We've got all these devs volunteering time to these FOSS projects but rarely do we have people whose role is to figure out what users want. Devs tend to design from the perspective of "what features do "I" care about" which isn't always aligned with what users care about.

What's not easy about Signal, though? :c

You know what's funny, Snapchat is and always was a confusing mess of a service. Didn't stop it.

It's not ease of use that closed-source brings, it's a brand image. Companies like Apple, MS, Amazon, spend millions annually on shaping their brand. That image makes people feel at ease. It provides context, trust and a sense of familiarity and security because "why would Apple ever spy on me, they are a publicly traded company used by billions?" is more favourable than "oh some geeks made this thing in their basement and can watch me??"

I dont think so, Apple Google Meta and Microsoft have to grow their revenue so they will have to make their service either more expensive or crappier. And I think, at some point, this will drive people to open source alternatives. Or atleast I hope so