4 ms·

It's ridiculous that you should have to install a third party plugin to do this. It's not that hard for Zoom to add this as a preference users can control. Zoo

by yosito 5y ago

It's ridiculous that you should have to install a third party plugin to do this. It's not that hard for Zoom to add this as a preference users can control. Zoom has terrible UI/UX. Don't get me started on how other users sharing their screens changes MY window layout, or how clicking the button to open the chat moves the toolbar, so that clicking a second time (to try to close the chat) ends up requesting to record the meeting. Oh, and then there are the privacy concerns.

automatoney 5y ago
Those are literally the exact complaints I was thinking of when you said terrible UI/UX. It's so ridiculous that I have to mash escape when someone shares screen. I thought what my previous company used was not the best, but if zoom is the alternative I guess I misjudged.
- californical 5y ago
  There is a setting to disable the auto-fullscreen behavior, at least
goalieca 5y ago
It not only changes the size, it steals focus. I work a lot during meetings!
matsemann 5y ago
Also annoying when sharing a screen, why mess with my layout when I have multiple screens and zoom is on the screen I'm not sharing? I'd like to not go through hoops to see those I'm talking with, and having to find the stop sharing or mute buttons on a completely new (and hidden) spot. Still, my new employer uses Google Meet which is even more shit. Grinds the computer to a halt, especially if not using Chrome.
- matwood 5y ago
  I prefer meet, but I do use a Chromium based browser.
adolph 5y ago
Is it Zoom or poor URI scheme handling on the part of OS/browser vendors? The leftover open tabs aren’t unique to Zoom. I imagine an app vendor is in a tough spot. They need a URI that can open if the user has the app or not, open the right app version for different on prem installs, and offer a web version as a backup. On the other hand, the Zoom or other app vendor page seems to recieve a signal that the app was launched as it often changes state. Maybe some marketing person thought a feedback page was more effective than window.close()?
- not2b 5y ago
  It appears deliberate on Zoom's part, they often use that page to advertise something after the Zoom session ends.
matwood 5y ago
> Don't get me started on how other users sharing their screens changes MY window layout I share your rage. Zoom is garbage, though I hear Teams is a close second. I know people hate on Google now, but Meet works fine in a browser with no fuss.
- delecti 5y ago
  Depending on who the meeting is with, at work I use Zoom, Teams, and WebEx. Teams is so much better than the other two that I can barely think of any complaints about it (note that Zoom is itself also a huge leap better than WebEx). The only one that comes to mind is that it doesn't play nice with Bluetooth devices.
- bearcobra 5y ago
  So interesting how different people's expierences are. Every time I've used Meet it feels like my system is trying to mine crypto and I find some thing I can do in Zoom that works 25% worse. At least we can all agree that we're glad it's not WebEx
- lima 5y ago
  And the AI-based noise cancellation that comes with Meet is incredible. It gets completely rid of even the worst mechanism keyboard noises without affecting speech quality at all, which no other solution seems to be able to do. Significant remote office quality of life improvement :-)
  - phreack 5y ago
    I use Discord for remote work and it has something called Krisp noise cancelling that works as incredibly, if you're interested in other clients.
    - copperx 5y ago
      Krisp is garbage compared to Nvidia's free Voice RTX algorithm or Google Meet's. You also have to pay for it.
  - 5y ago
djrogers 5y ago
> Don't get me started on how other users sharing their screens changes MY window layout That’s a preference you can turn off…
- zbrozek 5y ago
  It is (on most clients anyway, I think maybe only recently added on their Linux client) but the default is wrong. Unbidden surprise fullscreen is a terrible idea.
IshKebab 5y ago
> Don't get me started on how other users sharing their screens changes MY window layout You might not like it, but that's exactly the sort of "just make it work at all costs" feature that made Zoom popular in the first place. They're basically trying to minimise the "can everybody see this?" nonsense that video conferencing is famous for. I think it's a perfectly reasonable trade-off. There should probably be a way to opt out though.
Isthatablackgsd 5y ago
Yes this is so annoying. My company provides professional development workshops for the specific field we are in (Language Interpreting & Translation), I am often the moderator of the workshop. I am pretty much familiar with Zoom and that kind of thing happens so often. I have to reposition the windows the way I want it and have to do that all over again. I found it best to use OBS with Zoom, this minimize the layout changes since I am only "screen sharing" to my OBS, and my OBS have various sources like PowerPoint slide and videos. I have not uses screen sharing in Zoom ever since I uses OBS. Zoom is using OBS Vitural Camera and I can transition to different scene in ease without worrying that Zoom change the layout again.

