It's not up to outside factors when nostr succeeds. When devs show up that want nostr to succeed, they will make apps good enough to retain users and spread by word of mouth. As long as nostr apps suck too much to have any user retention, they will not grow.

Primal, Damus, Nostur and others suck? What features are they lacking that can change the tides?

The user become smarter . They choose what suit for them . Do You like Damus ? What you like about it ?

People can't find threads discussing topics they want to discuss. They can't start their own threads because their posts don't get seen by many people. These are probably the most urgent things to fix.

I like Damus clean layout. Everything is a smooth feel. Doesn’t mean they are the best. Like with Primal, I enjoy their explore feature and with Nostur, the customization in settings. All Nostr apps have something I like, so I alternate them.