It makes a lot of sense. Whoever wants to continue developing "these apps" will do it privately, and sell the service to those who want to keep doing things in hiding. Well done, watchdog!
So again, it just harms the general public, while making it harder to catch criminals.
It's simpler than that. OSS strong encryption tools are available than anyone can run on the command line to encrypt their messages, which can then just go as attachments via email, whatsapp, etc. No new developers required. And as you say, the general public have to suffer with weak encryption while those who really want to encrypt do so regardless.
Not to be hysterical but when will publicly talking about, or publishing tutorials on how to use such tools get you in hot water for "promoting hostile activities"?
Actually it opens them up to being phished by the government. There have been several high profile cases where because of searching for custom communication services, groups ended up being vulnerable.
>How many cases have there been of groups successfully finding and use private communication services?
Probably a lot, given how booming the illegal drug market is. Obviously you don't hear about the successful ones, you only hear about the incompetent ones that get caught.
So again, it just harms the general public, while making it harder to catch criminals.