by yosito 5y ago

automatoney 5y ago

Those are literally the exact complaints I was thinking of when you said terrible UI/UX. It's so ridiculous that I have to mash escape when someone shares screen. I thought what my previous company used was not the best, but if zoom is the alternative I guess I misjudged.

californical 5y ago
There is a setting to disable the auto-fullscreen behavior, at least

goalieca 5y ago

It not only changes the size, it steals focus. I work a lot during meetings!

matsemann 5y ago

Also annoying when sharing a screen, why mess with my layout when I have multiple screens and zoom is on the screen I'm not sharing? I'd like to not go through hoops to see those I'm talking with, and having to find the stop sharing or mute buttons on a completely new (and hidden) spot. Still, my new employer uses Google Meet which is even more shit. Grinds the computer to a halt, especially if not using Chrome.

matwood 5y ago
I prefer meet, but I do use a Chromium based browser.

adolph 5y ago

Is it Zoom or poor URI scheme handling on the part of OS/browser vendors? The leftover open tabs aren’t unique to Zoom. I imagine an app vendor is in a tough spot. They need a URI that can open if the user has the app or not, open the right app version for different on prem installs, and offer a web version as a backup. On the other hand, the Zoom or other app vendor page seems to recieve a signal that the app was launched as it often changes state. Maybe some marketing person thought a feedback page was more effective than window.close()?

not2b 5y ago
It appears deliberate on Zoom's part, they often use that page to advertise something after the Zoom session ends.

matwood 5y ago

> Don't get me started on how other users sharing their screens changes MY window layout I share your rage. Zoom is garbage, though I hear Teams is a close second. I know people hate on Google now, but Meet works fine in a browser with no fuss.

delecti 5y ago
Depending on who the meeting is with, at work I use Zoom, Teams, and WebEx. Teams is so much better than the other two that I can barely think of any complaints about it (note that Zoom is itself also a huge leap better than WebEx). The only one that comes to mind is that it doesn't play nice with Bluetooth devices.
bearcobra 5y ago
So interesting how different people's expierences are. Every time I've used Meet it feels like my system is trying to mine crypto and I find some thing I can do in Zoom that works 25% worse. At least we can all agree that we're glad it's not WebEx
lima 5y ago
And the AI-based noise cancellation that comes with Meet is incredible. It gets completely rid of even the worst mechanism keyboard noises without affecting speech quality at all, which no other solution seems to be able to do. Significant remote office quality of life improvement :-)
- phreack 5y ago
  I use Discord for remote work and it has something called Krisp noise cancelling that works as incredibly, if you're interested in other clients.
  - copperx 5y ago
    Krisp is garbage compared to Nvidia's free Voice RTX algorithm or Google Meet's. You also have to pay for it.
- 5y ago

djrogers 5y ago

> Don't get me started on how other users sharing their screens changes MY window layout That’s a preference you can turn off…

zbrozek 5y ago
It is (on most clients anyway, I think maybe only recently added on their Linux client) but the default is wrong. Unbidden surprise fullscreen is a terrible idea.

IshKebab 5y ago

> Don't get me started on how other users sharing their screens changes MY window layout You might not like it, but that's exactly the sort of "just make it work at all costs" feature that made Zoom popular in the first place. They're basically trying to minimise the "can everybody see this?" nonsense that video conferencing is famous for. I think it's a perfectly reasonable trade-off. There should probably be a way to opt out though.

Isthatablackgsd 5y ago

Yes this is so annoying. My company provides professional development workshops for the specific field we are in (Language Interpreting & Translation), I am often the moderator of the workshop. I am pretty much familiar with Zoom and that kind of thing happens so often. I have to reposition the windows the way I want it and have to do that all over again. I found it best to use OBS with Zoom, this minimize the layout changes since I am only "screen sharing" to my OBS, and my OBS have various sources like PowerPoint slide and videos. I have not uses screen sharing in Zoom ever since I uses OBS. Zoom is using OBS Vitural Camera and I can transition to different scene in ease without worrying that Zoom change the layout again.