Snapchat Rolls Back Some Interface Changes to Appease Disgruntled Users

[MacRumors]

Snapchat has adjusted its iOS app interface to placate a large number of dedicated users who complained about the recent redesign, reports The Verge.

Snap unveiled its radical redesign in November with the goal of creating a personalized user experience that's easier to navigate, especially for newcomers. But the change didn't go down well with many long-time users, so much so that 1.2 million of them signed a petition asking the company to walk back the UI changes.

Snap initially responded to the outcry in February by acknowledging that "the new Snapchat has felt uncomfortable for many", but went no further than to reassure users that they would eventually adapt to the changes over time.

However, it appears the company has now decided to roll back at least some of the adjustments it originally made as part of last year's redesign. For example, Snaps and Chats have gone back to appearing in chronological order, while Stories from friends have reverted to their original location at the right-hand side of the interface.

Similarly, Snapchat now opens in camera mode, as it did prior to the redesign, and users can again swipe left to view the latest friend posts. Elsewhere, a separate subscriptions feed lets users search separately for stories by publishers and popular content creators. The changes come in an update to the iOS app that the company says is currently rolling out to users.

Snap originally made the changes to appeal to a broader demographic and expand its user base, in the hope of fending off the threat of encroaching rivals like Facebook and Facebook-owned Instagram.

However, the company's first quarter earnings suggest the strategy has so far failed to boost earnings, with Snap making less money per user despite having grown its global user base by around four million over the previous quarter.

Article Link: Snapchat Rolls Back Some Interface Changes to Appease Disgruntled Users

 

[Col4bin]

You mean “triggered” millennials?

 

[SoN1NjA]

You mean “triggered” millennials?

Oh wow haha aren’t you a funny man, gee I’ve never laughed so hard

 

[Goatllama]

And just when I’d gotten used to the new interface, how infuriating!! I’m gonna go make a petition to ask them to change it back!... just kidding, this app is a mystery to me either way.

 

[itsmilo]

Little too late. Friends and I jumped into Instagram full time now. Not that it is really any better with its fked up feed but there’s just no point in posting the stories on both. Reach on insta is far greater anyway

 

[rjtyork]

Little too late. Friends and I jumped into Instagram full time now. Not that it is really any better with its fked up feed but there’s just no point in posting the stories on both. Reach on insta is far greater anyway

I somehow knew they were going to roll it back because of how pissed almost every Snapchat user was. We all know they didn’t make those changes “to appeal to a bigger demographic”. What a load. They made that change to put more advertising in our faces. They really shot themselves in the foot. Now people have gone to Instagram and even with Snapchat changing things back, people will be reluctant to leave Instagram.

 

[maflynn]

I don't use it, but I was expecing this. The backlash was strong, and given that people stopped using it, and their financial reporting was rather poor. It all pointed to doing something to win back their users.

 

[cmak0403]

I have a feeling that Snapchat didn’t change this for the users, but for the advertisers. When the stories were on the right side, I would sometimes scroll down and click on the “news” (I’m assuming that’s a major source of their income). Ever since they pushed out the update where they put everything on the left side, I never swiped right and looked at the news. I would imagine that’s the same case for a lot of people, and Snapchat is losing a lot of revenue due to this.

 

[dukemeiser]

I have a feeling that Snapchat didn’t change this for the users, but for the advertisers. When the stories were on the right side, I would sometimes scroll down and click on the “news” (I’m assuming that’s a major source of their income). Ever since they pushed out the update where they put everything on the left side, I never swiped right and looked at the news. I would imagine that’s the same case for a lot of people, and Snapchat is losing a lot of revenue due to this.

This exactly. I hated having the stories right beside all the ads, erm I mean "news". They're always clickbait and once in a while got the better of my curiosity. One of the things I liked about the update is I never had to look at them again. I still hate the ads after stories; so annoying and intrusive.

 

[thisisnotmyname]

Everyone knows this was about pushing more revenue. That said, they do have a UX problem for new users. Snap was never intuitive for people just picking it up and it still wasn't after the redesign. They've locked themselves into this approach now and the experience will never be great for those just starting.

 

[redneckitengineer]

The crazy part... the CEO of Snap made $509 million last year. Can someone explain how a company operating at a loss managed to pay that? I’d be one furious stockholder.

