Products · Pattern or everyday thing
Alarm clocks
Raised as a usability problem by 14 people on Hacker News over 16 years (2009–2024), in 12 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads in the last 5 years.
Every issue, all time, most people first
Unreviewed issues were grouped by machine: Claude Haiku labelled each comment as a usability complaint, named what it's about and summed up the problem in a line, and a small model grouped similar problems. Nobody has checked them by hand. Expect mistakes.
The newest 14 complaints
- Alarms are wiped after a power loss and must be re-entered2024-10-29
- Hard to set alarm due to multi-mode single-button controls; big button triggers snooze instead of stop2024-10-27
- Display stays too bright at night even at lowest brightness setting2023-07-01
- Can't tell which control is which without looking at the device2023-05-01
- Buttons are accidentally touched when pulling the phone out of a pocket2021-03-09
- Timer uses an old scroll interface while alarms use tap-based hour and minute entry2020-07-12
- Blind or low-vision people cannot operate button-and-screen devices and must buy costlier special devices2019-11-04
- Limited 3-button menus are too hard to use for alarm and settings options2019-11-04
- Confusing buttons make regular alarm clocks hard to set and use2018-12-20
- Spin-dial time setting is clumsy and alarm app interfaces are cluttered2014-01-05
- Off control is a small hidden switch on the back or bottom, not easy to find2013-10-31
- Snooze button is small and stiff, so users hit off by mistake2010-01-21
- Hard to find an alarm clock that is easy to use2009-07-08
- Modern alarm clocks are hard to set when tired and easy to get wrong2009-06-23