How ready is Element for the general audience?

I use Element daily, and it can be confusing enough that average users would probably stop using it when they have to choose a server, or when that server have issues with images, or when they can’t read a message because the room is end-to-end encrypted but they need to reverify another person’s key.

For the context, LuxChat is the general audience version of LuxChat4Gov, a fork of Element created by the Luxembourgish government for the public servants: https://mindigital.gouvernement.lu/fr/luxchat4gov.html (France has a similar app with https://www.tchap.gouv.fr/ ). The objective was to provide public servant a messaging app that would not rely on Google, Apple, Meta or Microsoft.

LuxChat and LuxChat4Gov are managed by LU-CIX Management G.I.E. G.I.E stands for Groupe d’Intérêt Economique, which is not a company

The EIG is not a company: a company is a group which also has a legal purpose, that of “pooling something with a view to sharing the profit which may or may not result from it” (article 1832 of the Civil Code).

https://www.fiduciaire-lpg.lu/fr/publications/droit-des-societes/le-gie-groupement-dinteret-economique

If you look at the composition of LU-CIX, you can see different types of entities, including the CTIE (Centre de Technologie de l’information de l’Etat), which is the IT Service of the Luxembourgish government.

https://www.lu-cix.lu/about-us/lu-cix-management-gie/

On a public perception level, LuxChat is targeted towards companies and individuals, and is backed by the government. If you are a Luxembourgish company and are looking for an alternative to Whatsapp, are you going to trust more an app backed by the Lux governement, and that has been reworked to make it easier to use, or Element, for which you have to trust a server anyway, and figure out how it works.

All your concerns remain valid from a technical perspective. The people behind info-luxchat[at]lu-cix[dot]lu may have some answers.