While I do agree that UI changes like Liquid Glass are absolutely ridiculous (feels like designers must justify their existence), I don't feel like the UI is "getting eroded". Actually the smartphone UI has been stable for years now. If it works, I don't see a reason to change.

Obviously smartphones tend to converge to something that is seen as optimal. Just like cars did. There was a wide variety of cars in the beginning, and now really all cars are pretty much the same.

I know that there is a lot of talk about the side loading, but I am absolutely convinced that normies couldn't care less. For those who care, we need alternatives. And with GrapheneOS (allowing side loading) partnering with Motorola, I think we are in a pretty good place. Same with Pixels: don't like the whole AI stuff? Just install GrapheneOS.

Finally, I wouldn't say that "Samsung absolutely dominates the space" by selling 25% of Android phones. There are quite a few Android manufacturers representing the remaining 75%, which is a lot healthier than e.g. browsers.