Why is UI design so terrible now?

In version 7.51 of Signal (desktop version) they changed how you access stickers. Before, you clicked on a sticker icon in the text box and chose a sticker. One click, simple.

Now you click the emoji icon, which makes no sense because stickers are not emojis, they’re stickers, then you have to click over to the Stickers tab and choose a sticker.

In simpler terms, what took one click now takes two. This is a regression, no matter how you look at it.

Here’s how the Signal team looks at it on their Github page: “Now you can experience the pinnacle of human technological advancement in Signal Desktop with a brand-new selection interface that makes it easy to quickly find an emoji, sticker, or animated GIF that’s perfect for the moment.”

They could have left the sticker button in the text box and still implemented this change. They could have made the sticker button customizable for “quick access” to stickers, emoji or gifs, but no, instead they just made adding a sticker two steps instead of one.

They have also taught me to never update Signal again. Good job, you clowns.

The lurid world of Signal stickers

I like and use Signal, it’s a decent messaging app that prioritizes privacy and security. It has end-to-end encryption and all that good stuff. Most people will still use WhatsApp (or Facebook Messenger–both owned by the same company) and I accept that.

But the thing I like most about Signal are its weird, quirky stickers. Since it’s not run by a mega-corporation, a lot of the stickers have a sillier, less manufactured feel to them.

Also, a lot of nudity and sex, apparently.

The top four most viewed Signal stickers of all time are blurred out on the Signal stickers website because they are NSFW. The rest are cats and Rick Astley.

This is as accurate a summation of the world in 2023 as any.