Also as a slight but important aside, the article mentions end-to-end encryption technology that existed prior to Signal in its opening sentence. It may be that

Also as a slight but important aside, the article mentions end-to-end encryption technology that existed prior to Signal in its opening sentence. It may be that Signal pioneered E2EE chat, but it didn't pioneer E2EE itself. It built upon it in a way that was perhaps more accessible or appealing to a mass audience. That prior technology, by the way, PGP, is not and was never universally hated. Many businesses continue to use PGP today to exchange encrypted communications with suppliers and customers. It's mostly file transfers, but some businesses even support secure email via PGP, and it's been integrated into a modern secure email product from a Swiss company, Proton, targeted at both consumers and businesses.