Okay. I am seriously considering dumping Matrix as well. This is stupid and frustrating and frustratingly stupid.

Signal improved their game by allowing users to use a username and not disclose their phone numbers, but they really need to provide an alternative for those who cannot or will not provide a phone number at all. This is the one really stupid decision that needs to be fixed for Signal to be viable.

I just want to chat with varied critters and things online and all the software I could use for that sucks.

That said, everyone who was using Telegram should be using Signal instead. It's centralized and you have to provide your phone number, just like Telegram, but the encryption is actually good and it supports stickers too.