"Remove the TikTok aspects": Users flood Twitch forums with requests to roll back TikTok-like features to mobile app

Twitch is facing backlash from netizens on the platform's UserVoice feedback forums after an update for the Twitch mobile application was announced on July 29, 2024, and subsequently rolled out over the following week. Many users have remarked on the striking similarities between certain elements of the new user interface for Twitch and the short-form content application TikTok.

Receiving thousands of votes, nine of the top ten "ideas" within the feedback section are directly related to this UI update, with users asking Twitch to reverse the changes. The second-highest voted idea within the forum, gathering over 1,162 at the time of writing this article, stated:

"Remove the TikTok aspects. Revert the most recent update, It is not liked in the slightest."

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Twitch faces backlash from the community within its UserVoice feedback forums after a recent UI update

Broadcasting giant Twitch's new mobile application update features a refreshed home page that provides users with a personalized feed of live streams that they can scroll and preview. Further, tapping on the stream preview allows the user to tune into the broadcast directly.

The app's home tab now features a discovery feed, a "follow drawer" that allows quick access to streamers followed by the user, a clips feed, and a "stories" tab akin to that on Instagram and TikTok. However, these changes are not being received well by the platform's community.

A post made on Twitch forums requesting to rollback the changes made to the application's UI (Image via twitch.uservoice.com)

The third most voted post on the forums, with over 1,143 votes as of writing, specifically asks to revert the changes introduced recently, as it also supposedly removed some aspects present in the previous version such as the "Continue Watching" list for Videos-on-Demand (VODs).

Users on X have also remarked on the changes made to the app under the new update (Image via X)

Many Twitch users have also voiced their complaints on X regarding the app, with some even calling on Twitch to "fire" the individual responsible for the changes. On the other side, X user @LadyMegaDanger called the revamped mobile app "cumbersome and unusable" and stated that Twitch was "forcing" broadcasts to conform to the TikTok format. They stated:

"D**n, @Twitch is trying everything they can to make their mobile app the least user-friendly while also being as cumbersome and unusable as possible. I love this stream format being forced into a 16:9 TikTok format that doesn't apply to any context whatsoever."

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A report by the Wall Street Journal in July 2024 revealed that Amazon-owned Twitch is still yet to turn a profit since it was acquired ten years ago. Further, the platform is supposedly facing a lack of growth in new users as well as decreased expenditure by the users currently making use of the platform.