Kakao has announced a rollback of its recent KakaoTalk redesign following an intense surge of public dissatisfaction that erupted over the new feed-style interface. The update, unveiled just last week as the messaging app’s most ambitious overhaul in 15 years, shifted the familiar Friends tab into a social-media-like feed, making user photos and personal updates more visible by default. Many users quickly protested, arguing that KakaoTalk had abandoned its core messenger identity and acted without sufficient user consent.
Complaints focused on privacy concerns and unwanted exposure of personal information, especially in professional contexts where KakaoTalk is widely used. The redesign drew criticism for resembling Instagram and for revealing profile updates across the entire app’s main page, prompting users to demand the restoration of the original contact list style. Kakao responded by pledging to bring back the old Friends tab format as the default and to make the feed-style view optional, allowing each user to choose their preferred layout. The company also promised refinements to protection features for minors amid parent concerns over access to short-form video content.
Kakao’s decision to listen and adapt came after negative sentiment was echoed by 42 percent of survey respondents and reflected in a sharp drop in its stock price last week. The company stated that it will actively continue developing its user interface in line with direct feedback. The rollback will be implemented in the fourth quarter, reaffirming Kakao’s commitment to maintaining KakaoTalk as a convenient and privacy-respecting messenger for its 49 million users.
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(Source: Korea Times | The Chosun Daily)
