Five Months in with the new Mobile UI

The new Mobile UI for Discord is still something I am unable to get used to and find the mobile app extremely tiring, frustrating and overwhelming to use. While Discord has been listening to some feedback and bringing back features that were present on the old UI and the Desktop client, the new Mobile UI is still failing as a “convenient” and “On the go” app when you are not using the Desktop client   

Calls: 

The new layout of calls for the Mobile app is horrible. Not only is the background filled with bright colours that make the screen appear busier, when backing out of the call screen, we now have a huge space taken up by the call tab, which I find myself having to constantly move out of the way while I am using the app during a call. I personally find the pfps switching between who is talking very distracting as it makes it appear as if a new notification has appeared when it’s just the huge call tab. I strongly suggest reducing the size of the call tab as there is no need for it to be so big in the first place and to also allow different colour options for the call background, such as introducing a plain colours that feels less intense on the eyes. I also suggest allowing users to choose whenever their call tab switches between pfps (As some may find this helpful in identifying who is talking) or having a stoic image in place.

Activity bar: 

I generally do not see a need to have this feature on the mobile app. It only takes up space on my screen and I have never had a need for it, even while on the desktop client. I do not understand why this has been done for the mobile app. The activity bar should be moved into the friends list section and quite possibly the UI bottom bar should return the Friends tab and place the activity bar inside there, which would free up a lot of space in Dms and make it appear less cramped and squashed. It would also allow users who do use the activity bar to still use and manage it without it taking up a load of space in other places.

Swipe to see members: 

This is a feature I miss dearly, as it I was able to swipe to check out information on server members while still being able to see if messages were coming through or not. I still to this day, try and swipe to check the members list while using the Mobile app. Now I must tap into a new tab to check who is online and it becomes overwhelming having to switch back and forth between the channels and members list in case a message has come through, which is not convenient for a mobile app. The mention of the return swipe to see members was briefly mentioned in one of Discord’s updates but has since been removed and not mentioned of again. I do hope the team is working hard on bringing back this feature. 

Separation of servers and Dms:  

The biggest change has been this and this is the feature that has caused the most outrage and still does not make sense as to why this was a good idea. Having servers and Dms separated has only made trying to negative the between the two more difficult. Actions that used to take only one step, now require multiple steps. Such as, tapping into servers then having to tap out of that and into the Dms section to then select the Dm you want. This not only takes more time to do and is still laggy and buggy to this day but also makes navigating the mobile app while on the move inconvenient as before all you had to do was tap/swipe once and you are where you need to be, now it feels like a chore and has put me off using the mobile app while outside or for quick use which defeats of the purpose of having the mobile app. 

The separation of servers and Dms makes checking messages and clearing notifications more overwhelming. Before the new UI, it was very easy and clear to see where notifications from servers and Dms were coming from as you could view both at the same time and quickly swipe between a Dm, Dm list and servers, which made to easy to decide what notification has priority over checking and which can be ignored until later. As someone who also mods in some servers and is very active in general, this was extremely useful to have and relied on it heavily. The new UI makes it much more difficult to quickly deicide if a notification can be ignored or not, as anytime a message is dropped in any server that you haven’t muted, the new Server tab will have a notification alert and this will not disappear until every server(s) and channel(s) has been checked and cleared. As someone who also can easily forget if a server has a message in it, I leave that server unchecked until I am ready but now, I am unable to leave servers unchecked as seeing the new notification alert next to Server tab is overwhelming as it could mean any server has a new message. This becomes especially overwhelming while in Dms as it feels like you must constantly check and switch back between Dms and servers as you cannot see if a server needs checking immediately or later. 

As of 22/05/24, it seems everyone is now getting the return the Dms and servers being merged, which has immediately made such a difference in sorting and checking notifications. It’s already much less overwhelming. I warmly welcome this return and gives me hope Discord is taking its feedback seriously.  It is so much better to be able to have your Dm list open and seeing your servers on the side as well. However, Dms feels squashed together with the activity bar now. I don’t see a need for the activity bar inside the Dms section. I also suggest a feature be added where you can return to the last server you checked before going into a Dm, as I can understand some people may be active in multiple servers and do not enjoy going through their servers lists repeatedly. I welcome the feature that allows users to jump into their Dms by pressing and holding the Home tab and this should be made clearer as a feature that can be used.

Desktop client and Mobile UI: 

The new Mobile UI has made it very jarring to switch between the desktop client and mobile app, it feels like very two vastly different services and having to remember two different layouts gets frustrating and tiring. Having icons such as ‘profile’ on the left side while on the other is on the right, just makes switching between the two jarring and confusing.  My over usage for the Desktop client has gone up since the introduction of the new Mobile UI in December as the reason I enjoyed and used the mobile app so much was because it was a compact mini version of the Desktop client. I already knew how to use the mobile app as it very closely resembled the desktop version, now it’s like using a completely different app that takes more time to get to the places you want to be. It feels like the new mobile UI is trying to become more like other messaging apps, which I don’t use for a reason. The thing that made Discord stand out and my choice for social connection has been taken away with the new mobile UI layout. It just feels like every other messaging app now.