Slack's desktop app is a shitheap
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Office has started using Slack. Long story short: work from home is becoming a thing, and one person in the office knows how to use Slack, so we're all using it, because none of us know anything else.
There is no way I'll ever be able to keep it running in a browser while doing development, so I opt for the desktop app. Just trying to set it up:
- The login screen. It's one of those dumb "first type in login name, then click next, the password" anti-patterns
- When you click "Next", it doesn't give ANY UI/UX that you clicked the button. No flash or depress. It doesn't grey out. it doesn't show a loading icon. And it takes seconds to go screen to screen. Is it frozen? Is it crashed? Is it working? lol who knows!
- Again in the category of "native widgets wats that lol let's roll our own". The text box. I click in the textbox and start typing my username. Sometimes, there's a delay between the placeholder vanishing and the typing starting. Slack's way of handling that? Discard/ignore the keyboard buffer. So the first bit of my login was cut off and I had to type it again.
- As with #3 - There's a delay between the UI being drawn, and the "page" finishing loading. You can click in the textbox and start typing. Until the page finishes loading, that is. Then something on the page grabs focus, cutting off what I was typing. There are no other input controls on the screen except the textbox.
- I forgot the password (I entered it into the browser, this is the first time using desktop app). So I clicked Forgot Password. Solved the Captcha, got told a link was being sent. Nothing. Okay, I'll wait. But in the meanwhile...
- ... maybe I put the wrong email address in? There's a "verify your email" thingy where you put in your email address, and it will send that address an email with "yup, this is correct". I click that. The screen that comes up is empty except for the email address field. I fill that in and get the message "sending you the email" and-- nothing else. There's no back button. There's no home button. The page doesn't obey any "go back" things I can think of (alt-left, right-click, backspace, "back" button on mouse). The app is stuck there with no way out. I have to close and re-open the app.
- Minutes later, I still haven't got EITHER email. I remember I'm logged into the app. I get to play the game of "where did the developers hide the account settings?". Is it in the gear icon? Nope, that's settings for the chatroom. etc, etc, until I finally click my own name (which doesn't seem to be a hyperlink or hamburger or have a down cheveron or anything). Finally find the password page. Chrome remembered my password. But...
- ... I notice there's only two boxes. Old password, New password. No "verify new password". I guess that could or couldn't be a wtf, just seems strange. Fill in a new password, click submit.
- A few seconds later I get the "you've reset your password" email. Followed by "Here's your login info". Followed by "here's your forgot password link". So not only were those last two emails delayed by several minutes, but they also arrived in the wrong order.
- I'm finally logged in. All that wtf was just to log in. Can't wait to see what else this fucking app has in store.
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Slack is being used by tons of teams and is probably making bank.
If someone can come up with slack that doesn't suck, you can make bigger bank.
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@lorne-kates said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
Office has started using Slack.
You're going to hate it so much.
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I actually really like slack. I'm sure it's a resource hog, and it doesn't seem to have sensible defaults re: notifications, and I can't figure out how to show desktop notifications (other than showing how many messages I have in the taskbar), or play sounds. But the actually chatting functionality and the ability to send files is kind of nice.
The only problem is that your org is limited to something like 10k messages total in the free version, so if you want a longer history, you gotta pay.
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@dangeruss said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
But the actually chatting functionality and the ability to send files is kind of nice.
We wound up using Skype for that. The extras that Slack has over that are branched conversations (which I loathe for their poor visibility) and a wide range of integrations with other services. Except (historically) not very much with services that I actually use, so there's that.
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@dkf said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
@dangeruss said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
But the actually chatting functionality and the ability to send files is kind of nice.
We wound up using Skype for that. The extras that Slack has over that are branched conversations (which I loathe for their poor visibility) and a wide range of integrations with other services. Except (historically) not very much with services that I actually use, so there's that.
We've been using Skype and switched to slack. Skype is OK, but it's buggy as fuck. Half of the messages I send to my wife never make it through.
We use zoom for voice, and slack for text, and so far it's working pretty great. Wish we had access to more messages though.
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With these "web browser + site in a box" applications, I always wonder if it's any better than just opening the site in a second browser.
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@dangeruss said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
But the actually chatting functionality and the ability to send files is kind of nice.
Files are nice, but IME sending and receiving messages gets unbearably laggy once there's multiple people sending messages at the same time or if you start sending links with oneboxes. Mattermost's clients have been a much better (albeit limited) experience for me.
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@bb36e said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
Mattermost's clients have been a much better (albeit limited) experience for me.
We use Mattermost here, for a very simple reason: we host the server and nothing ever leaves the building.
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@dangeruss said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
Slack is being used by tons of teams and is probably making bank.
If someone can come up with slack that doesn't suck, you can make bigger bank.
There are large amounts of chat systems that are better, or equally good. Fucking IRC works better. Slack sucks donkey balls, but has funsies derp shit in it so people like it. Because them there animated gifs, thems the shits yo!
