Yeah, I prefer a bell.

This again depends on the jurisdiction and kind of path you're on. Where I grew up, if it's not separated into bicyclist & pedestrian lanes, bikes yield to pedestrians.

On US forest trails, the general rule is bikes yield to pedestrians and everyone yields to horses.

(Obviously pedestrians walking in bicycle lanes are doing it wrong.)

Yep, a wave helps as well.

> A bell is still rude in a shared space

I just don't think that is even a little bit true, or at least it's something that is very culturally specific and thus not generally applicable.

I have a friendly sounding bell I use from an appropriate distance (and I can modulate the volume), and I routinely have people give a light wave to show they heard. In addition, the biggest complaint about cyclists in local social media is about them passing without notice.

If you just bell once or twice, and don't aggressively keep ringing, I'd never consider a bicycle bell in a shared space rude. I even consider it good manners, though as others have said, that varies between cultures.

Being visually impaired, though, I'm grateful for cyclists who use their bell. It's immediately clear. For some reason, my brain takes slightly longer to process someone yelling "on your left!" or similar, than just a quick "ring ring".

Cyclists will normally do the same thing passing out other cyclists at a 5-10 km/h speed difference, and it's definitely useful there.