Indeed, Signal is nice, a bit lagging in features with respect to Telegram for example, and there are no Group admins which can lead to annoying situations (someone gets a new number, you keep getting error messages until the owner removes himself.) But it's minimal, fast and you have end-to-end encryption with no one storing you phone book (afaik). Self erasing messages can also be handy. I must admit I use that mainly to communicate to myself... for password or wallet public keys etc (desktop app to mobile and vice versa).

I have also noticed that even phone calls to the other side of the world are crystal clear, really nice.

They have made big improvements in their iOS app.

One resolved issue that impacted usability was they used to send pics from the selector screen without confirmation, and this resulted in some funny/awkward situations in group chats.

Winning people's confidence back is not easy to do, but they have done a remarkable job.

I gave Signal a try the other day and the installation and daily usage has been easy and straightforward, very similar to Viber, WhatsApp, etc. I just like the idea of a privacy first messaging app where I can send gifs through Gboard.

My (non-technical) friends have found Signal to be mostly easy to use. You should give it a try yourself!

I have been pushing people towards Telegram (I have never tried Signal).

It works a lot like WhatsApp so I don't think anybody has been confused by it.