I fell for the "create your avatar" scam and lost my picture!

[John Little]

Thats annoying! As the thread title says, I was lured into creating an avatar and now cant get my old picture back on the app. Its ok on the web where you still get the option to upload an image but the app no longer gives you a choice. So now I've got two different images. An old photo on the web and a stupid cartoon on the app.

BEWARE!!!!

[Davey944676]

Don't know why you wanted to change it anyway - I'd be made up if I had a photo of me like that on the bike! You look well cool!

(edit - just realised you of course meant Duolingo rather than Duome. Doh! I'm not quite with it today...)

[Explorer]

I don't know why, but I suspect that someday everyone will have a generic avatar. The profile picture is the last bit of freedom we have on Duolingo. I wouldn't be surprised if they wanted to get rid of it as well.

[John Little]

Don't know why you wanted to change it anyway - I'd be made up if I had a photo of me like that on the bike! You look well cool!

It is very old.

But i thought it was an optional extra. I didnt realize it would replace the old picture with no going back.

[Thomas.Heiss]

It will be worse on Fluyo.

On the tech talk with the CTO and YT live stream Alcuin has specifically said that no user portrait uploads will be accepted.
Only a generic avatar.

For sure I won't talk / chat to strangers who I have not seen a face pic or full body.

As we know Duolingo is developing backwards (compared to 2016 where PMs existed) and Fluyo's social feature fails for me from the start.

It somehow s...ed quite much when Hellolingo was only text based and no pictures of accounts were given.
But then it was at least possible to give a quite long bio text and reference other websites.
Wish I would have had saved mine... but it's lost forever.

On Busuu many people upload their portrait photos so this is easier to add a few selected friends.
Unfortunately, Busuu doesn't support searching for usernames and adding them with direct user_ids or from external resources, only internally from their suggested lists.

Would be fun to add several Duolingo or Duome users, who provide a portrait.

Learners from DL staff themselves have been heavily using cartoonized avatars for a longer time on their own accounts.
I'm not a big fan of them.
Surely won't hit any mobile app button to create a random avatar, like within the game LingoLegend.

[Saperlipopette!]

Now I see why several followers and followees changed their profile picture to a cartoon this week.

[Deleted User 4833]

I've never had a pic of myself as an avatar on Duolingo.

[John Little]

My picture is back! The public/private problem also fixed. Panic over.

[gmads]

My picture is back! The public/private problem also fixed. Panic over.

Congrats! And don't ever trust the green owl again

[Rack316]

I am a longtime member, subscriber, 1561 day streak user.

I recently checked out the new "avatar" just to check it out, fully intending to switch back. Only now I find out it is impossible. My previous Pic was of someone dear to me that has passed away.

Not to sound like a whiny baby, or whatever but I'm ready to end my sub and streak if I can't get my previous Pic back.

Thank you for reading.

[eI000yo]

I am a longtime member, subscriber, 1561 day streak user.

I recently checked out the new "avatar" just to check it out, fully intending to switch back. Only now I find out it is impossible. My previous Pic was of someone dear to me that has passed away.

Not to sound like a whiny baby, or whatever but I'm ready to end my sub and streak if I can't get my previous Pic back.

Thank you for reading.

Hi @Rack316 !

I moved your post from Duome Request forum to here. Please note that that forum is for Duome related requests only.
Unfortunately, we can't fix Duolingo issues, only post them.
Other accounts have or have had your exact same problem that you can read about in this thread.
If you want to submit your complaint to Duolingo, please read How do I report a bug?, email to Duolingo support, or try its social media channels.

[Thomas.Heiss]

I noticed it in the friends activity stream that several followers (some of them which I had been following for years) who congratulated me for two actions (2300 streak and 10 lessons per day) that many of them in the list only had those ridiculous cartoon avatars.

This basically means I have unfollowed most of them as I can't remember their real portrait picture.
Another issue: It's hard to list followers by "recently added" and to check for empty avatars or some fake or nonsense pictures.

