"Nothing Is Satisfactory" Shares Drop as User Complaints Surge Over Update... Will It Be Reversed?

'One-Star' Reviews Flood App Store and Play Store
Key Complaints: Friends Tab Overhaul, Increased Ads
Kakao: "We Will Improve Based on User Feedback"

Following KakaoTalk's major overhaul after 15 years, user reviews complaining of inconvenience have surged on major app markets.

According to the information and communications technology (ICT) industry on September 28, PXD, a user experience consulting firm, analyzed 1,000 KakaoTalk reviews posted on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store on September 23 using its own analytical tool. The results showed that 42% of users expressed overall dissatisfaction with the update. This was followed by complaints about the design at 19%, dissatisfaction with the friends list and profiles at 10%, and increased advertising at 6%. Additionally, 15% of users requested a rollback to the previous version, while 4% said they were considering switching to another service.

Hong Min-taek, Chief Product Officer (CPO) of Kakao, is giving a presentation at the 'If Kakao' conference held on the 23rd at Kakao AI Campus in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Yonhap News

With this update, the Friends tab now defaults to showing profile changes instead of the traditional list view. As a result, users must press a button at the top of the tab to view their friends list. The "Now" tab has also added a short-form video feature, and advertisements now appear in the same size as friend profiles, with increased frequency.

In response to these changes, users have cited the strengthening of social media features over core messaging functions as a major complaint. Criticism has been particularly strong regarding the inability to opt out of feed and short-form video exposure.

Market reactions have also emerged. On September 26, Kakao's share price dropped by more than 4% during trading hours, falling below the 60,000 won mark. With criticism especially focused on the Friends tab overhaul, the IT industry is watching to see whether Kakao will adjust this feature in the next update. A Kakao representative stated, "We will listen to user feedback and reflect it in our monthly updates."

Naver has recently faced similar issues following its own update. On September 10, Naver introduced an artificial intelligence (AI)-based content recommendation feature to its mobile blog home, but users complained that advertisements unrelated to their interests were being displayed. In response, Naver has reverted some features to more closely resemble their original form.