Yes, just like on a phone you need screen lock (password, PIN or pattern) in order to use it.

There will always be such requirement on Android, since from what I remember screen lock’s pass/PIN/pattern is somehow used in the process of getting encryption key that decrypts and encrypts data such as Google Pay payment data.

Looking at how it is in my country, air quality data is too fragmented currently for weather apps to include reliably. Some cities don’t have any sensors with public data, some have only private ones or private ones that give data only via their manufacturer paid API. Those private ones can also be anywhere, so may not provide good data (looking at them here I sometimes think people put them inside their homes) and can be turned off anytime. Only a handful have government sensors with public API.

I wonder if they will ever bring back download progress in the taskbar icon :(

Sure you can, but you must have quite an audience for devs and publishers to care enough to make and optimize games for your platform. Apple does not have it on Mac side as they are too pricey in terms of what they offer performance wise in case of games.

You will get a Windows laptop with much better performance for less money and most gamers (those interested in AAA games at least) usually care about the price, only a niche buys those Alienwares for 10k (and they on the other hand want the best of the best, which Apple also does not offer as their GPUs are at best around 3060/3070 level).

I don’t see Apple changing the price structure anytime soon, so I don’t see their market share changing. With current pricing they are too expensive for an average gamer and are not at the top of performance charts for a rich gamer.