Apple is likely to stop providing its encrypted cloud service to U.K. users
I currently use Telegram for my friends and family, but have reluctantly come to the conclusion that the UK Government is either reaching agreement for backdoors with messaging services, or is trying its hardest to.
I'm also on Element/Matrix. Before I try to get my contacts to join me on there, should I be aware of any privacy issues or is that a good place to head?
You may want SimpleX. You can still self-host your own server if you wish, but it doesn't have nearly the metadata issues of matrix and encryption keys are stored in a database that you back up instead of constantly breaking
I haven't personally tried it, but I think there's a setting in the mobile app for using it with a desktop. So I assume it is fixed, but I won't swear to it.