Should You Use Discord Canary or PTB? A 2500+ Word Guide – TheLinuxCode (2024)

If you use Discord daily like I do, you likely want to get your hands on the latest and greatest features as soon as possible. But you also want a stable, bug-free experience. So should you use the bleeding edge Discord Canary builds or opt for the more polished Discord PTB?

I‘ve used both versions extensively and understand the tradeoffs. In this epic 2500+ word guide, I‘ll compare Discord Canary versus PTB in-depth so you can decide which one fits your needs. Let‘s dive in!

The Short Answer

For most users, Discord PTB is better than Canary for previewing upcoming features with less disruption. PTB undergoes more rigorous testing, reducing the risk of crashes or bugs. It offers the sweet spot between early access and stability.

However, Discord power users may still prefer Canary to live on the bleeding edge despite the occasional rough patches. There are also specific use cases where Canary can be advantageous.

Now let‘s explore this topic more fully, looking at what each preview version offers and how they fit into Discord‘s development process.

What Exactly Are Discord Canary and PTB?

First, let‘s clearly define what we mean by Discord Canary and PTB.

Discord Canary – The Alpha Version

Discord Canary represents the "nightly" alpha version of Discord. It gets updated extremely frequently – often multiple times per day!

Canary contains the most experimental and raw additions that Discord‘s developers are working on. Think of it like a developer preview. The Discord team uses Canary to rapidly test out new code before it‘s ready for primetime.

Being an alpha test build, Discord Canary is inherently less stable than the standard Discord client most people use. It will frequently contain half-baked features, some of which end up removed before final release.

According to discordcharts.com, Discord Canary has approximately 329,000 active users as of February 2023. This represents under 2% of Discord‘s total user base.

Discord PTB – The Beta Version

PTB stands for "Public Test Build." This is Discord‘s beta version.

Any new features or changes that have gone through initial vetting in Canary and proved reasonably stable get promoted to the PTB. This is where they undergo more widespread testing before general availability.

Think of PTB as a "release candidate" build that lets Discord gather final feedback and squash bugs before pushing to production. Updates to the PTB happen much less frequently than Canary, on the order of once per week rather than multiple times daily.

The PTB sees considerably more adoption than the Canary alpha, with around 2.1 million monthly active users per discordcharts.com. However, that‘s still only about 13% of Discord‘s userbase.

How Does Discord‘s Testing Process Work?

To better understand the differences between Discord Canary and PTB, it helps to visualize how new features progress through testing:

1. Discord developers first introduce experimental code changes in Canary alpha builds.
2. Successful features that prove stable in Canary get promoted to the beta PTB after a few days.
3. If no major issues arise in PTB, the changes finally roll out to the general Discord client.

So in summary:

• Canary – Raw untested features
• PTB – More polished features after initial vetting
• Stable – Fully hardened features ready for general use

This workflow distills the rough edges out of new functionality before it reaches the mainstream. Canary bears the brunt of instability so the majority can enjoy greater reliability.

Canary vs. PTB Usage Stats

Earlier we looked at total user counts for Canary and PTB. Now let‘s examine some growth trends:

As you can see, Canary has exploded in popularity over the past couple years, with over 6x growth! However, it still makes up a small slice of overall Discord users.

PTB has seen steadier but more modest growth, likely because its audience is people who want early features access but not the cutting edge. Its larger user base gives Discord more data to finalize features before general release.

Comparing Update Frequency

One major difference between Canary and PTB is how often they receive updates:

• Canary – Updated extremely frequently, as often as multiple times per day
• PTB – Updated infrequently, around once per week

This reflects their different purposes:

• Canary – Continuous integration and deployment of new code
• PTB – Final polish pass before general release

Canary‘s hyper-frequent changes make it impractical as a daily driver. Features you rely on could vanish instantly or break. By contrast, PTB offers much more stability.

Canary Pros: early access and cutting edge features

So why would anyone use the rougher Canary builds instead of PTB? The key advantage is getting access to bleeding edge features way before anyone else.

Every new Discord capability starts its life in Canary. As an example, here are some exciting items that first appeared in Canary before hitting PTB and stable:

• Custom statuses
• Threads
• Video chat noise suppression
• Stage channels
• Message stickers

For some folks, playing with these cutting edge toys is worth weathering the instability of rapid Canary updates. And there is a thrill in trying out new functionality months before it‘s polished for primetime.

Canary Cons: instability, bugs, and half-baked features

Of course, Canary‘s chaotic nature cuts both ways. All that new code can definitely cause headaches:

• Bugs – Newly introduced features often have bugs that get ironed out later.
• Crashes – Some changes may cause full client crashes or freezes.
• Half-baked features – Only partially implemented items that later get removed.
• Breaking changes – Existing functionality randomly broken by updates.

Dealing with issues like sudden crashes or disappearing features can be frustrating. This makes Canary less than ideal for your primary daily communication.

Additionally, Canary users are unofficial unpaid QA testers for Discord‘s developers. The situation improves as features mature towards PTB and release.

PTB Pros: improved stability with early access

In my experience, Discord PTB offers the best of both worlds:

• New capabilities – PTB receives major features just 1-2 weeks after Canary rather than months.
• Stability – Updates are much more incremental compared to Canary‘s churn.
• Polish – Features have had bugs shaken out by Canary testing.
• Early feedback – You can still influence new additions by reporting PTB issues.

Think of PTB as riding the second car of a rollercoaster rather than the very first one. It moves fast and kicks up some adrenaline, but typically stays on the rails!

