By definition, Signal is not going to have bells and whistles and niche features, to keep the codebase lean and easier to avoid security weaknesses.
If you want an app with many features, use Telegram.
(They did however ship emoji reactions in Signal because most people actually like it and the other apps do have it; curiously missing in Telegram).
I don't think the reasoning for their implementation is as well thought out as you claim here.
Telegram has had emoji reactions since 2021 -- https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/now-y...