Google no longer allows Chrome users to opt out of the new UI redesign, essentially forcing them into using it whether they like it or not.
Now the Mountain View company is on the receiving end of a ton of complaints because of it.
New Chrome UI Is Ugly
With every major UI redesign, users will either love it and give the developers a pat on the back for it or hate it and find a way to bring back an older version they prefer. The consensus this time around is that Chrome's new look is ugly and that people dislike it.
The new UI wasn't a big issue when it first rolled out with version 69 in September. That's because users could simply revert to the old design by changing a setting in the chrome://flags page. It's worth mentioning that most didn't like the new appearance even back then.
Come December, Google released version 71, and the problem is it removed the option to use the old UI.
ZDNet made a compilation of the numerous complaints posted on Reddit and Twitter.
Here are a few tweets just to give an idea of what people think:
Chrome got rid of the flag that kept the old tab ui. :( Now all my tabs look ugly — jackson/theminecoder (@minecoder) December 18, 2018
OK, how do I get rid of these fugly black tabs in the new Chrome update? The old "UI Layout for the browser's top chrome" trick no longer works and these black tabs look like complete ass — Mr Fwibbles (@MrFwibbles) December 18, 2018
Workaround: Downgrading Chrome
A lot of users circumvented the issue by downgrading to version 70 or earlier of Chrome where the flag that let users to go back to the old design was still available — so much so, in fact, that a Chrome developer urged people not to do it on Reddit.
"Please don't do this. As a Chrome dev, we would really rather you use another browser than try to lock yourself on an old version of Chrome. There are serious consequences to this, and much like choosing not to be vaccinated, the choice affects other people besides just you," he said.
Of course, this makes sense because older versions of Chrome won't get the updated security patches, thus putting users who opted to downgrade at risk online.
It's not surprising if a couple of people switched to other browsers in light of this problem, but seeing as the backlash is so strong, Google might want to rethink the course it's taking.
