Desktop Element's interface is also awkward for some of us who don't use many channels but simply need our screen space for other things.
Even in compact layout, with small fonts, with one sidebar hidden and the other in icons-only mode, it manages to make a 600-pixel-wide window feel cramped. About half of that width is filled with icons and empty space. The settings panel doesn't even fit in that size.
The jabber clients I used in the past were comfortable at a fraction of that size. I think part of that was because they didn't force everything (e.g. contact lists and conversations) into a single window, and part of it was that they didn't flood the display area with margins, oversized (often repeating) icons, and space reserved for unimportant things that in some rooms will never appear.
I tolerate the interface because I love what the network is accomplishing and I haven't found an alternative client that seems better overall. I might try Nheko if/when its e2ee matures.
Even in compact layout, with small fonts, with one sidebar hidden and the other in icons-only mode, it manages to make a 600-pixel-wide window feel cramped. About half of that width is filled with icons and empty space. The settings panel doesn't even fit in that size.
The jabber clients I used in the past were comfortable at a fraction of that size. I think part of that was because they didn't force everything (e.g. contact lists and conversations) into a single window, and part of it was that they didn't flood the display area with margins, oversized (often repeating) icons, and space reserved for unimportant things that in some rooms will never appear.
I tolerate the interface because I love what the network is accomplishing and I haven't found an alternative client that seems better overall. I might try Nheko if/when its e2ee matures.