Same here. "Hello!" is quick, it's human, it's friendly enough (
inflection counts), and it achieves the desired outcome.
Some variation of this seems to work best. A friendly "passing on the left", " hi", or almost anything in a nice tone seems to work. Yesterday I said "Passing on your left" when I was several feet back. Pedestrians thanked me and we ex hanged a couple nice words as we passed.
On the other hand a week or so ago, in another city, there were two pedestrians striding down the MUP who were not going to and did not make way. By their actions they knew their rights and were not going to yield. I squeezed by.
Courtesy is desired. But we are human and sometimes unable to deliver.