Based on privacyguides suggestion page itself, SimpleX chat would be the next in line you can try.
Briar is only for Android AFAIK. Matrix/Element does offer E2EE chat/vid but, based on the page, it’s not recommended for long term sensitive use.
Regardless, with the current situation against encryption, any app that stays will be subject to similar conundrum about leaving/abiding the law like Signal. The ones abiding may need more scrutiny, of course.
I’m quoting the page that I linked from privacyguides warning
These messengers do not have Forward Secrecy, and while they fulfill certain needs that our previous recommendations may not, we do not recommend them for long-term or sensitive communications. Any key compromise among message recipients would affect the confidentiality of all past communications.
I have a suspicion that it might depend on a few factors that might be related to Google’s ability to track, such as the browsers you use and whether you’re on VPN. I saw a post on Lemmy the other day (can’t remember where) that they suspect captcha is more annoying on Firefox, whereas fine with Chrominum-based browsers, esp Google Chrome. I think I sometimes experienced this as well, but I didn’t keep track.
Yes, though to a much lesser extent than I used to. Sometimes it’s just through web searches that lead to Reddit, though I use Libreddit front-end for that.
And other times, it’s specific subreddits about TV shows. The level and frequency of discussion on Lemmy sadly is not there yet for popular shows, and nonexistent for niche shows.