Feature request: improve image viewer

There are many channels posting great image content.

Yet AFAIK it is unreasonably hard to get a good zoomed-in look at images in the desktop client.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but to zoom in on an image in the desktop app, you currently (October 2020) have to...

- Click the image thumbnail in a text channel, which loads and overlays a slightly smaller preview

- you then have to find and click a tiny "open original" link below the image

- or you can right-click on the thumbnail and then "open link" (the wording of which is debatable...)

- in both cases, the full image then loads and opens in the (separate!) internet browser

- where you can finally zoom in

- and afterwards you need to switch back to the discord app and start all over again for the next image

See how many steps are involved to simply have a good look at an interesting image?

Admittedly, the list is intentionally long - to prove the point! ;)

So here's a simple request to please try and make the process shorter and/or easier.

Level up the UX please :)

Here's a few leads, but you'll surely find a good way!

- Let us click the thumbnail with a keyboard modifier (e.g. shift) to directly "open link" instead of overlaying the preview. - That will still make us leave the app...

- Or let us click the _whole_ preview to "open original". - That will still waste time and bandwidth loading the preview...

- Improve the overlay image (pre)viewer so that it first loads the preview, but then loads the full original image (on click on the whole preview or automatically) and lets us zoom in with the mousewheel and/or +- buttons, lets us pan etc.

Thanks in advance for considering this! :)

PatrickW

October 03, 2020 19:46

Discussions on discord have shown that this seems to be a recurring topic.
e.g.
https://www.reddit.com/r/discordapp/comments/4pwn69/is_there_any_way_to_adjust_the_size_of_images/
https://www.reddit.com/r/discordapp/comments/6cj23z/make_it_so_we_can_attach_bigger_images/

I understand that Discord's interest lies in showing smaller images and discouraging users clicking through to see the bigger ones. If bandwidth is more important than UX, then feel free to clearly say so.

Still, I would think that it is in Discord's interest to retain users in the app, instead of losing some with short attention spans to the browser.

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