The internal privacy switches largely defeat their own purpose

Just got a Pinephone. When I first heard about these a few years ago I thought I'd be able to keep my microphone off most of the time and then turn it on if I needed to take a call. I knew before buying this that the switches had moved inside the case for the current version; I figured I'd have to call the person back after a minute or so.

What I didn't realize was that the case is pretty difficult to take off (edit: not after you take it off a few times though) and the switches are guarded by black plastic ribs so you cannot get to the switches with your fingernail and must use some other tool. I guess I can put some kind of small pick on my keychain, but I'm highly annoyed with this design. The killer feature that sold me on the product turns out to be a big headache to use, and I can't even guess why--what do the ribs accomplish that the case itself does not?