5 ms·

> and they didn't need to bend or break laws to succeed. I agree. There is no law against half-assed, bloated Electron based desktop software that can bring e

• shereadsthenews 7y ago
  Why does anyone use the app instead of the site?
  • Spivak 7y ago
    The site also is a heavy resource hog but you're right that it's overall less. There are plenty of lightweight clients that use the Slack API. I don't see why people complain so hard that the official client is heavy. Weechat with Slack is a dream feels like the good-ole IRC days.
    • shereadsthenews 7y ago
      The site doesn’t use any resources when I close its tab.
      • sciurus 7y ago
        The desktop app doesn't use any resources when you close it either. What's your point?
        • shereadsthenews 7y ago
          That’s only true if you configure it in a particular way. By default it stays running when closed so it can notify you and update its badge.
  • orhmeh09 7y ago
    For me it’s a usability thing—I tend to lose track of SPA tabs, often by closing the window or not being able to differentiate them from content tabs. I do use web apps but I vastly prefer using my machine’s window manager and window buttons/lists.
    • chii 7y ago
      I use a tool like applicationize (https://applicationize.me/ https://applicationize.me/) to make a chrome app for a site. It mimicks an app, but is running as a tab in chrome. Saves memory but gives the benefit of separate window and workspace management (I can tab to it, it can have icon etc).
  • nunez 7y ago
    Can't make calls through the site with Firefox
  • rymate1234 7y ago
    I personally use a 3rd party client which uses actually native code rather than electron https://cancel.fm/ripcord/ https://cancel.fm/ripcord/
  • randomsearch 7y ago
    Using lots of browser tabs instead of applications appears to me to be a step backward in usability. Instead of relying on the window manager to organise your work, you add cognitive load instead.
    • beatgammit 7y ago
      Eh, you can just put Slack into it's own window if you're going to use multiple tabs for it. Personally, I just pin it next to my email and it works fine. I'm not a fan of how much RAM or CPU it uses. I tried the desktop app hoping it would be better, but it seems like it's perhaps worse (I use Firefox, so
      • quickthrower2 7y ago
        Not great for web developers. We have enough tabs open and if every window is a chrome icon it’s a pain to find stuff. I’ve got karma tests running, selenium tests, incognito windows testing security etc etc.
        • shereadsthenews 7y ago
          If the other poster has the tan pinned then it is probably very easy to find. Perhaps even command-2 if it’s pinned in the second tab from the left.
      • mgalgs 7y ago
        Not a great solution if your window manager groups application windows together (e.g. gnome shell and osx).
  • dingaling 7y ago
    > Why does anyone use the app instead of the site? Because on Android at least the website detects that you're on a mobile device and switches to read-only mode. Correct, you can't even post a reply without fudging user-agent or installing the app.
    • saagarjha 7y ago
      Isn't the Slack app on Android native?
  • estomagordo 7y ago
    Why would I hide my chatrooms in several browser tabs? Sounds maddening.
    • saagarjha 7y ago
      Slack is the only reason I used pinned tabs, FWIW.
    • quickthrower2 7y ago
      As a web developer I’m often using my browser as a guinea pig. Hell a selenium test shut the whole shit down and hijacked it today. I’m not going to run slack in the browser.
• rayiner 7y ago
  A chat client that takes multiple hundreds of MBs of RAM and sucks battery life prodigiously should be, if not illegal, at the very least a violation of unwritten international norms.
  • astrange 7y ago
    It's actually not the first to do this. Adium (AIM) and Colloquy (IRC) switched to WebKit theming in the 2000s, when computers were /really/ too slow to run it.
    • pferde 7y ago
      Oh wow. Now that should be illegal.
• pgm8705 7y ago
  I've never experienced this very common criticism of slack on here. When I occasionally check, Slack is using around 500mb or RAM. A lot for a chat app? Sure. But it has little to no affect on either my 16gb or 8gb machines.
  • kortilla 7y ago
    RAM alone isn’t the problem. The issue is that is so laggy and slow. Poor algorithms on 500mb of bad data structures can bring any modern machine to its knees.
  • ElFitz 7y ago
    I'm usually at 500mb... per workspace. And the loading times when switching workspaces / channels are just stupid. Ended deleting the desktop client.
  • trymas 7y ago
    It's 500MB RAM per tab/login/workspace (whatever it's called). Office/company slack, project A slack, project B slack, ... and in no time slack starts to use more RAM than docker/VMs I am developing on.
  • welly 7y ago
    Slack is using 89mb here. I never notice it running, personally.
  • jodrellblank 7y ago
    Just reloaded the Slack tab in Firefox to clear down 1GB of RAM use. As I do every day. Every single day. For the one single channel I join. with no PMs and no threads, no file transfers, no voice or video anything. Maybe I wouldn't mind so much if it was astonishingly good. But it isn't. It isn't even basically competent, it's terrible. Terrible at scrolling back, terrible at editing previous lines, appalling at completing names properly, bad at search, and completely lacking at customizing when it displays 2MB animated gifs inline. I would expect a 4Gb machine would mean I never have to check on a text chat client. Apparently not.
• deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]