Agreed on all points.

I really, really appreciate what Signal is doing, and used it for a while, had some success converting people, then they dropped SMS support. That killed any ability to get more converts, and existing users left. I keep it around as a fallback for exactly 2 people.

The UI part of this problem is massive, especially initial setup. It's why SMS is still primary in the US - people can't be bothered. It's so frustrating.

It's also why I'm looking to host my own, with SimpleX in the lead (for now). Since I'll manage it, I can mitigate that setup/management pain somewhat (at least for family and close friends). Perhaps that's the way to get the onto something else. I'm also hoping SimpleX will continue to improve the user experience, especially around multiple devices.

I'm still considering messengers, and it'll be probably end of the year before I do anything.