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@parody said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
With these "web browser + site in a box" applications, I always wonder if it's any better than just opening the site in a second browser.
I do this all the time by using a Chromium derived browser to run Outlook Web Access, Slack and other stuff. That way I can kill Chrome, Firefox or whatever other browser is open and still have those tabs open somewhere else.
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@dangeruss said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
If someone can come up with slack that doesn't suck, you can make bigger bank.
Unfortunately John IRC wasn't able to patent his invention so he lost out on all that moolah.
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@dangeruss said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
you gotta pay.
We pay.
I run the desktop app. Other than the typical annoyance of browser-in-a-box, it hasn't been too bad. Except we like making LOTS of groups. "Oh, you were talking in #ThatChannel? I didn't know that existed..."
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@carnage said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
Fucking IRC works better. Slack sucks donkey balls, but has funsies derp shit in it so people like it. Because them there animated gifs, thems the shits yo!
I don't like slack either, but let's get real -- asking people to install and run a bouncer just so that they don't miss messages is bullshit. And yes, the company could host their own bouncers, but then which bouncer(s) do they use? Slack lets clients get an equivalent system without any intervention or manual setup and administration required.
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@bb36e said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
@carnage said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
Fucking IRC works better. Slack sucks donkey balls, but has funsies derp shit in it so people like it. Because them there animated gifs, thems the shits yo!
I don't like slack either, but let's get real -- asking people to install and run a bouncer just so that they don't miss messages is bullshit. And yes, the company could host their own bouncers, but then which bouncer(s) do they use? Slack lets clients get an equivalent system without any intervention or manual setup and administration required.
If you set up an IRC server, spending the time to set up bots and such are not that hard. But Slack just has a larger history, it also drops messages, and if it's a large company that are avid chatters, that 10 000 messages limit is pretty small.
So, it's perfectlyu possible to go on vacation and miss stuff in the chat. But I see chats as temporary ways to talk to others much liek a chat over the water cooler. If you're not around, you miss the conversation.
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@lorne-kates said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
There is no way I'll ever be able to keep it running in a browser while doing development,
Why? I do it for the explicit reason that the desktop app sucks balls and it's quicker to reload a tab than re-open the App...
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@parody said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
just opening the site in a second browser
I'd need a 3rd. Logged into work-Google in Chrome. Logged into personal-Google in Firefox. Of course, I now need to open any of the social.microsoft links in IE/Edge because they timeout and blow up (too many login attempts) in either Chrome or FF...
FFS people... How am I supposed to run Visual Studio in only 16G with all these damn browsers! (Certainly can't start my VM when they're open...)
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@lorne-kates said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
There is no way I'll ever be able to keep [Slack] running in a browser while doing development
Why? What does the one have to do with the other? I have never had any trouble doing exactly that here, or at home, or at other places I've worked.
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@masonwheeler said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
@lorne-kates said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
There is no way I'll ever be able to keep [Slack] running in a browser while doing development
Why? What does the one have to do with the other? I have never had any trouble doing exactly that here, or at home, or at other places I've worked.
I assumed (okay, that makes me dumb!) that he was doing browser (or plugin) dev...
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@dcon On Firefox 22?
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@timebandit said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
@bb36e said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
Mattermost's clients have been a much better (albeit limited) experience for me.
We use Mattermost here, for a very simple reason: we host the server and nothing ever leaves the building.
Makes it slightly more difficult for Lorne's work-from-home situation.
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@dcon said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
I'd need a 3rd. Logged into work-Google in Chrome. Logged into personal-Google in Firefox.
I use Vivaldi for normal browsing, Chrome to keep Google-specific stuff contained, and Firefox for video streaming and other misc "second browser" type uses. That leaves Edge for emergency use. (Also Opera and IE, I suppose.)
@dcon said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
Of course, I now need to open any of the social.microsoft links in IE because they timeout and blow up (too many login attempts) in either Chrome or FF...
I was having problems going to Microsoft sites in Vivaldi, but I fixed it by deleting all cookies from all microsoft.com domains. Might be worth a try.
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@masonwheeler said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
@dcon On Firefox 22?
LOL! Sadly, I'm one of those people who upgrade to the latest with almost all my software... (stable, not nightly/beta/whateveryouwanttocallit)
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@tsaukpaetra said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
Makes it slightly more difficult for Lorne's work-from-home situation.
Well, technically it can leave the building while you are connected to the VPN.
But the data is hosted here, in Canada
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@dangeruss said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
If someone can come up with slack that doesn't suck, you can make bigger bank.
Yeah right. People don't use things because they're better. Slack is horrible, buggy, laggy, and all of its features are completely undiscoverable. So, like git, everyone uses it.
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The main reason I like our corporate use of slack is that while previously with xmpp we used almost exclusively direct messages, with slack we tend more toward open rooms which are more suitable for certain communications.
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@magus said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
Yeah right. People don't use things because they're better. Slack is horrible, buggy, laggy, and all of its features are completely undiscoverable. So, like git, everyone uses it.
