely, considering there's likely a market for what Google Adsense provides on a fundamental level and a tech giant like Google can't be the only business in town.
> the tools that record every click and cursor movement are fascinating, but undeniably creep
That may not be so for a game developer who wants to modify gameplay that is heavy or reliant on things like particular mouse cursor movement and mouse click usage. Especially if a meticulous gameplay goal is the objective.