MicroG is not an alternative store, it's an alternative to Play Services.
Aurora Store is 3rd party client for Google Play Store while MicroG is open source implementation of Google libraries so they are not quite comparable.
I'd say MicroG with Aurora Store is most private you can be if you really need to use Google services. You can use Aurora Store with anonymous Google Account that they provide you and MicroG is only sharing necessary data with Google servers.
What's "necessary data"?
Data only needed for that specific service to function
If the app declares it needs location even though it's not needed (say it's a text editor) will microg filter it out and/or provide fake data?
I think it provides fake data but don't take my word.
Upvoted only because the comment got downvoted.
If you downvote a clearly stated opinion without clarifying why, e.g. a source clarifying that it is indeed no correct you are NOT helping the conversation.
Fdroid. No, seriously, none of the above. fdroid is the only option here.
Unfortunately a lot of apps are not on the FDroid stores which is why people, me included, rely on other stores.
I always look at FDroid first but sometimes (hopefully less and less) the only apps (typically commercial ones, e.g. banking) are elsewhere.
Use the websites whenever possible, instead of having to download another app, especially a commercial closed source one.
Indeed, honestly most apps should just be URLs.
My bank website would not let me do everything that the app would let me do, so I switched banks.
Nice, hopefully they are aware that former clients are moving away from them because they don't find their solution appropriate. I should do the same.
I hope you left feedback about this specific issue when leaving.
GrapheneOS is far far better than CalyxOS in all categories
https://github.com/Droid-ify/client
Can use any open-android store repository, including IzzyOnDroid and F-Droid. It's the only real choice.
What I can tell u (as a normie) is that a few weeks ago I bought a refurbished google pixel 7, installed Calyx OS (via the web browser installer) with MicroG and I've been using f-droid and Aurora Store (without a google account) since then and I haven't had any issues with any app, for example, the banking ones
Micro G is the worst option as it requires privileged access to your phone. This is the same major privacy issue with the regular Play Store. The only real difference is your shifting trust from Google to Micro G but, you shouldn't be trusting any third party with that type of access.
Aurora is a decent option as it allows you access to the Play Store without needing to actually install the Google Play Client.
I would say sandboxed Google Play is the best option. You get full access to the play store while still having the protections of a sandboxed app.
A lot of people will offer f-droid as an alternative but it also comes with some big issues. I'll quote privacy guides here
Due to their process of building apps, apps in the official F-Droid repository often fall behind on updates. F-Droid maintainers also reuse package IDs while signing apps with their own keys, which is not ideal as it gives the F-Droid team ultimate trust. Additionally, the requirements for an app to be included in the official F-Droid repo are less strict than other app stores like Google Play, meaning that F-Droid tends to host a lot more apps which are older, unmaintained, or otherwise no longer meet modern security standards.
Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.
In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.
much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)