People like Slack because it's turn-key, looks good, and is easy to get an entire organisation to adopt. There's no messing around with firewall ports, there's no hassle of setting up bouncers, and so on. In that regard it's better than IRC, and that's why people adopt it.
Don't forget that we are a very critical crowd. We're not easily impressed and very vocal with our criticism. Joe Blow is way less critical of the tools they're using: either they don't notice how bad it is, or they do notice but don't care enough to stop using Slack.
Of course, Microsoft felt the need to build a Slack clone which they made just as horrible: Teams.
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@alexmedia said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
Of course, Microsoft felt the need to build a Slack clone which they made just as horrible: Teams.
Teams has many of the same problems, but it's much easier to use, and the features it have are obvious. It isn't good, but it's better than Slack.
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I hate Teams just as much as I hate Slack. It's bad software and the engineers responsible should feel bad.
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@bb36e said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
@carnage said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
Fucking IRC works better. Slack sucks donkey balls, but has funsies derp shit in it so people like it. Because them there animated gifs, thems the shits yo!
I don't like slack either, but let's get real -- asking people to install and run a bouncer just so that they don't miss messages is bullshit.
If you need reliable delivery of messages, use a system designed for reliable delivery of messages, not a chat room.
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@bb36e said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
asking people to install and run a bouncer just so that they don't miss messages is bullshit
is a bouncer for slack?
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@dragnslcr slack also has direct instant messaging, same thing as Skype for business
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@bb36e said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
@dragnslcr slack also has direct instant messaging, same thing as
Skype for businessthat product that is being replaced by Teams
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Am i the only one who has the slack app crash all the damn time?
Mostly when recieving messages. ( win 10 native app)
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@dangeruss said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
Slack is being used by tons of teams and is probably making bank.
If someone can come up with slack that doesn't suck, you can make bigger bank.
If Discord allowed external hosting, it'd be that.
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@bb36e said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
@dragnslcr slack also has direct instant messaging, same thing as Skype for business
So does IRC.
And every other chat system.
And email.
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@dragnslcr and I'd expect direct messaging to be reliable. Otherwise, what's the point?
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@bb36e said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
@dragnslcr and I'd expect direct messaging to be reliable. Otherwise, what's the point?
@dragnslcr said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
And email.
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@dcon
We have a commission for channel evaluation. That archives unused channels and promotes useful but unused ones.
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@dragnslcr maybe it's a generation thing, but writing an email to say 'hey we moved the meeting to 10F because the room was full' just seems strange. Iunno.
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@lorne-kates said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
There is no way I'll ever be able to keep it running in a browser while doing development
Why not? That's what I do all the time, I haven't noticed any issues with that. Is it just a workflow problem for you?
@dcon said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
@masonwheeler said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
@lorne-kates said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
There is no way I'll ever be able to keep [Slack] running in a browser while doing development
Why? What does the one have to do with the other? I have never had any trouble doing exactly that here, or at home, or at other places I've worked.
I assumed (okay, that makes me dumb!) that he was doing browser (or plugin) dev...
Could always run it in a second browser like Edge or Chrome, then it's basically the same as the desktop client with none of the drawbacks.
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We have Slack blocked at the firewall to prevent employees from leaking company information to unapproved external services. I’m on a special whitelist so I can communicate with a particular external organization that uses it.
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@alexmedia I so agree with you on that. How can anyone release something as slow as Teams, with a straight face? I don't even know how that is possible, apart from adding tons of sleeps in there on purpose...
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@bb36e said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
@dragnslcr maybe it's a generation thing, but writing an email to say 'hey we moved the meeting to 10F because the room was full' just seems strange. Iunno.
you don't write it, your calendaring app does it for you when you change the location field and save the event.
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@el-dorko said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
How can anyone release something as slow as Teams, with a straight face?
By writing it all in
JavascriptTypescript. It's the Future!
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@jarry said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
commission for channel evaluation
Socialist countries have commissions for everything, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
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@parody said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
With these "web browser + site in a box" applications, I always wonder if it's any better than just opening the site in a second browser.
- Web browsers that show desktop notifications can go shit themselves in the ass.
- Then my third browser window will get lost amongst all the other things on my taskbar.
- And it'll blend in with the other Firefox icons
- And it will randomly change position
- And crash when Firefox does (or get bogged down when I'm doing development on a website)
Or I can have a single, distinct icon in a steady place (lower right, where task icons should go) that pops up a "new msg yo" when it gets a new message.
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@lorne-kates said in Slack's desktop app is a shitheap:
Web browsers that show desktop notifications can go shit themselves in the ass.
4 out of 5 dentists agree this is the proper way to shit.
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I must be another rare user that likes Slack. I’ve had nearly no issues and works quite well for me.
I suppose a native app would be technically better but it’s the usual cross-platform problem.
My only complaint is that it pushes Windows notifications when you get a message but they’re not discarded automatically when you read them in the app. Not sure if it’s a limitation of the Windows API or what.