Signal asks for so many permissions that I am afraid Marvin is on the NSA hook.

Contacts, media, and phone. Basic functionality of a messaging app.

According to the link that /u/mintplant provided, Signal asks for a lot more permissions than that:

• find accounts on the device

• read your own contact card

• modify your own contact card

• read calendar events plus confidential information

• add or modify calendar events and send email to guests without owners' knowledge

• find accounts on the device

• read your contacts

• modify your contacts

• approximate location (network-based)

• precise location (GPS and network-based)

• read your text messages (SMS or MMS)

• receive text messages (MMS)

• receive text messages (SMS)

• send SMS messages

• edit your text messages (SMS or MMS)

• directly call phone numbers

• reroute outgoing calls

• read call log

• read phone status and identity

• read the contents of your USB storage

• modify or delete the contents of your USB storage

• take pictures and videos

• record audio

• view Wi-Fi connections

• read phone status and identity

• send WAP-PUSH-received broadcast

• receive data from internet

• view network connections

• create accounts and set passwords

• pair with Bluetooth devices

• send sticky broadcast

• change network connectivity

• connect and disconnect from Wi-Fi

• disable your screen lock

• full network access

• change your audio settings

• read sync settings

• run at startup

• set wallpaper

• use accounts on the device

• control vibration

• prevent device from sleeping

• toggle sync on and off

Yeah, but when I deny most of those permissions to Telegram it continues to operate exactly as I'd expect (e.g., denying contacts means I need to manually enter anyone I want to contact; when I deny SMS permission I need to manually retype the code I receive in Telegram).

Signal just became broken/a pain in the ass. It's been a while, I just know I couldn't actually get to a point where I could send someone a message without granting it unnecessary permissions so I gave up and uninstalled it.