That "OS should be coherent" argument would work if android itself was providing all those options.
But it's not.
Go to AOSP source and the "phone app" you'll find there is deprecated, ugly crap that no one ever uses.
The 'nice' one is just a google app that's not only closed source, but equally bloated as the samsung's one.
People give google's apps this weird pass, as it's not the same kind of bloat as the manufacturers one, but there is no reason to treat them differently.
This is increasingly true as Google is moving further and further away from AOSP, and I think it's eroding the appeal of Android as a whole.
That said, at least Google apps talk to just Google. Samsung apps for example have been shown to connect to numerous different analytics services and ad networks even if you spring for the most expensive devices they sell which isn't great.
Go to AOSP source and the "phone app" you'll find there is deprecated, ugly crap that no one ever uses.
The 'nice' one is just a google app that's not only closed source, but equally bloated as the samsung's one.
People give google's apps this weird pass, as it's not the same kind of bloat as the manufacturers one, but there is no reason to treat them differently.