Signal is great!

I remember when it was trash in like 2013, but it's been something I recommend to family and friends since at least 2020. UI is clean, modern, and uncluttered IMO.

Not sure I've ever seen Signal push anything crypto related.

Telegram is "pinky promise" secure with a closed source encryption mechanism. I love that it was created by the guy who created VK and fled Russia when the oligarchy wanted control, but that was years ago. Signal is fully open source, including its encryption.

They store no information on users, not even metadata like phone numbers, and this is documented in the blog posts they make when governments get mad about it after their requests for user data can't be filled.

The fact that you need a phone number to sign up bothered me early on, but over time I've realized how helpful it is from a UX perspective. Friends and family want to be able to connect to their contacts directly – not ask for a username.