It is, but Signal and Matrix aren't really all that similar. Matrix's privacy is pretty atrocious. It stores tons of meta data about users all over the place. That's the exact opposite of what Signal does.
Matrix leaks a ton of metadata and for normal users the clients are still very much in the sucking phase. Signal being centralized changes nothing about its security when the freaking servers can't see anything about the messages. It literally is the most secure way to communicate out there, period.
Thanks; is leaking metadata just a consequence of the decentralized nature or is it something specific to how Matrix was made? Maybe I'll try out Signal (I've been looking for some alternatives) but I don't like how they're based in America/5 Eyes, even if they are encrypted.
Because its a more user friendly experience. Your grandma can use it with no hustle. Matrix is more complicated UX and also much slower and buggier (at least if you use Element and matrix.org). Ive actually started to prefer Delta Chat over Matrix.
It's more private and secure, and it's easier to use/recommend.
Matrix stores all metadata, and most all of it makes it's way to the matrix.org (default instance) server and is subject to dragnet subpoenas. It's also complicated to use, incredibly slow, and resource-intensive.