I agree and it would be much better if people would use Signal instead of WhatsApp, but I think there's still one problem.

Due to how messaging platforms work, every time you switch you lose pretty much everything (messages, media, etc)
This makes switching very hard even for a nerd like me, because if Signal is not "perfect" it means that I will have to switch again at some point and lose everything again.

any proofs?

signal requires a phone number and won't even allow you to send sms to those that aren't on signal.

its better, but still not great.

You can save any media you care about. And Signal can backup your chats if that history is important to you.

Nah, that would be Matrix, XMPP, DeltaChat or SimpleX

Thats a problem with silos (where one owner hosts all the servers) in general. You will have to switch the entire ecosystem once the inevitable enshitification sets in. It's a good idea to switch to something open source and federated (where many different non profit organisations and even self hosting individuals host many different servers).
That way you can migrate your history and contacts to another server of necessary but never have to switch the ecosystem again. Think it how email works, it's the best known federated system. If you don't like you email provider anymore you can just chose another one and still keep your contacts and messages on a client like Thunderbird forever.
Xmpp and matrix are the hottest candidates in my opinion, but you can check the messenger matrix that was linked in a comment above to see what suits you best.

Fair. There is Molly on fdroid if you like.

A truly ethical replacement would not need a phone number

It used to function as a fallback SMS/MMS messenger (like how iMessage does) but when Google started moving to convert Android from SMS/MMS to RCS Signal made the hard decision to cut the fallback functionality rather than follow Google's new framework.

I personally hope once the dust settles Signal designs a RCS engine and restores the fallback functionality.

No. XMPP would be the best choice.

You can download the APK once from the website, after that it updates automatically.
https://signal.org/android/apk/

Wish more of my contact list would switch over to Signal. It's nearly the same. I don't see why it's so hard for some people to just start using Signal instead of WhatsApp.

Oh well.

Wish more of my contact list would switch over to Signal. It's nearly the same. I don't see why it's so hard for some people to just start using Signal instead of WhatsApp.

Oh well.

signal requires a phone number and won't even allow you to send sms to those that aren't on signal.

its better, but still not great.

Because people are beyond stupid. "i dont want to download another app" - while having an app for almost every other store and bullshit game and whatever

Jami*

Matrix isn’t necessarily p2p

I think what they really mean is "I don't want another account".

There is threema, a Swiss messenger that gained some popularity earlier since they had end to end encryption before whatsapp.

Unfortunately the source code is not open (even though they do get annual audits with public reports), and the client costs 3 EUR or something (once).