The "tied to your phone number" thing is weird for me, both Telegram and Signal.

If you want to change your phone number, how do these platforms handle it? Do your contacts get updated or what? What happens to people with your old number?

If your phone breaks, and you get a new one, how do they handle backups? (My iPhone's WhatsApp backups somehow disappeared when I got a droid.)

These questions are particularly infuriating for digital nomads and people living abroad. I want an inexpensive cheap way to keep my US number I've had for 10 years. I've also heard horror stories that Google Voice (or Fi? Can't figure it out) will shut down your account if you live internationally.