Alternative Messages App, and separating Messages/Calls/Music/Maps

Sounds like @Sir_Indy might have something nearer to what you want, but...

the only decision I have to make when faced with a message popup on my bangle should be whether or not to mark it as read on my phone.

Yes, I find the current two buttons annoying too. Gadgetbridge has a few different things a message response can do, and we need to figure out what actually makes sense - opening on the phone is definitely not what I ever want. Maybe we just remove one of the two buttons and use the 'back' button as the 'mark read' version.

It was also suggested that we just kill the buttons and use swipes instead, which could make sense (as long as there was a small on-screen hint as to what was required).