Bridge 2023 and 2024 is practically unusable

[Angelic_Gemstone5C49]

Dear folks in the Bridge team! It's beyond understanding how you don't realize, these versions of Bridge are a big failure!? It's like an early beta version. But already 2 years in beta...

Compared to version 12, the newer versions have numerous bugs, the UI is almost non-responsive, etc. The overall feel of the software is like a bunch of libraries put together in a hurry, by a student.

Annoying things:

- The window often misses the clicks. Yes, clicking in the window, too often does nothing. Tested on multiple computers. (I have to connect this bug with the annoying sticky hand tool bug where the mouse button release is missed, making the hand tool and the lasso tool unusable in photoshop, and Lightroom Classic is affected as well with this sticky hand tool).

- Scrolling is painfully slow, to the point of unusable. I see, the scrollbars were reinvented, just to break the things, because there are absolutely no benefits having some super minimalist fancy scrollbars. Instead of fixing the bugs, the team was busy reinventing the wheel.

- Search is slow. I'm typing the file/folder name, then the window stays, doing nothing, then after some time passes it jumps to the target. But careful, because if something isn't focused well, search isn't working.

- ...

- Countless UI glitches, like awful blue focus outlines, bright white title bars of windows, forgotten menu separators, etc. Even amateur software writers care about these.

- Countless other issues, mentioned by other members in this forum.

I had to reinstall v12, that's the last usable version.

About refunds: due to a non-working software and broken features, do we have a refund?

[JOHNMONT]

Agree. I used to be a real promoter of Bridge to colleagues — I thought it was quick, practical and intuitive. Now, I'll be looking for an alternative if things don't get sorted soon.

[melajuana]

I have been thinking of capture one for some time and am tempted to give it the chance it deserves

[dugm22]

It's just so frustrating that I have spent hours trying to fix a program that is just substandard!!!!  I have been using bridge for well over a deade and the latest 2 versions are trash! I have a very streamlined workflow and it's impossible to sort and transfer files from folder to folder.  My right click takes 45 seconds sometimes just to open the menu!. I have plenty of ssd space and 64g of ram. No other programs that I run have any issue doing this. Why can't they just fix this???? it worked fine in the 2022 version.  

[gary_sc]

@dugm22 this is something that I do all the time. I can transfer from window to window or Content Panel to Content Panel. How are you trying to do this?

I simply select the image(s), mouse down, and drag them to the Content Panel that I want them to go into. This is no more challenging than moving/copying a layer/style in Photoshop from one Tab to another.

What/how are you doing this?

[NetPixel]

It seems that the problem is not hidden in how/what to do. The problem is simply the substandard of the newer version of bridge. There are people who don't like to move slowly and think long before doing anything (me included). The problem is, the 2023 and 2024 versions of Bridge (including Acrobat Reader and the other redesigned UI) doesn't allow this. The software became sluggish and non-responsive, therefore the workflow can't be smooth enough, people always have to wait for the software to respond, yet on high-end machines. We know why: incompetent software design, inefficient, spaghetti code behind.

[Loop1Photography]

And I'm sure they will eventually kill the product because no one is using it. Gee  I wonder why. Bridge is currently a POS.  How the hell to they expect us to view images in a folder and decide which ones to open in PS?  

[DiodorS]

@Angelic_Gemstone5C49 I've managed to fix that annoying blue border: https://community.adobe.com/t5/bridge-discussions/workaround-disable-or-change-the-color-of-blue-bor...

But I'm going back to 2022 for as long as it works with the newest PS.

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[Loop1Photography · Accepted solution]

I'm happy to report here it seems the most recent version of Bridge has addressed the issues I personally had with other post 2022 versions of the software.  If you haven't yet tried it, you can keep the older version installed by unchecking the checkbox that would otherwise remove the old version. I still have both versions installed pending further testing but for now, problem solved! 

[DiodorS]

@Loop1Photography @Angelic_Gemstone5C49 How did you fix the light application/menu bar in Bridge 2024?

  

[Loop1Photography]

I use a Mac. Looks like you're using Windows... 

[DiodorS]

True... 😕

Found a workaround for Windows: https://community.adobe.com/t5/bridge-discussions/white-menu-and-application-bar-even-in-the-dark-an...

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[Lumigraphics]

I thought that was fixed somewhere along the way in an update but dunno. I loathe the dark appearance, don't use Bridge 13/14, and am mostly on Mac now. But try running updates.