And as I don't want to be followed by very UNKNOWNusers (same thing like animals or generic or empty avatars) on a "social platform" (well, I get it: Duolingo is more about learning and pushing back from any social interaction over all the years - more and more) my only option was to pick the "Block user xx" feature.
Duolingo staff NEVER should have removed the BIO field as my concerns expressed in the text now are not to be read by any users on this Duolingo platform (for some reason Duome profile also got the bio field removed - well, we can't edit it anymore).

Duolingo more and more becomes unusable...now it is happening to the "friend streams".
Looking back to end of 2016 I could even send PMs to some of them living in other countries with the Activity streams.

This is really ridiculous having to suddenly see many followers (on the Duo profile) and congratulations on the friends streams from cartooned users (I never liked non-personal avatars and many chose wanting to be anonym and have not uploaded a portrait picture willingly, which I can accept).
Any personal touch and connected feeling is lost that way.

But staff doesn't care and too many of them have been using comic avatars for a long time (one reason I don't follow them) internally.

[Thomas.Heiss]

@Rack316 Try your luck here to upload a new picture: https://www.duolingo.com/settings/account

The desktop website has a "Choose file" button under the first Profile picture menu item.

Edit: Reddit users have said that for some users it is already not possible to change back. This old feature seems to be gone then.

So make sure to skip over that stupid cartoon avatar popup thing on the mobile app.

[Corinnebelle]

@Thomas.Heiss

same thing like animals

I hope you know I'm human in spite of my bird avatar!

I don't know if we've really had a bio place. I suppose you could put something in one of the other fields about yourself.

I know Duolingo blocked their bios due to abuse. Some people wrote rude things in there, or put bad links, I think there was even a report button for profile names in the end.

[Thomas.Heiss]

Sadly to say, my friends update view gets now flooded from more and more cartooned users who I follow, follow me or both for a longer time.
They all fell for this "Create a cartoon avatar" trap on the app.

I'm unfollowing more and more users, also very OLD users from 2013/14 -2016 join date.
If they follow me with that damn new cartoon face I also have to block them now to get rid of all those entries on the friends update stream.

Unfortunately more and more Brazilians, Portuguese speakers in general don't upload a real profile picture.
Was no big problem if it sometimes happened.
But now the follower war from unknowns has started.

The don't even try to recover their old picture?!?

Honestly, to me this is the end of Duolingo friends / followers concept, definitely.
Makes no sense in that way.
And Duolingo (and Duome) has removed the bio field by intention where I specifically wrote there when NOT to follow me.
It's gone, still somehow hidden in the extended user profile (but can't be changed).

The worst news is this:
On Reddit some users have posted that the "profile picture" upload button (on the Web) is not there for them anymore!!

A lot of users can't change back to their old photo!!!

Someone wrote to Duolingo support for help (probably a Plus/Super user) and they've confirmed that the new cartoon avatars are the official replacement and it gets rolled out to more and more users (not only on iOS but also on the Android platform), wtf.
The Reddit user quoted that official reply.
So yeah, that's quite bad news.
And as we know staff is already changing the Web portal for a new look with health/hearts.

Instead of helping the user to get his/her OLD picture back and to maybe reinstantiate the Web upload button they declined and said the profile pictures get phased out?!

..(...)..

Yeah, I'm well aware of hacked DL accounts, spam bots, p**n and nudity.

But cutting down moderation resources on the HQ site instead of fixing all the open holes and to additionally protect accounts from changes (including language course resets), logins by third party attackers (wrong IP range, wrong country, 2 phase authenticated logins by email) to me looks like the wrong thing to do here.

Still have no idea why "adult accounts", used by kids and minors, are free to upload (real) kid pictures below 13 years of age without manual approval.
Those accounts scream to being further attacked.
Something is obviously wrong on Duolingo.
Sometimes even was encouraged by a few teachers who had no idea what they're doing without having an active IT admin team in the background in their school.

