Will Next Week's Update Fix It?… What Will Happen to the KakaoTalk 'Friends List'?

Restoration to Original Version Just Three Months After September Update
Sequential Rollout to Begin as Early as the 15th

Kakao has decided to effectively revert the KakaoTalk Friends tab to its pre-revamp form. After switching to a grid-style feed in September and facing ongoing user dissatisfaction, the company is now rolling out an update-just three months later-that will allow users to choose the original list-style interface.

The KakaoTalk interface revamped with a major update last September. KakaoTalk homepage

According to the information and communications technology (ICT) industry on December 10, Kakao plans to sequentially update the Friends tab UI to a selectable option as early as December 15. Users will be able to choose and set either the previous "list-style Friends tab" or the current "grid-style feed Friends tab" according to their preference. Depending on the user's device and OS environment, the actual update date may vary by up to a week.

In the major update last September, Kakao replaced the traditional Friends tab-which displayed a list of friends-with a feed-based UI, aiming to allow users to view various profile updates and activity information at a glance.

However, immediately after the revamp, users voiced complaints such as "I am fatigued by being automatically exposed to updates from friends I don't care about," "The core structure of the messenger has been disrupted," and "It's imitating Instagram." Methods to block automatic updates were also shared on online communities and social networking services (SNS).

These negative sentiments were reflected in surveys as well. According to an online survey released by the Korea Press Foundation on November 11, 90.1% of respondents who used the revamped KakaoTalk Friends tab said they felt fatigued by seeing updates they were not interested in, and 79.7% of all users expressed a desire to revert to the previous version. With user dissatisfaction persisting, Kakao has ultimately decided to restore the original version just three months after the revamp.

Some speculate that, in addition to this restoration, Kakao is preparing further feature upgrades. A Kakao representative stated, "There is no change in our plan to implement updates regarding the KakaoTalk revamp within this month," adding, "However, it is currently difficult to specify an exact date."