The Twitch mobile app has recently come under fire for changes that have led to criticism, predominantly from the esports and competitive gaming community. Usability issues and difficulty navigating specific features have left many frustrated.
Noted issues include problems with chatting, stream stability, and finding specific channels. A large proportion of negative feedback comes from the esports community who find the new design far from accommodating for competitive gamers.
Moving from a straightforward interface that allowed users to view live channels based on viewer count, the new design boasts a complex system that requires manual settings adjustment. The pop-out player feature remains, but the channel summary has expanded, offering detailed insights into viewer counts and channel rankings.
The new design mirrors the vertical scrolling interface of TikTok, automatically playing live streams from channels not even followed by users. To deactivate this feature prompts a manual visit to the settings.
Twitch app redesign upsets esports users
The desired streamer a user looks for is often not the first displayed.
New features have further complicated access to a list of live channels from followed accounts due to the new sorting system, resulting in late stream starts and sync issues. The presenter states that while the changes could boost growth for stream creators, they create hurdles for regular users thus affecting ease of finding and consuming desired content.
They further highlight potential information overload for regular users leading to difficulty in navigating through the mass of content. The changes, rather than encouraging user engagement, may alienate users due to unrelated content suggestions. It is warned that these changes may unintentionally widen the gap between established stream creators and new ones.
The dissatisfaction of the community, coupled with attendant technical glitches, has led to reduced app usage and a shift to other content platforms. To regain former usage levels and enhance user engagement, substantial adjustments are needed.
