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it's not very comfortable to use though. Partially because the gitter features don't match how IRC is used 1:1, partially because it seems to have some bugs and sometimes does the simplest possible but uncomfortable thing (which might now get fixed!)


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I claimed it was ergonomic (at least more ergonomic than IRC since that was the comparison), not flawless.

And many of those ergonomic points come from features that IRC clients don't even have.


Regarding IRC... I started using Gitter a few months ago and have used various IRC clients for over 20 years.

I was blown away on how much better the UX was in Gitter compared to IRC. The history, the notifications, the markup, the UI...you name it.

And Gitter is a pretty crappy client. If there was a nicely implemented client, it would be even more impressive.


A lot of people like IRC. I am not one of them. I’ve never found it to be particularly pleasant to use, if it’s very feature limited.

It's a good enough replacement for IRC.

You're not too far wrong, though IRC could do with some updating to get rid of some of its more severe limits and issues which prevent it from as useful as it could be for less technical users.

But do any of those features feel like they couldn't be built into a good product built around IRC?

It's not a shitty irc clone, it has a lot of useful features (and some not so useful, looking at you threads).

Now the client on the other hand...


I agree with you. The pros about IRC are basically its longevity and simplicity, but simplicity doesn't mean better.

Gitter.im is a poor substitute for IRC, imo.

It's not too bad, but am not a huge fan of it being basically IRC but made fancier under a new name. I'd love to see a list of additional features!

IRC stops short at certain features that are much easier to use / seamlessly integrated in these type of apps.

What downsides did you find to using IRC?

Either way each choice is just a tool and if it works for you - thanks great!


You're right that IRC is still better than most today. Two features I don't see addressed much:

Accessibility to non-techies and any device.

Portability and user ownership of accounts.


Eh, it's a bit of both.

Yes, it's IRC with a pretty interface. But that interface is comfy and useful. Juggling multiple devices is seamless. It keeps your history and you can search it.

Not rocket science, sure, but not bad either. It's a step up from IRC.


IRC is probably peak in its niche. Simple design, cheap to run, cruftless. Anything else added really lowers its value.

Used it. I don't think anyone liked it too much. Switched to Zulip, which seems a little less objectionable. Still I'd prefer good old IRC.

That may be true, but it's good enough that it should be easily usable by developers.

And I'm personally working on Quasseldroid, improving its UI to make it much more usable.

If you have suggestions on how to make Quasseldroid usable for the people that refuse to use IRC, I'd love to hear them :)


It looks cool that said as usual its "hey I dont like <insert some chat program> so im just going to code my own incompatible one".

In the end im happy with IRC. Its not the greatest but its the one that just works: Its the one everyone who's an engineer in the business knows how to use, bots work, automation work, and irccloud works if you like webuis.


Been using IRC since 2004. I use it from time to time now. IRC is just one of those things that I feel would be better served if the IRC client itself got sleek design / UI friendly options so that the common person could utilize it more.
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