This is the same problem with PGP/GPG -- it may be incredibly secure, but if no one uses it, it doesn't matter.
Obtusely refusing to use a good system which has broad appeal is working contrary to your own goals.
You don't need any of that. Certainly none of that is present in Telegram. I don't think you read my original comment in full.
> I want this to be a Snowden'ish tool for adults, not giffy.
Ironically Signal already has Giphy integration, but I suppose you didn't notice because you don't use it—as would be the case with stickers.
Not sure how you could be more condescending here.
Look, I get it. I don't use stickers on messaging apps that support them, and I don't have a "GIF keyboard" or whatever. But plenty of actual adults use them and like them, and don't consider a messaging experience complete without them.
If Signal's goal is to be a niche messaging platform that only hyper-privacy/security-conscious people use, then by all means, leave out the user-fun features that the masses want. But if they actually want to raise the bar for mass-market security and privacy, those features are essential. Maybe that's "lame"or "childish" to you, but that's just how it is.
If the addition of stickers makes you leave the platform, then that's certainly a loss for you and those like you, but it's a huge win for the much-larger group of people who will be attracted to the service.
Where will they go? To some less secure alternative simply because of stickers?
I'm afraid you really can't rule that out, no.
My reaction is the opposite. I love the signal iOS app because it doesn't try to do SMS. It lets you enter the code which is great if I want to use a Google Voice number instead of a carrier number (and I don't forward Google Voice texts to the carriers). I am not a fan of SMS fallback and I am glad I get the "Enable Signal for SMS" on Android as opposed to just sending a text.