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Ben_Smeets
Ben_Smeets
Active Member
September 18, 2026

Finally found a usefull function... found out Simplified instances is deprecated...

  • September 18, 2026
  • 3 replies
  • 37 views

Why was the function for “Simplified instances” deprecated? I was looking for it all over the place and found out is is phased out. Why oh why? Is there any alternative? Sigh….

3 replies

djv
Figmate
djv
Community Support
September 18, 2026

Hey ​@Ben_Smeets, thanks for your honest feedback! 

That must have been a frustrating way to discover a feature is no longer available. Simplified instances were removed as an option on March 23, 2026. They were built to cut clutter in the UI, but research showed it actually made things harder to follow. We received feedback that users couldn't tell why some instances had the simplified view and others didn't. So we removed it to make component instance behavior more consistent across files. It can't be re-enabled, and there isn't a direct replacement. Any instances that had it enabled now show all layers in the Layers panel and all properties in the Properties panel, same as default.

 

I’m curious what drew you to it, since that feedback could help the team a lot. Was it mainly about hiding nested layers to keep the panel tidy, or about trimming down which properties your team sees on an instance? Those are pretty different problems and there may be something that gets you closer on each. Let me know, and I’ll pass this onto the team for consideration.

Ben_Smeets
Ben_SmeetsAuthor
Active Member
September 18, 2026

I do not understand the logic to remove it because some people found it tricky to see the difference. I mean, then don’t use the checkbox and let others enjoy it.

It could be a huge help in bigger DS’s, where the author of the component might need to make choices that make it harder for component consumers to use the component. A lot of layout frames etc that have no use for the rest of the team. Making sure they are less likely to ‘brake’ the instance by overriding a value or something inside. A hug/fill width is easily set, missed and then breaks the component instance forever.

1) Hiding layer to declutter the layer panel and prevent mistakes, yes please!
2) Picking the properties consumers see, especially on nested instances, yes please!
3) Being able to route through variables from the master component to the available properties of the nested instances, yes please!

All these kind of small things seem like such an incredible slam dunk to just do. That it makes me really curious who/what found these types of things so confusing. And why those signals are given so much priority over all the hundreds of people on this forum almost begging for these kinds of things.

P.S. Thanks for the super fast reply, that was a pleasant surprise.

    djv
    Figmate
    djv
    Community Support
    September 18, 2026

    Thanks for the additional context, ​@Ben_Smeets! 

    I’ve passed this along to the team to better understand the effects of this recent change on the greater community. 

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