Staff very much fails to split the adult platform from the kids/pupil/school classroom aspect.
They still continue that one way route and just seem to drive the general platform into the ground, at least to me.

And the best is: I can't deactivate Duolingo friends without going PRIVATE.
A "Two user confirmation" NEVER was a thing on Duolingo and the max 1000 followers thing introduced last year or one year before was not very helpful either (they did it because of constant attackers and hackers).

This current direction Duolingo is heading to is really not the old Duolingo from 2016/17-18 which many of us have enjoyed.

Staff has taken away "Activity streams" so the friends feature was quote questionable to me to the last years.
But I enjoyed following and being followed by several users who used real portrait pictures, especially from foreign countries like Brazil/Portugal, France, Spain/Mexico, South America or the US/UK or Australia, etc.

Always hoped that maybe a new social features gets added back in a few years...

However, I don't see any benefit at all if only cartoon characters stare at me in a very impersonal way (same with animals or fake pictures).
Now I can't remember well the real pictures of the Duolingo friends which I've been longer associated with or who "congratulate" me.

..(...)..

I can't imagine that the new Fluyo app will be very successful with a social component and chatting/speaking feature if there's only cartooned avatars in the search list and no real portrait pictures which you can upload and find.
Social interaction to me means sympathy comes first.

Sorry to say, but I'm getting more and more angry about all the decisions Duolingo staff is constantly taking...
..... to cut down further costs for a higher investor payback and maybe to write positive numbers.

Can't find helpful features which rectify 80-90 Eur per year of Duolingo Super.

But based on which heads??
Their adult users and Duome power users (500k and growing)!
There soon is not any usuable social component (in any minor form) anymore.
Weekly XP numbers got already removed from the "friends list", replaced by Leagues.

Without being PUBLIC you can't even correctly track your weekly scores and lessons.

..(...)..

Addition in German:

Sorry, musste mir einfach mal Luft machen und die gelesenen Reddit Thread zu den erzwungenen Comic Avataren mit verbundener (dauerhafter) Wegnahme der Profilbilder und Duolingo Support Antwort waren der weitere Zündstoff für diesen Kommentar.

Offensichtlich wird es nicht besser sondern nur schlimmer statt echter Innovationen... auch wenn man immer glaubt das ginge gar nicht mehr

Bsw. wurde die Englisch Übersetzung bei Cloze-deletions (fill the blank) mir plötzlich im Portugiesisch Kurs weggenommen.
Ist mir heute in der alten Android App V5.52.5 aufgefallen.
Vorher waren die EN Übersetzungen doch meist vorhanden, nicht nur bei reinen Übersetzungen.

Bisher hatte ich wenigstens die offiziellen Duolingo Cartoons zumindest auf der Home/Learn Seite erfolgreich von mir weggehalten dank der älteren Android App (PT Tree).
Aber jetzt kommen nur noch Cartoons überall hervorgeschossen...

Wer kann vielleicht mal dem CEO und CTO erklären dass viele Duolingo Benutzer eben keine 3-6 jährige Kleinkinder mehr sind und eher was seriöses wollen incl. sozialer Interaktivität?

[John Little]

My picture has disappeared from the league list and left a green capital " A" in it's place. It's still in my profile.

[Davey944676]

My picture has disappeared from the league list and left a green capital " A" in it's place. It's still in my profile.

A capital A? What is your duolingo name? (if you don't mind me asking)

[John Little]

My picture has disappeared from the league list and left a green capital " A" in it's place. It's still in my profile.

A capital A? What is your duolingo name? (if you don't mind me asking)

John (661162). It keeps coming and going.

Screenshot_20230611-133851.png (202.75 KiB) Viewed 2060 times

Screenshot_20230611-133839.png (250.42 KiB) Viewed 2060 times

[rudi]

Wer kann vielleicht mal dem CEO und CTO erklären dass viele Duolingo Benutzer eben keine 3-6 jährige Kleinkinder mehr sind und eher was seriöses wollen incl. sozialer Interaktivität?

