> Thing is that Android is probably no more secure than a standard desktop experience specifically due to the very uncontained Play Store, the prevalence of sideloading apps and rooting doesn't really help at all.

This is completely untrue. There is lot more to OS security than where software can be downloaded from. The point about root and sideloading is completely missing the point as those are even worse on desktop operating systems. On desktops you can basically run whatever from wherever and there is usually no sandboxing at all. On Android, there is a strict sandbox and you can't run whatever you want. Android is not rooted by default.

Every app is strictly sandboxed on Android, point me to a desktop OS that has anything close to that. Every process is confined using SELinux policies on Android, which desktop OS has as strict MAC setup? Android has a proper, working verified boot, which desktop OS has something similar? Not to mention all the other hardening and exploit mitigations that are usually completely missing from standard desktop operating systems.