Reasons:

> they usually mean that I have a substandard experience when I'm not on my phone

> I can't sign my children up so that we have a general chat tool.

This isn't a privacy thing, this is a general tool that is fundimentally broken if I'm not on my phone.

I'm not always on my phone, and my kids don't have phone numbers.

They are unusable.

I think these are fair points. I'll mention that I predominately use the desktop client and it works well since I frequently leave my phone somewhere else. But doesn't seem like a right fit for you until usernames and multiple device signup. Both are in the works though so maybe good for you in the future but not now.

If you don't have your phone with you, you can't sign in. Some services, like Whatsapp, will not work if your phone is turned off/broken

> I predominately use the desktop client and it works well since I frequently leave my phone somewhere else.

In my experience the desktop client is slow, buggy, and takes eons to start up. There's also no web version, making it awkward to use on computers other than your own.

I would be more willing to switch over to Signal if it wasn't so lacking in this regard.