Well, quoting them:

> We’re obviously aware that Element is (once again) both a dictionary word and a mathematical term - but in practice, looking at search results for Element right now, the top hits are for dictionary sites(!) and the field is wide open.

I tried searching for Element in the Google Play store. It suggests an app dedicated to Asian gay men. The website directs to Riot.im.

From the article: > RiotX (our ground-up rewrite of Riot Android) has exited beta, and replaces Riot Android as Element

RiotX I can find/see, but it shows as a beta. It's not called Element.

I guess it's a slow rollout?

I used Riot ages ago, it was the suggested solution to have IRC on mobile. It wasn't that reliable plus it was crazy slow (search . They now suggest Rocket chat, it isn't slow but it doesn't do IRC. So now the community is divided across loads of platforms. There's also some web based things, e.g. Discourse, some still use mailing lists, etc. Plus things like Gitlab. It used to be much easier to follow things ("lurk").

The new app is with Google, we're just waiting on them and it will be live asap.

Folks on iOS can pick it up here https://apps.apple.com/app/vector/id1083446067

Will it be an update that replaces the current RiotX on my phone, or will I have to download it as a separate app?

It will replace the current Riot Android App. So if you are an early adopter of RiotX you will need to download the main app.

edit: commented before reading TFA, it'll probably be a new app.

Same for F-droid? I suppose I'll need to be testing the migration process again..

I presume it's in the usual Google Play review queue still. (Welcome to Android development.)

It doesn’t matter. For example, another very common dictionary word is “Apple“.

Sure, but Apple started before the internet (became big). When Google started, "Apple" probably brought up Apple Computers in the first few results.

Starting out with a common word that already has close to a billion results on Google requires a lot more effort.