Ditch the 2023 User Interface in Acrobat
There are so many shortcomings and problems with the new 2023 GUI interface. Here are just a few:
Swapping left and right-hand panels for no reason. This does not improve anything for users. It just forces users to change everything about how they work in Acrobat every workday.
Functions are indicated by random icons. In the 90s, we learned that icons in software and websites don't work across different populations. Users have a difficult time figuring out what the heck they mean. Give text labels.
The left panel is permanently positioned on the screen and obscures part of the document below. Seriously Adobe, WTF.
The entire menu/panel system can't be customized, moved, or docked. Another WTF.
Hamburger menus (those obscure 3 horizontal lines) are used on mobile interfaces to collapse menus. They are totally unnecessary and inappropriate on desktop interfaces — where working people spend most of their time working. Give people real menus with real names. "Menu" is not accurate, either. What is the name of the other menu to the right? Menu 2? Cheeseburger Menu?
The new interface is inaccessible for those with disabilities who use assistive technologies, especially screen reader users. Adobe has seriously violated its VPAT with governments and corporations worldwide who are required by law to provide accessible work environments and tools.
Grey on Grey is not an accessible color scheme. Can't tell if some icons are active or disabled. Those with low vision can't discern the icons.
Digital signatures, Document Cloud (where Adobe stores your files by default), subscriptions, OCR, file creation, file combining, and accessibility all have reported major problems for the past few years...but rather than fix these critical problems, money was instead spent on rearranging the deck chairs on the sinking Titanic.
As long-time PDF consultants, my firm has found that the majority of customers are professionals who use Acrobat for their jobs. These are not "casual" users working on their smartphones. They are using desktops/laptops with full screens, not mobile devices to do their jobs. And they work with PDFs a lot.
They have developed actions and scripts to automate processes on dozens, hundreds, and even thousands of PDF files every day. These industries include print, prepress, graphic design, accessibility & remediation, accessible forms, variable forms, variable printing, data validation, financial institutions (think of all those bank statements every month!), health care, investment and finance, and manufacturing.
Dramatic GUI changes like 2023's completely change how these automated processes work...if they still work at all.
The cost to these industries to correct the now-broken processes — brought on by Adobe's whimsical, untested design idea — is appalling. If I was a major corporation hit by this unnecessary expense, I'd ban Adobe products from my company and look for another PDF vendor.
There are now many reputable competitors to Adobe Acrobat: See:
— https://www.tomsguide.com/best-picks/best-pdf-editors
— https://www.techradar.com/best/pdf-editors
— https://www.pcworld.com/article/407214/best-pdf-editors.html
Calling this Acrobat's "Modern Viewer" is a form of gaslighting Adobe customers. It's not modern at all — 30 years ago, using icons failed in software and web interfaces, and it's failing again with Acrobat 2023. Sometimes retro isn't good, especially retro user interfaces. Please don't attempt to bring back disco, old-fashioned 20 inch TVs, polyester suits, rotary phones and VHS tapes as being "Modern," too.
Ditch this "Modern Viewer" and instead give us a working tool to get our jobs done.
Revert the interface back to what it was.
Fix Acrobat's bugs. There are so many!
And improve the accessibility for those with disabilities (who can't get to the Comments panel, Bookmarks panel, understand what and how much is redacted, make edits or change the content, scale/enlarge the interface, nor sign a PDF).
For those still reading this, users can revert to the old interface for now (August 2023).
— Windows: Hamburger Menu / Disable New Acrobat
— Mac: View Menu / Disable New Acrobat
I have no idea who long Adobe is going to let us revert to the "real" interface.
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InstyButte Typesetting2 commented
I wonder, will anyone at Adobe venture forth to defend these changes once we hit 500 votes? I wonder if they will ever even acknowledge our complaints. I predict that they will simply wait for the outrage to die out and then get rid of the option to roll back to the old interface, then congratulate themselves for performing such a spectacular interface update.
