Why not something akin to "fixed-offset cursor"? Actual cursor/pointer is always a centimeter above the finger position (thus always visible [bottom of the screen to be handled as a special case]), and finger movements manipulate position, while hold duration accesses alternate modes.
For a somewhat similar implementation (touchscreen is essentially handled as touchpad) look at how Teamviewer handles remote sessions to Windows desktop from smartphones.
I would really like any/all of those as a toggle-on mode for use on Android itself... selecting text with arthritis fingers is a pain – literally and figuratively.
Not an answer to your question, but a vent-rant:
95% of anti-Musk "jabs" are reality and facts, and way over-shouted by Musk's fanatics, butt-kissers, and followers of his cult of personality. I have personally tried to set record straight with multiple instances of people in my private life (with legal documents, news clippings, timelines...) – nothing helps, they always find an excuse for him, it's like a bloody religion. And I'm sick of uncritical and butt-kissing media coverage, his fan club, and his egomaniacal loud existence.
In complete agreement with above; same source. Ever since he became a president, he's been spewing crap everywhere, and daily spats with/at prime minister (who's a special kind of "tool" , of course) or whoever would be the flavour of the day, are essentially "his normal" now.
If you are ever to pursue such a project, please pay close attention to proper electronic circuit design and safeguards when it comes to relays. Otherwise, you risk burning out the controlling pins or the whole system, due to reverse voltage (measured in hundreds) that is generated by the relay's coil when the relay is turned off.
The easiest approach is to just use a commonly available relay modules used with Arduino or similar platforms/microcontrollers, as they already contain minimum or all protection mechanisms. So, the module will contain the reversed diode in parallel with the relay, while additional transistor and optocoupler will allow you a complete galvanic isolation of the controlling- from the and relay circuit.
YouTube has plenty of user-friendly resources with schematics and functional overviews, just search for "relay module" or "relay arduino".
Get IKEA's LADDA rechargeable NiMH, they are a rebrand of Eneloops, the some of the highest quality NiMH batteries available, and are made in Japan; all tests on YouTube and elsewhere consistently put them at the top of the line.
They have very low self-dishcharge rate (and even come precharged in packaging) and with recharge cycles ranging from 500 (for the highest capacity 2450 mAh AA ones) to up to 1000 (for 750 mAh AA/1900 mAh AAA ones). Also, they do not leak.
Oh my FSM! This brings some very, very early, and almost forgotten memories! Of fiddling with limited demo version of this, and it seeming so magical to my kid's eyes way back then... :)
I'm certain I'll be fine, and survive without flat Earthers, 5G-causes-COVID, and similar ilk. That's a critical lack of, ironically, critical thinking skills in windmill-type people that this Don Quixote instance considers not worth time nor nerves fighting with nor for.
"Is there such a thing as a TUI launcher out there? Something that allows fuzzy search of program names, tags and a short description (using something akin to .desktop files for the application metadata)."
I've been looking for GUI launcher/software-catalog solution for Windows with those characteristics.
We all know of SponsorBlock and its user-submitted segments for the YouTube videos, right?
Well, can't we build the similar addon and the crowd-sourced database, but one that would submit specific rule (page elements, and click order) to block everything - incl. "legitimate interest" bullshitery- except the barest of essential cookies?
I completely agree, most of the Major Websites (TM) are as user-hostile as it gets. But, the "bypasses" (to try to encircle all approaches with a single term) would require constant vigilance and updates, the ever-lasting game of cat & mouse, not to mention possibility of lawsuits or other shenanigans by the said Websites.
Honestly, I'd donate certain amount every month and support the effort, if it was a very wide-service/website encompassing, and would give logical end-user easily/very customizable behaviours within options, easy for the everyday Joes, and that it wouldn't treat its power users as garbage.
And here's an idea for a starting recipe for every website: a library of set of actions that would run on the first visit and would result in decline/block for each and every cookie category and "partner" (and no, there is no such thing as "legitimate uses", GTFO), since most websites either roll their own ot customize some existing solutions (from what I see), but usually invert/dark pattern options and choices to a certain degree (usually "to hell").