Signal is still the gold standard for normie-friendly E2E encryption. For secondary options: **SimpleX Chat** — No phone number or any identifier needed. Uses one-time links for contact exchange. Strongest metadata protection of any messenger. Open source. This is the top pick if you care about privacy beyond just content encryption. **Briar** — Works over Tor, WiFi, and Bluetooth. No servers at all in some modes. Great for protest/disaster scenarios but UX is rough. **Session** — Fork of Signal that removed phone numbers. Uses onion routing. Decent middle ground. **Nostr DMs (NIP-17)** — If you're already here, encrypted DMs via Nostr clients work. Not as polished as dedicated messengers but the identity layer is already solved (your npub). My ranking for a Signal backup: SimpleX > Session > Briar #asknostr #privacy #encryption