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Piper Jon commented
Does anyone at all like the 2023 changes? I hate them! Why in the heck would anyone think that these changes are useful or even recommended? This disrupts the functionality for a 'clean look.' it is AWFUL. And now we have to go and find ways to turn it off? WHY CHANGE WHAT WORKS??? This isn't just resistance to change. The things that makes Acrobat Reader work as a reader are GONE. Difficult to find functions, no page numbers/remaining pages, the list can go on, but they are already outlined. I'm just adding my voice to the HATERS.
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Sarah Perkins commented
What a terrible idea this update is. I can't see anything to recommend it. Oh, hang on, perhaps it could be used as an exercise for learners to spot how not to design software.
I know it is natural to be annoyed when a change just turns up unannounced, and it takes time to get used to things, but I've given it a fair chance. There is NOTHING good about it. It just takes far longer to do everything, even once you have worked out how it is done now.
The opt out is the only thing that has kept me using this, as I don't believe the competition could be as bad as the new version. It is also worrying, as options are often temporary.
Come on, get this sorted. And get some decent user testing organised so you don't mess up this badly again.
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David Vivian commented
I have been trying to get the updated version to at least 50% as good as the original, but, after weeks of trying, I have to give up. I cannot simply copy and paste from Adobe to a word doc any longer. It was easy before.
Is there a tutorial on how to work out a better way??
I also find the interface awful. Does anyone know a better system for copying pdf comments into a word doc?? I am about to delete adobe!
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Michelle Gross commented
1. I totally agree that this new interface is not at all user friendly and totally frustrating. I also concur moving the tools bar to the left side is a total waste. Being that there is no option to change it back or at least make it "rotatable" is more than annoying.
2. I also agree icons need text. What is intuitive to one person is a total mystery to another.
3. Who needs the hamburger menu on a desktop version of an application- no one!
4.These changes seem to have made more to make it look like there's something "new" and "different" and "modern", than to really make the application better. Fix those aspects of the application that people as to fix or add something really new than to just frustrate users. Bottom line...this interface is awful. Anyone I know who uses this application has changed back to the previous version...horrible to think what will happen when we're all stuck with this terrible "update".
Michelle Gross Feb 3,2024
It would be an asset to be able to set "continuous scrolling" as an option. Having to change the view with each document is a burden and time waster.
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Dimi M commented
It's February 1, 2024. Thankfully, I was just able to revert to the good and useful interface. I'm imagining a bunch of young, new hires who had NEVER used Adobe Acrobat (I use Pro) sat at a table and spit-balled the new interface, taking into account not one of the previous characteristics of the old interface. You know, just for fun. Just because they thought it was cool.
Please let those of use who actually use the tool have "our" tool back.
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Debra Horn commented
I gave the new UI a week. I tried to personalize the toolbars so they would be usable for me, however, tools I never use are not removable and the tools that I do use are not addable. Basically, you took functionality away from us and I cannot understand why. I reverted to the old version and am much happier. Do any of you have to share your screen while adding redlines? With the new UI it was so frustrating.
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Josi Brooks commented
The new UI is almost completely unuseable, and that isn't because I'm some old dinosaur that can't get used to changes. Even if I did have the time to begin the laborious (and pointless) task of trying to get to grips with it out of necessity, it is crystal clear that it will never be as user friendly as the old version, and will always be more complex and time consuming to use. There are literally no improvements AT ALL, but a multitude of things missing and things that are soooo much more difficult to do. Just saving a file is now more time consuming. Seriously, who came up with this and thought it was a good idea?? Is Adobe secretly trying to get rid of all their users??
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Robert commented
Ok, like everyone else after a week of lost productivity trying to give it a chance I have switched back to the better old, usable version as it's obvious that these are NOT changes that will be ok once you get used to them. They are major changes to the negative in the functionality and usability of the product. Once you find where things are hidden it is still multiple steps to get to often used functions with no way to make it better. And in some cases a few things seem to be completely gone. However, even after reverting I am finding that examining the metadata of a document displays way, way less information than the same document examined by another user who was smart enough to have the upgrade blocked and never installed it at all. This is unacceptable.
