Re: Gliph - Secure Messaging and Bitcoin Transfers on iOS, Android and the Web
I am very sorry to see the symbols go
It was one of the major things what set Gliph apart from any other chat app I know. Was there no way to keep them alongside the "new" way?Hey Newar,
Thanks for noticing and posting this reply here. To answer your question, we are keeping the "Legacy" symbol-based usernames available with the same use cases as before. You can use the old username you have to: Login, Reset your password (if you have not disabled PW reset on your account), Be found in the Gliph system using Add Connection, and even Added to a Group.
So your old username still works, and in fact you can choose not to get a new username if you want. We wanted our existing users to be able to keep things the way they are if they want. All of this is outlined in the blog post on Gliph's username update here.
That said, we have what we believe to be very good reasons for transitioning away from the old username system. I'm going to quote our blog post here for convenience:
Quote
As regular users of Gliph ourselves, we have found the Gliph Legacy usernames have not become easier to use over time. Though stylistically unique, Gliph Legacy usernames got in the way of the experience in a few ways.
First, people from the Gliph community told us they like the service but find it too hard to connect with other people. A basic function is being able to look up another person in the system and the symbols added friction to that process.
Sometimes when the symbol-usernames were shown in a public group conversation, it was challenging to track who was who. An emerging problem with Gliph Legacy usernames is that they dont store well in password management tools like 1Password.
The symbol-based usernames were a daring and interesting way to stand out for a company championing privacy and security before people were paying attention to these things.
Privacy and security are still top priorities with us, but Gliph is bigger than those two things. Gliph now helps people connect and transact with each other using Bitcoin. We want the focus here, not on a novel username system.
Moving to alphanumeric usernames simplifies the Gliph platform without sacrificing pseudonymity. You dont have to remember the symbols that your friend chose or find them on our symbol keyboard. You just need to know their unique written username and type it in.
First, people from the Gliph community told us they like the service but find it too hard to connect with other people. A basic function is being able to look up another person in the system and the symbols added friction to that process.
Sometimes when the symbol-usernames were shown in a public group conversation, it was challenging to track who was who. An emerging problem with Gliph Legacy usernames is that they dont store well in password management tools like 1Password.
The symbol-based usernames were a daring and interesting way to stand out for a company championing privacy and security before people were paying attention to these things.
Privacy and security are still top priorities with us, but Gliph is bigger than those two things. Gliph now helps people connect and transact with each other using Bitcoin. We want the focus here, not on a novel username system.
Moving to alphanumeric usernames simplifies the Gliph platform without sacrificing pseudonymity. You dont have to remember the symbols that your friend chose or find them on our symbol keyboard. You just need to know their unique written username and type it in.
We have some exciting things related to Bitcoin that we are working on, I hope what you feel we lost in the uniqueness of the symbol usernames will be more than made up for in increased practicality, usability and sheer joy from using Gliph. I implore you: stay tuned.
rob