from Hacker News

Ask HN: Why do you think the new WhatsApp Mac app turned out this way?

by icemelt8 on 11/12/23, 10:20 AM with 5 comments

So Meta released their new desktop app for the whatsapp client on macos. And it turns out its universally disliked https://www.reddit.com/r/whatsapp/comments/17pt00z/mac_user_whatsapp_for_desktop_a_huge_step_back_as/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 due to how bad the app is and how many bugs there are.

I want to understand how does that happen? is it due to Apple's SDKs being hard to use? maybe they developed and tested on other systems? Meta laid off all their QAs? over reliance on automations and test suites? no dogfooding?

I am genuinely curious.

  • by vpshastry on 11/15/23, 12:55 AM

    I'm curious here as well. While they claim for performance improvements, it is a downgrade on many levels. The UI feels like we moved back to 1990. Some of the things that I observed 1. To close the status window you could click on anywhere outside the frame. But now you have to go to that specific 'Done' button. This is like 1990 era design. 2. To go to a specific chat window I could press 'Command + F' and click on 'Command + <number>' to choose the chat window from the search results. It was removed now and you've to use mouse. etc. 3. The message box looks like the 2k's Skype; small, narrow box rounded edge.

  • by sys_64738 on 11/12/23, 1:07 PM

    Facebook is a garbage company. That probably explains it.

  • by mooktakim on 11/16/23, 11:52 PM

    Its actually crazy that they released this app. Did they even try and use it?