Korea’s Most-Used App Becomes The Most Hated Overnight

One of the most essential apps for navigating life in Korea is, perhaps, the KakaoTalk messenger app. From families to friends and co-workers to professional connections, many Koreans communicate through the app—even more than via text messaging.

But the app’s recent update has its vast user base feeling a certain way. Starting September 23, 2025 (KST), KakaoTalk has been rolling out one of the biggest updates in the company’s 15-year history. Unfortunately, the “Friends” tab getting a full facelift has not been received well.

With the update, the traditional alphabetical (Korean ga-na-da) friend list disappears. Instead, users get an Instagram-esque feed-style layout filled with user posts.

Online, people are voicing complaints through blogs, forums, communities, and YouTube, posting scathing reviews of the social media-fication of the “national messenger app.” An industry insider noted that Kakao’s customer service center is also being flooded with complaints.

Some are even sharing tips on how to block the auto-update, hoping to push back the “downgrade” for as long as possible. However, many fear that Kakao will eventually block chat functions on outdated versions, effectively forcing users to update.

• “Stay a messenger app like the messenger app you are.”
• “I literally do not ever want to see any of the pictures from anyone on my KakaoTalk list.”
• “This is exactly why I turned off the auto-update on my phone.”
• “Telegram, Whatsapp, and Instagram/Facebook DMs are going to take over. For work, we have Slack, Teams, and Works. It’s goodbye KakaoTalk now.”

• “KakaoTalk wanted to become Instagram, but now it’s neither. The worst update ever. KakaoTalk started out as a messenger app. Why does it feel the need to keep adding on features that no one wants to use?”
• “Ew, I hate this… Mine hasn’t updated yet, though.”
• “KakaoTalk is a messenger app, meaning the ‘Friends’ list contains people that we don’t necessarily consider friends and don’t want to share our daily lives with. What the hell do they think they’re doing?!”
• “This has gone waaay too far…”
• “NOW IS THE TIME TO SHINE, OTHER MESSENGER APPS!”

As the non-chat-related redesign continues to fuel massive backlash, Kakao has stated, “We will listen closely to user feedback and incorporate it into future improvements.” How the company will actually respond to the users’ concerns remains to be seen.