 

[SoN1NjA]

Little too late. Friends and I jumped into Instagram full time now. Not that it is really any better with its fked up feed but there’s just no point in posting the stories on both. Reach on insta is far greater anyway

The feed pisses me off too, I miss so many post because of it but whatever, I still have fun on the app and I love seeing all of the content

 

[CarpalMac]

Watching Snapchat is like watching the DotCom bubble, in super slow motion.

Good luck with Specs v2 BTW...

 

[PeterJH3]

Funny when a company caves and it performs negatively and funny when a company caves and then performs positively. I remember a few years back Apple removed or changed something in the Photos app and later brought it back to due overwhelming request without arguing its point. I dropped Snapchat a while back after their new changes and I couldn’t care less of its performance now.

 

[Janschi]

Now it’s even more f‘d up.
I‘m mad. Can’t delete the app tho cause I have their glasses and can’t sync without the app.

 

[alllexx]

The crazy part... the CEO of Snap made $509 million last year. Can someone explain how a company operating at a loss managed to pay that? I’d be one furious stockholder.

This is also the greatest mystery about this company too me, like how is that even legal? To my *very limited understanding, I'm not a business guy so I don't care for all the details* they also took out a 2 billion dollar loan and like 800 million of that went to personally paying Evan.

 

[hlfway2anywhere]

Now it’s even more f‘d up.
I‘m mad. Can’t delete the app tho cause I have their glasses and can’t sync without the app.

Oh cool you're the one who bought the Snapchat glasses?

 

[shulerg]

This is also the greatest mystery about this company too me, like how is that even legal? To my *very limited understanding, I'm not a business guy so I don't care for all the details* they also took out a 2 billion dollar loan and like 800 million of that went to personally paying Evan.

The $800M was a bonus promised to Spiegel for taking the company public. That's all it's for: going public so the early VC investors could realize their profits. Still, I agree, totally ridiculous reward for taking a pretty financially unstable company public. At least FB was massively profitable when Zuck went public.

 

[kalafalas]

Too little too late. And the cards interface is 1000x worse. One step forward, two steps back.

 

[nburwell]

Too little too late.

This is my thought exactly. I have relegated the Snapchat app to the last screen of apps on my phone. I haven't launched the app in well over a week (even though two friends have sent me snaps). Next step is deleting the app altogether.

I honestly don't see Snapchat going anywhere but down.

 

[NinjaHERO]

In Snapchats defense, Apple constantly takes away things we love and need and adds things we hate. But somehow their profits keep soaring. ;-)

 

[panjandrum]

The SnapChat UI is absolutely horrible. There are extremely few indicators (i.e. buttons, arrows, or other nemonic devices) to let you know on any screen what features are available or what gestures do what. Or course, we can say much the same about any version of iOS from 7 onward, but the majority of apps still remain at least minimally navigable... SnapChat? Not so much...

 

[WiseAJ]

The new Snapchat stories update looks like the Instagram Stories previews. Guess they are turning the tables and copying them now.

 

[redneckitengineer]

The $800M was a bonus promised to Spiegel for taking the company public. That's all it's for: going public so the early VC investors could realize their profits. Still, I agree, totally ridiculous reward for taking a pretty financially unstable company public. At least FB was massively profitable when Zuck went public.

Now here’s the thought, when Snap goes under.... can anyone sue him for their money back?

 

[Cosmosent]

My $0.02 ...

Snapchat is one of ONLY a small handful of companies to have any real success in the iOS App Store.

But while their original idea was Brilliant, moving past that to generate Coin from Ads hasn't been easy, for them, or others in a similar situation, like Twitter.

If they push in one direction to try to generate more Coin from Ads, their Users will clearly push back.

Their ONLY course of action is to try to Expand past where they currently are ... this time, they will really need to Think Outside the Box.

And by Box, I mean "smartphone" !

NOT Rocket Science, a company with the Resources they have should have been able to do a MUCH better job than they have !

That could be the Result of almost ALL the stock being controlled by too few !

Snap is what VCs call a "Zombie" company ... they will survive, but probably NOT succeed !

They need to Learn from Apple's Upper Mgmt ... their Dog & Pony Show works really well (for them) !