Discord ditches Electron for Rust to cut RAM usage
Should we expect bugs?
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- Discord is rewriting its desktop and mobile apps in Rust, moving away from Electron and React Native.
- The company says the change should make Discord faster and less memory-intensive across Windows, macOS, and mobile.
- A development screenshot showed Discord Phoenix using 290 MB of RAM.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
Discord announced a major update to its desktop and mobile app that should make it faster and less memory-intensive.
Discord’s CTO, Stanislav Vishnevskiy, shared the behind-the-scenes details of this change.
He revealed that the platform will be rewritten in Rust, moving away from the previously used Electron and React Native.
The company has been using Rust in part since 2018, and is now bringing the programming language to the entire client.
The update is expected to change how Discord is used on macOS, Windows, and mobile devices, and to reduce the app’s memory usage.
The app would keep its native user interface (UI) but share its code with the desktop via Rust.
Less RAM usage?
With the ongoing RAM shortage and rising technology prices making it increasingly difficult for users to upgrade to more powerful devices, many are interested in how Discord plans to reduce its resource consumption.
Vishnevskiy also shared a screenshot showing Windows Task Manager with an application named “Discord Phoenix,” which uses 290 MB of RAM.
For comparison, the same screenshot showed Google Chrome consuming 1.57 GB of memory and Spotify using 643 MB.
The data hints that the Discord version in development uses significantly less memory, but it doesn’t include comparison numbers between the new app and the current version.
It’s not yet known when the overhauled app will become available to users, with Vishnevskiy sharing hopes “to get it into testing with users soon.”
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Users hope changes are not vibe-coded
While many users were excited for the change, some shared a few concerns.
“I really hope this won't be vibecoded,” one Redditor shared.
The point about AI usage sparked a discussion, with many users confident that the company will use AI.
“In the age of AI, there is zero shot they would spend the resources to do this by hand,” wrote one user.
Discord announces a full rust rewrite, across Desktop and Mobile, using GPUI
by u/Woofer210 in discordapp
The news about Discord also made some users speculate whether changing its programming language would actually make a difference.
“I'm not concerned about better performance. I'm concerned about potential new bugs/issues that this transition will bring. I really hope it will be tested thoroughly before releasing to prod,” added one Redditor.