Nee, dann müßten sie ja investieren bzw. könnten nicht mehr kürzen ohne Ende. Hab heute den alten Artikel gelesen, wo es darum ging, daß Duolingo die volunteering Phase beendet, u.a. aus dem Grund, da sie (duo) ja jetzt Geld verdienen. Tja, das waren noch Zeiten. Vielleicht wird es bald nur noch volunteering sein.

No, then they would have to invest or could no longer cut back without end. I read the old article today about Duolingo ending the volunteering phase, partly because they (duo) are now earning money. Well, those were the days. Maybe soon it will only be volunteering left...

[rudi]

Have panicly checked my picture. Everything still there. No random signs. But I'm using the web only. Maybe that makes the difference.

[Thomas.Heiss]

So, have done a bigger cleanup from the "friends' update" thread.

Each time I saw a comic avatar I either unfollowed the user or blocked them or both.

Next step is to cleanup the personal follower and following lists.

It kinda hurts to move users to void especially long-term Duolingo users or Brazilians or other users abroad.
But I really can't stand this comic crap and don't want to see cartooned users in any lists / friends updates anymore.

Das letzte Fünkchen einer persönlichen Connection ist damit eh längst verlorengegangen.

No idea why those users find it a good idea to even use those new app "customize comic avatar" features.
I would have ignored it / tried to skip over.

On Reddit or in this thread I heard the Android platform already got an update with that crap.
So more destroyed user profiles from my streams will follow...

Have I said it already that it really hurts when I have to unfollow users which I have been adding over the last six years only because of this stupidity of very bad app features like that?

What is someone abroad thinking how this will not affect the friends list negatively when I see someone with those weird non personal faces in the streams or simply notice that new users added me per the email subscription?

Can't even get a list of 50-100 recent adds of users on the Web with a direct block button.
Many times I check manually some new followers or can catch up on the friends update stream if I see a message.

I'm sure that many of those users I had followed over the years had full portrait pictures in their profile, otherwise I wouldn't have added them.
And now more and more of them change on the fly for the worse.

PS: I've finally started the DE->FR volunteer course and will try to complete it as the old tree on the Android app.

[Corinnebelle]

My picture has disappeared from the league list and left a green capital " A" in it's place. It's still in my profile.

That's no fun!

[Deleted User 4833]

I never had a picture of myself as a profile pic in Duolingo anyway. I like to be more private and don't see a need to show my face on a platform like DL. If someone doesn't want to follow me cause I don't have a pic of myself so be it. I mostly care about my actual real life friends who are following me and who I follow on DL. Or folks I got to know from interacting with them on the internet. And all of those folks know who I am and what I look like cause we also interact elsewhere.

My two cents' worth.

[Paula]

I want my old Profile Picture back! How??

[Thomas.Heiss]

@Paula

Try your your luck here: https://www.duolingo.com/settings/account

Do you see the first menu item "Profile picture" with the "Choose file" button on the right?

Edit: On Reddit I had read the first posts from users - before the started blackout on Monday - that this Web option is gone already for some users and they some couldn't change back. Some others still could use it....but how long, that is the question. See my comments above.

[Thomas.Heiss]

Vielleicht wird es bald nur noch Volunteering sein.
Maybe soon it will only be volunteering left...

How do you mean that?

FYI: Former volunteers (but a few were somehow left out I heard) got payed out / compensated for their contributor work.
No volunteers are left, only hired contractors who applied or internal linguistic staff are - getting paid - working on courses.
No volunteers moderators are active for the sentence discussions (SDs) as they're locked and seem to be getting replaced by Duolingo Max and OpenAi/Chat GPT-4.

Somehow I'm really lost in our Portuguese course for those new sentences on crown L2-L3 levels with no SD (empty) when I'm going to see quite difficult sentences.
The PT course moderator and contributor team to me was the heart and soul of the whole course! But not all of them had access to the Incubator to fix sentences or add alternatives even they could monitor the SDs and often said to questions "shall be supported - just report".
One can learn a lot from the old SDs and explanations and this course has grown over so many years, but a user probably needs to write down posted Urls and highlighted very fine grammar explanations incl. advanced PT learners (we can also learn about English usage), which I haven't done honestly.

