That's important to keep in mind when dealing with sensitive content yes, but when talking about just generic privacy I doubt I have neurotic friends and family

That's important to keep in mind when dealing with sensitive content yes, but when talking about just generic privacy I doubt I have neurotic friends and family members screenshotting everything. Recipient's phone could also be compromised. There are various threat scenarios. But having plaintext backups would make it very likely that your communications are mostly insecure.