Snapchat Responds To 1.2 Million Petitioners Vs. App Redesign; Did Not Mention Bringing Back Old App Setup
After a petition to remove the controversial app redesign on Snapchat garnered over 1.2 million signatures, the social media company responded to the negative feedback but did not mention anything about bringing back the old Snapchat setup.
The Change.org petition had been in the headlines for weeks before Snapchat posted its response. However, it did not seem to appease the disgruntled users as well.
In the letter response to the petition aggregator website, Snapchat said the developers "understand" why many users were "uncomfortable" with the app redesign. However, the company's statement did not mention anything that directly catered to the campaign's request, which was to bring back the old Snapchat interface.
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In the old Snapchat, all photo and video updates from users' friends and followed celebrities were kept in one place and played one-by-one chronologically by simply tapping on a profile. However, the new interface separated the tabs for celebrities and internet stars (now found in the Discovery page) from the users' real-life friends.
The update was defended by Snapchat in its Change.org response by saying: "By putting everything from your friends in one place, our goal was to make it easier to connect with the people you care about most."
Instead of bringing back the old Snapchat, the social media company promised to add more features within the new app interface. "Beginning soon on iOS, and with Android in the coming weeks, we are introducing tabs in Friends and Discover, which will make it easier to find the Stories that you want, when you want them," the company added.
While Snapchat maintained it listens to users' feedback, the comments on its statement clearly disagreed.
One petitioner reiterated they had not asked for more updates and simply wanted the old app design back. Another also said the company should stop assuming what they think will be liked by the users and should start applying changes based on what was actually being said by the users.
As of this writing, 1,243,029 people have signed the petition versus the Snapchat redesign.
Meanwhile, Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel also implied that the hated app redesign was not going anywhere despite the backlash.
Talking at the recently held Goldman Sachs Internet & Technology Conference, Spiegel said (via TechCrunch): "The tech is an important piece but I think the harder part you can't get around is the time it takes to learn. ... Even the frustrations we're seeing really validate those changes. It'll take time for people to adjust, but for me using it for a couple months I feel way more attached to the service."
