After updating to Android 5.1.1 (to patch the Stagefright vulnerability found about a month ago), the camera app and photo viewing has been slowly bricking itself.

First, the Photos app shut itself off, demanding to be updated. I haven't updated it because the new Photos app automatically uploads photos to Google and I wasn't able to find clear instructions on how to disable it.

This was already a major pain because it means I have to view photos and videos through the Camera app (scrolling through them in sequence).

Just today I found that the camera app refuses to play recorded videos, instead giving an error message "Can't play video".

There's no option to open videos with anything else. I'm looking for any of these solutions:
-Any way to stop Google Photos from uploading anything. Actually I would like to disable cloud integration for anything that doesn't strictly need it.
-Fix for camera app/alternative video player.
-New camera app with built-in option to view photos and videos.

If I have to get new apps, I would prefer a paid app, because the free ones almost always collect data or spawn ads.

I've spent well over an hour looking for any solution and none of the search engines find one because they're incompetent and would rather send me irrelevant/unrelated links.

My phone is a Google Nexus 4.
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My advice to everyone:

If you can afford it, get an iPhone.
Otherwise, get a feature phone and an iPod Touch.

I used to like Android OS because it doesn't lock the end-user into a centralized app store.

With the recent problems, Android OS has turned into a choice between either having your apps bricked, updating apps so they upload all your stuff to the cloud, refusing to update and having a vulnerable device, or using third-party apps to regain lost functionality (and third-party apps may have advertisemants or other crap thrown in).

IMO the days of good Android OS are over. It's been getting worse until I can no longer recommend it.