Maybe there is no choice to reopen them that soon; not because of not having volunteer course moderators handy, but because of the kinda outdated software with too old code, multiple embedded security holes and constant hacker attacks or spammers on the former community forum we've seen getting more and more aggressive.
Hacker attacks was more a started war and shifted from bio field abuse to username and location fields misuse and then last 1-2 years to making the community forum often break down and be completely unusable for some time, not only once.

To this day it is way too easy to create new anon user profiles with no good personal validation and to hack into accounts and simply change existing data (username, location, email, previous also the bio field like Memrise) incl. removing courses / languages without any further user confirmation externally.
Judging all the spam from legit user accounts last 1-2 years MANY accounts are compromised on Duolingo without the account holder (incl. high streakers) are actually knowing it.

Most of the implemented code changes for rate limitation made the community forum very hard to use, not for the better.
And all their inputted work didn't stop those ongoing hacker attacks and spam bots.
Kinda scary if such problems cannot be solved in the short term.

Understandably, an offered GPT-4 Ai service (Spanish, French, on IOS tested, not within Germany) gives staff less of an headache and they can make extra money with such a subscription model.
But the app "EF Hello" (Signum International AG) also uses AI I read and will probably provide the better course content.
Available course content for English for example looks huge, so many topics.
But I wasn't able to add the French course separately and test it without enrolling into Hello Pro (a significant discount was offered not too long ago).
Would have been fun to test their AI feature.

[rudi]

Vielleicht wird es bald nur noch Volunteering sein.
Maybe soon it will only be volunteering left...

How do you mean that?

FYI: Former volunteers (but a few were somehow left out I heard) got payed out / compensated for their contributor work.
No volunteers are left, only hired contractors who applied or internal linguistic staff are - getting paid - working on courses.

I know. Was just a joke about them having no more money soon to pay anybody. But wait, a joke is fictional, so it was more a sarcastic comment.
Damn, duo was once a quite good choice to learn, for me even the best, and now it's going down all the way.

[Thomas.Heiss]

and now it's going down all the way.

As you mentioned it, the old V5.52.5 Android app stopped completely working for my EN->PT and recently started DE->FR trees on Thursday 15. June 2023 evening (Cet/Gmt+1).

There is a new issue with the old Android app from last year (tree design).

Sent a new bug report: High priority: Server code is broken since 06/15/2023 - Android old app "Pick a goal" popup screen is corrupted and doesn't go away

Reference code: 6329709

Edit: Very good news, staff managed to fix the server side on Friday 16. June about 23:40 o'clock (Gmt+1) so now the old Android app can correctly set the daily goal via Api call and isn't stuck in an endless loop showing the "Pick a daily goal" dialogue.
It's working again. Great!

[Pinta]

I never had a picture of myself as a profile pic in Duolingo anyway. I like to be more private and don't see a need to show my face on a platform like DL. If someone doesn't want to follow me cause I don't have a pic of myself so be it. I mostly care about my actual real life friends who are following me and who I follow on DL. Or folks I got to know from interacting with them on the internet. And all of those folks know who I am and what I look like cause we also interact elsewhere.

My two cents' worth.

Exactly.

[ernesto.poussif]

I was also close to try the new avatar, but I stopped, while seen that there was no way back. I confirmed that with the few users I know personally and they already fell on this trapp. In the era of the social networks, I find the Duolingo way very unsocial. It doesn't make any sense then, to make such friends challenges, if there is no way anymore to have an idea who is on the other side.
I already sent a complain to duolingo about this, through the bug report form. I recommend you all to do that. Just use the way recommended by el000yo in this thread, where he wrote: "If you want to submit your complaint to Duolingo, please read How do I report a bug?, email to Duolingo support, or try its social media channels."