Discord’s desktop application is now rolling out a big interface update. The two big additions are the new game overlay design and improved dark mode settings.
One of my favorite parts of the update is the completely redesigned game overlay. The previous overlay was pretty bulky and often got in the way of gameplay by covering the entire Discord client over the game window. The newly designed overlay adopts a widget-based format, letting users customize where and how large each widget is for Discord streams, voice controls, and notifications.
You have the mute, end call, and broadcast type buttons in a small box. It can be moved around to be at the top, bottom, or another part of your screen. On the left side of the screen are the people who are watching the current session and the message feed. At the bottom right are the other screen shares, while the bottom left has a video feed.
It sounds like a lot, but it’s actually pretty compact. Discord went out of its way to make a really clean interface for the game overlay. It’s like a Google Meets overlay with less clutter.
The updated user interface includes a resizable channel list, which is something that many users have wanted for better management of channels with long names. It introduces three new spacing options—Spacious, Default, and Compact—letting users adjust how crowded the interface looks for better readability and comfort.
This is mostly for those in channels with hundreds of people. Discord is great for small servers, but once the number of people goes up, the channel numbers and name sizes go up, too. You normally have to spend a while muting and hiding channels just to get a smaller interface, but this should fix it.
Users can also choose from four themes: Light, Ash, Dark, and a new, OLED-friendly Onyx dark mode. The updates to the call interface feature a streamlined control bar for voice and video settings, offering clearer visual cues for the status of the microphone and camera.
Discord is a great service, and many different groups and game developers often use it, but it is such a hit for performance. It’s so bad that I don’t even have the client downloaded; I just use the browser version. Apparently, Discord has kept the performance hit in mind for its overlay, so it won’t ask for much. It also offers improved compatibility with a broader range of games and anti-cheat software.
The updated overlay makes streaming easier by letting streamers use Discord without interrupting their broadcasts. Streamers can now watch other Discord streams directly in the overlay using a picture-in-picture widget. The new overlay also supports integrated video calls, which lets users see their friends’ video feeds while gaming without needing to switch programs. This feature can accommodate up to 25 video feeds simultaneously, which is a big way to release a feature.
It is good that Discord is looking a little better, and it seems to be on a roll, especially with releasing its SDK this month for developers to integrate into games. This is a good push from the company, and it will likely go well with those who like to use the Discord overlay.
This is supposed to be released today, but keep in mind that it will take time to get to everyone. You might also run into a few bugs while it gets rolled out. Just today, I couldn’t make any threads and was shown error messages, so if there are any issues or concerns with the service, that could be the reason. Hopefully, those will get fixed as the update rolls out.
Source: Discord