[DiodorS]

@Lumigraphics 
> But try running updates.

No luck. The newest version has the same issue.

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[artonyh]

Probably the worst software I have ever used. I have been a photographer for fifty four years and started using bridge about when it first came out. A game changer! Now it's nothing but a usesless, time consuming peice of junk. I am paying to have my work increased from two hours a day to about three days to achieve the same result with crashes, bugs and stuff not working as expected. Photoshop makes me pull my heair out. What is the matter with these people? Why mess with a perfectly good program and stuff it up entirely?

[GraphiteGal636]

I've never had so many issues with Bridge that I do with the latest version (May 2024).  It is unusable, I delete the cache every single time but it takes ages to build a cache.  The batch rename is patchy at best, sometimes it works but most often it leaves files as AdobeBridgeRenamexxx because it correctly identifies duplicates but doesn't always rename them as such.
For now I've gone back to Directory Opus 12 which at least allows me to rough sort the 100k photos I'm currently going through with no performance issues whatsoever.

[artonyh]

I don't know how to post to this community so I am replying with opologies to the poster. I have bridge 2024 and it is nothing but problem after problem. Worst program I have ever used. Ratings do not update. Deleting a single image fails. Closing the program fails. Changes to images do not update. It keeps stalling continually. Now have no other version and this version is total crap and beyond annoying. What a waste of my hard earned money.

[DerekRBMorrison]

Still major issues with Adobe Bridge. I have tried to persevere wityh it but it resuyklts in me shutting down (force quit) Bridge multiple times each day. So many issues including:

1) Metadata input is so clunky. Small boxes with no auto expansion and a cursor that relocates to the end at random. These metadata fields are crucial for modern photojournalism. No wonder most have left Adobe to use Photo Mechanic. Pleas eget this right Adobe.

2) I get duplicates when editing a folder of images – happens so often and I have to force quit Bridge to start again. Very firstrating. And time-consuming.

3) XML sidecar files exporting with jpegs. This is just painful for everyone. Especially clients.

4) More of an impriovement, but allow metadata sets/templates to be attrached to our profiles so we have them on all computers.

Come on Adobe, photographers have supported you forever and we deserve a better service than we are getting from this relatively expensive software.

D

[Angelic_Gemstone5C49]

Add Bridge 2025 to the list. Scrolling is utterly slow in every list.

Scrolling through hundreds of Folders or images is practically impossible,  grabbing the scrollbar is impractical because it jumps too much.

[louised43358484]

I went back to version 14.1.3, it seemed to be working ok and then today it lost the ability to preview TIFF files. There is no excuse for a program package like PS, Bridge and LRC to not be able to talk to each other. Some labels carry across, some do not, some keywords can be searched some cannot, some keywords carry across some do not. Smart Collections are hit and miss whether they actually work at adding the images within the parameters chosen, so many times it just adds some not all of the files with those parameters. 

Speed wise I am doing ok, everything is running fast and opening then saving from PS has been really fast (kinda makes me nervous that it is screwing something up).

Maybe Adobe should focus on fixing crap instead of trying to improve Firefly which is a cartoon character compared to other AI programs. I just need to edit existing images, not transform them into fake images with poor resolution areas that Generative Expand, Fill and remove leave throughout lol.

[Bluemoods]

Hi there, it's so sad that we users are misused for testing tasks. There is not much in life which is so frustrating than a software which doesnt work well - at high prize. My neurons and the blood pressure did bring me close to heart attack, maybe I should invest in some relaxation classes instead Adobe? I'll watch it closely; maybe there is hope for better processes

[MazStudios]

Yes indeed. Every version after 12 has been unusable because of the slow performance of scrolling, culling. So pretty much it's broken for the main thing it's supposed to work as.

I've been in several video meetings with them, showing the broken performance. I've had many email conversations, I've helped them with screenshots, video captures and everything in between. The almost never replies, they only want answers, they never answer my questions. And I pay them for this?

[Karo31605723bjxy]

It's junk, barely usable.

[jdf28]

I've got Bridge 2025 now and it works fine.

[CallievanHeerden]

Adobe Bridge has become impossible to use. I am looking for an alternative to use to sort through my images. Typical 1000's per day. Any suggestions?

[MazStudios]

I'm only getting empty words from them, they never answers any questions. Only giving newbie-tips. Use latest drivers and bla bla. Since they wont help me they are about to loose a long time user here and I'm also have begun looking for alternatives. Feel free to give tips on apps that have usable performance.

Thanks!