Where has the Inspect tab gone?

Currently pay for a seat in Figma, and i often use drafts to stage and try out ideas and used the inspect a lot - adding in DevMode has degraded Figma. I would’ve rather have a stripped down version of what we had as I at least could

i need to view access my own drafts to use this??? Is that correct?

@Tom_Lowry

The main problem is not “why do we need this feature”. The main problem is why the community did not appreciate this update - we HAD this feature.

and many more…

Instead of creating a tool that solves problems, you chose another way - to create problems in order to develop a tool

@Tom_Lowry I’m being honest, my clients start asking about viewing dev mode today. And after researching for a few hours, I realized if Figma doesn’t reverse their decision on making the Dev Mode / Inspect feature so money hungry, sooner or later all of your individual clients will find another tool to use. I was paid 1 year of Figma by my company but I also have other small clients, and I can’t ask ALL of them to paid 15$ EACH ALL THE TIMES. It’s so damn annoying. I’d rather quit, but can’t right now. Good luck to your company if this goes on.

You’re lying. This is not the actual reason why this change was made. You’re a part of an organisation which is clearly very creative, with perhaps some of the best product people in the game. You cannot tell us that there was no other way to avoid a “confusing” experience other than to put the view under a full paid seat and reduce the free view to something which is laughable for handoff of any nature.

Unreal! I feel bad that people like yourself have to fend off decisions like these!

In fact there could have been a very easy solution: just having for everybody the same inspect tool Dev Mode has (box model view and CSS snippet) with a message saying “You are using the free version of Dev Mode. Do you want the full version? Watch our plans”. FIXED.

The dev mode was a nice change from the inspect tab. A welcomed one, as the hovers on elements gave details like margins, gaps, dimensions and distances between elements. I understand turning new feature paid. But putting existing free features under a paywall (which is all the problem now) feels bad.

Just put free features to the dev mode. The features which were on the inspect tab, they should still be free of charge, it doesn’t feel right to see them being taken away in a paid plan. They would be an entry point and a demo to what dev mode more advanced features could do. Exactly like how variables were introduced: basic features for free, advanced ones under a paid plan. It would only feel less frustrating.

An alternative to make all of this feel less wrong would be adding a cheaper developer targetted tier (cheaper because you would obviously use less features from the full premium design experience). Maybe a one time license? It feels wrong to have to pay for the full Figma paid feature set each month if I’m “only” a dev, just integrating my trusty graphic designer mockups.

I’m a UI engineer that also has write access to the file because sometimes I want to be able to do small modifications to designs.

The problem is clear.
Previously, the status quo was that it didn’t matter what sort of permissions I had, I was able to inspect the CSS output.

It was mainly why we moved from Sketch + Zeplin to Figma.

After a few years of build a cult-like community Figma decided to build a super power feature but put it behind a paywall - which is fine if you can afford it

Now, the shitty part.
You removed an unpaid, super-useful feature and only made it accessible via “View only”. users. Why? I mean why ??

We all know why… but the way around it to

1. create another account
2. give it read only mode
3. open and login it in a different browser/profile/incognito while you keep editing in another or in the app.

Why do I have to do this?

Solution is simple, just enable the damn tab not just for “View only”. You’ll still make money and the community will not go from love to hate you.

Find a way to solve this Tom and you’ll be the hero that keeps the love flowing towards Figma.

@Ovidiu_Bodea You don’t need multiple accounts. just switch and back to dev mode.

I don’t like how switching to Dev Mode closes my current open plugin. I’m building a plugin and often need to grab css definitions in my file to apply to the plugin running in Figma. Before I could grab it from the inspect without any issues

Making a feature paid is great. For Figma, making an advanced feature paid is also okay. Closing off an existing free feature behind a paywall is dirty and ruthless.

Mind you, even though Figma is “proprietary,” it uses many open-source libraries to be what it is today, and we can’t ignore the huge contribution from the plugin community.

Figma was set to be a product that was also run by the community, unlike its competitors. It almost felt like using an awesome (open-source) product 2-3 years ago.

Now Figma is not only optimizing to make almost all new features and enhancements paid but is also finding ways to put existing basic features behind a paywall. This is disingenuous and crappy.

I am genuinely looking forward to PenPot getting better. As soon as it is even half decent, I am moving. As of now (this might change), I don’t feel comfortable investing time in a product that will eventually be another corporate money grab.