I'm still testing so don't take this as authoritative. I went through the initial phase with a bootstrapped wallet but I think it's better to skip it if you have at least some sats. My most reliable private channel partner w/ mobile LND this year has been Megalithic's small channels node, and the only thing thwarting that would be high on-chain fees.

I think you can do something similar with Alby Hub (but I've not tested that at all.)