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Redditors are competing to design the most asinine volume sliders

Redditors are competing to design the most asinine volume sliders

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‘Please make a noise as loud as you want the volume to be’

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Volume control GIF
TheSteganographer/Reddit

We recently celebrated that Apple at long last made the decision to change its volume control in iOS 11 to something less intrusive (which, to be fair, would be almost anything but what it currently is). Coincidentally, at the same time, Redditors were having a field day over in r/ProgrammerHumor in a thread that raises the question, “Who can make the best volume slider?” The results have been pouring in since. Some are the volume slider equivalent of chindogu — not useful, but also, not useless — while others are exercises in minutiae frustration. Some are straight up absurd. They’re all delightful.

Which slider is the worst, though? Well, let the games commence.

First, the cringey slider that started it all — a classic-looking interface that simply changes the direction of functionality in a vertical volume bar. It’s a nice baseline to set, but let’s up the ante, shall we?

Volume slider GIF
PM_ME_YOUR_WATERMELO/Reddit

How about this one that adjusts the volume based upon your Mac’s ambient light sensor?

Volume slider GIF
ryuzaki_lost/Reddit

Or one tied to a random dice roll, because changing the volume should be exciting (and perhaps, an exercise in futility when you realize the maximum volume can only be 96).

Volume slider GIF
TheSteganographer/Reddit

But really, volume control should be intuitive, and invite concerned neighbors to check in on you when they hear random screams.

Volume control GIF
kittens_from_space/Reddit

Or maybe it should be uniquely yours, because we are all wonderful, inimitable individuals, and that should be celebrated.

Volume slider GIF
NeverMakesMistkes/Reddit

And finally, why slide when you can launch?

Volume slider GIF
BMJ/Reddit

When will user experience jokes not be funny? Probably never, as services / products continue to be in a constant race with themselves to make things “better” while often neglecting how we interact with them (ahem, HomePod). So, feel free to cry / laugh away.

Dig through and see more of the best / worst volume sliders over on Reddit.