yeah the android thing is a huge privacy hole. getting a custom OS like Lineage, Calyx, or Graphene should be in everyone’s top 3 first things to do. it will plug a lot of holes.
dont worry. this step isnt super difficult, definitely not a losing battle. just take it one step at time! i did the same, and i feel like im in a good place now, so it’s definitely doable :)
simplex uses relays/servers, but incoming and outgoing messages are configured to pass through separate servers. you can see this in the network settings