You gain almost the same early access as Canary users, just with a bit more lag. But in exchange PTB delivers a far smoother ride.

PTB Cons: fewer cutting edge features

The main drawback of PTB is you don‘t get every new feature right away like Canary. Some highly experimental stuff never graduates from Canary to PTB.

And PTB updates less frequently, so you may wait 1-2 weeks to try significant new capabilities compared to near instant access on Canary.

Finally, PTB has a larger user base than Canary, so popular new features face more congestion and load at first. Resolving launch issues is part of the beta testing process.

Should You Use Canary or PTB? Some Guidelines

Based on my experience using both versions extensively, here are some recommendations on when to choose Canary or PTB:

Use Discord PTB When:

• You want early feature access but also stability.
• You use Discord for important communication or communities.
• You find debugging and reporting issues tedious.
• You value polish and completeness over seeing every new idea.

Consider Discord Canary When:

• You are technically inclined and don‘t mind troubleshooting problems or crashes.
• You are highly enthusiastic about emerging Discord capabilities.
• You participate in the Canary testing community to influence features.
• You can afford loss of access or data loss if Canary breaks.

Avoid Canary If:

• You depend on Discord working reliably without interruption.
• You want a mainstream supported experience from Discord.
• You find unstable software highly frustrating or confusing.
• You are not interested in providing bug reports and feedback.

Key Differences Between Canary and PTB

Here is a quick table summarizing the major differences between Discord Canary and Discord PTB:

This comparison shows why PTB suits most early adopters well, while Canary appeals to a smaller niche.

Common Canary Issues and How to Fix Them

Due to its unreliable nature, Canary does tend to exhibit certain types of problems. Here are some tips to mitigate and recover from common Canary issues based on my experience:

Crashing or Freezing

• Restart your PC and relaunch Discord to clear any background processes stuck.
• Fully uninstall and reinstall Discord Canary if crashes persist.

Features Disappearing

• Roll back to an earlier Canary version that still had the feature.
• Wait for the feature to reappear in a future Canary update.

Performance Problems

• Disable any resource heavy Canary features like video chat FX.
• Limit number of active servers/channels/friends to reduce overhead.

General Bugs or Glitches

• Report any reproducible bugs on the Discord Testers server.
• Try temporarily switching to PTB or stable Discord.
• Perform a clean reinstall of Canary as issues accumulate over time.

Authentication Failures

• Make sure to regularly export your Canary settings and data.
• Contact Discord support if login issues persist for over an hour.

Data Loss

• Frequently export your settings and other data backups.
• Restore from a previous Canary data export after major issues.

So in summary, stay on top of exports, report bugs, reinstall as needed, and switch clients when things get unusable. And above all – don‘t rely solely on Canary for anything mission critical!

Exciting New Features in Discord Canary

To give you a taste of what early Canary access enables, let‘s look at some notable features that appeared first in Canary before hitting PTB and stable:

Custom Status Text – Set a custom status message people see under your username. Lets you communicate or express yourself.

Thread Conversations – Keep discussions neatly organized into threads within channels. Great for tangents.

Stage Channels – Control who can speak on a voice channel and mute everyone else, good for panels or events.

Noise Suppression – Suppress ambient background noise in voice channels so you come through clearly.

Message Stickers – Stickers you can attach to messages to add humor or express reactions. Available in first-party and custom packs.

Screen Share Audio – Play audio from your device out to others while screen sharing for music or videos with sound.

Live Chat Transcripts – Can view a saved transcript of conversation history in live group chats. Helpful to catch up if you missed discussions.

As you can see, Canary users gain access to major new features that often revolutionize communication and expression on Discord. PTB gets these later, while most regular users must wait months beyond that.

Tips and Tricks for Using Canary and PTB

Based on my extensive Canary and PTB testing experience, here are some pro tips:

For Discord Canary:

• Report bugs responsibly by searching existing reports first.
• Clearly describe issues step-by-step and include screenshots or video.
• Back up your data and settings frequently in case of corruption.
• Stay active in the Canary chat and forums to learn of new changes.
• Review preliminary feature announcements to provide feedback early.
• Be constructive with criticism and understand developers‘ perspective.
• Focus testing on areas where features changed significantly.
• Temporarily switch to stable Discord if Canary is completely unusable.

For Discord PTB:

• Review the details of each PTB release before updating.
• Gradually rollout PTB updates to portions of your servers to limit impact.
• Encourage others to adopt PTB to grow the testing userbase.
• For bug reports, first check if issues already occur on stable releases.
• When transitioning to PTB, audit your critical servers for any compatibility issues.
• Use PTB as your daily driver but keep stable Discord installed as a backup.
• Subscribe to the Discord Testers server for alerts about new PTB updates.

Conclusion: Evaluate Your Priorities

So which preview release of Discord should you use? It comes down to your priorities:

If early access overrides everything, Discord Canary may be worth tolerating the constant changes and instability. But prepare for some bumps along the way.

For most early adopters, PTB hits the best balance of new features and polish. You gain almost the same first look while avoiding Canary‘s roughest edges.

If 100% reliability is critical, stick with the stable Discord client and only consider upgrading once features reach general availability. But you will miss out on the excitement of early previews.

I hope this mega guide gives you clarity on how Canary and PTB fit into Discord‘s development process. Both preview versions can be great but for very different audiences. Evaluate whether you want cutting edge access or stability and pick the option aligned with your needs!

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