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Martin commented
Hi,
I would like to report that the Thumbnails formerly present in the PDF Portfolio are missing. The portfolio is now represented just as a list.
After switching to the old UI, the thumbnail pan appears on the left side as it used to be, however, it shows only PDF icons, not the actual thumbnails.
Also notice that in the new "list" GUI the files are opened separately. When you switch to the old GUI you can browse through the files seamlessly. That is a crucial feature!
I will do a little investigation regarding this issue which impacts all of our customers who navigate themselves by the thumbnails in complex portfolios and subsequently I will refer them all to switching to the old GUI.
I hope I will be contacted ASAP regarding this inconvenience.
Thank you.
Best Regards,
Martin Jezek
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Maarten Karnekamp commented
It seems that Adobe developers do not understand the sentence: “ If it aint broken, don’t fix it”, but do whatever they like and not what the customers like. Same applies for Adobe Photoshop with the “save” issue (not able to save in jpeg)
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Nikhil Shringarpurey commented
This new UI is awful. Going from a set of multiple organized menus to one massive, overloaded menu is a terrible user experience and should definitely be reverted.
This is not a case of "modern design" - this is just BAD design.
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InstyButte Typesetting2 commented
There are dozens of feature requests that more or less repeat this one, but with less information and often an angrier bent. I hope that, instead of starting a new request or complaint along these lines, people start to upvote this one, as it is the most comprehensive and has the most votes. Then again, maybe seeing the sheer number of different requests for reverting permanently to the old UI will have some effect on Adobe.
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B commented
This new user interface "update" is one of the worst changes to a program the world has ever seen. Luckily, I found the option to revert back to the old interface because I was dreading to have to use Acrobat after the change. If this new interface is shoved down our throats and option to use the old interface goes away, I will no longer use the software. Focus your efforts on making sure your program runs perfectly and squashing bugs that have remained for several years.
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Marc Patrick Roy commented
Trying to improve the product is a gutsy call.
The first thing you should have targetted was to make the product fast and light.
Then, you need to give me the ability to turn on/off docker menus. For example, I want easy and direct access to hand, point/select, zoom tools without having to dig thru a series of sub menus.
Much like AI and other products, let us decide where we want and what we want to be efficient.
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luke burton commented
EVERYTHING Adobe introduces in each update makes the software worse, whether it be InDesign, Illustrator, Acrobat.... it doesnt matter which. IT IS VERY OBVIOUS that the people designing the software do not need to use it in a professional time short environment. (for example, just creating a new document in InDesign involves atleast 2 new windows and 6 more clicks of a mouse or keyboard compared to previous - just to create a blank doc!! And EVERY system after that is just as unhelpful or cumbersome). There are a million examples of how the softwares are getting less user friendly and streamlined. But hey, atleast it costs a lot more these days and we have access to their amazingly arrogant 'Adobe Experts' who know nothing about designing for print. Fools. Its no wonder people are leaving the industry or looking for alternatives.
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MTK commented
I completely agree with this post. I use Adobe Acrobat daily (I do legal support work remotely) so I do a few things regularly. I felt assaulted when the interface changed on me when I was under time pressure to finish regular tasks and had to TRY and figure out where the buttons etc were. I finally found the revert process, and have done so.
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NA commented
Adobe ruined Acrobat years ago, when it introduced the current mess that is so slow and unpleasant to use. Please sack the incompetent UI "designers" who clearly have no idea about smart UI design or snappy interfaces, and cannot improve the slow and bloated monster that Acrobat has become. Most open-source freeware easily betters Acrobat's expensive lump for usability and speed!
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Steve Trojan commented
I agree, what a huge step backwards
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Andy Cox commented
Horible, what were you thinking, had there not been an option to disble I would be looking for a different programme.