It's not a replacement, since it doesn't have the same feature sets or ergonomics.
Don't get me wrong, I use signal a lot and I love it, but presenting signals as an alternative to whatsapp is only going to disappoint people.
Telegram is closer, but neither e2e encrypted nor open source.
Still, I would say if you are in America and not dealing with state or industrial secrets, getting spied on by russians is better than by meta.
Basically, I use both: signals for my privacy oriented friends that will go through the ordeal of using signal, and telegram with the normies so that at least they get of the zuck train.
Don't get me wrong, I use signal a lot and I love it, but presenting signals as an alternative to whatsapp is only going to disappoint people.
Telegram is closer, but neither e2e encrypted nor open source.
Still, I would say if you are in America and not dealing with state or industrial secrets, getting spied on by russians is better than by meta.
Basically, I use both: signals for my privacy oriented friends that will go through the ordeal of using signal, and telegram with the normies so that at least they get of the zuck train.