Products · Pattern or everyday thing
Browser extensions
Raised as a usability problem by 25 people on Hacker News over 20 years (2007–2026), in 25 threads.
People raised many different problems with Browser extensions, but no single problem has yet been raised by 3 people in 3 different months and threads.
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 26 complaints
- Glitchy and janky for years, forcing manual password copying from apps2026-02-05
- User can't figure out how to build a workflow or find the described feature2025-10-16
- Can't figure out how to use it or create a new workflow from scratch2025-10-16
- Extensions steal focus and pop up changelogs unexpectedly when browser opens2025-08-05
- Key presses often ignored because focus is in the wrong place, forcing extra steps2024-10-22
- Minified extension code is painful to read and follow2024-02-04
- Running a local extension means repeated store approval or constant warnings that break focus2023-01-16
- Hard to find end-to-end tutorials or learn what's possible2022-11-21
- Save and update prompts are not intuitive and sometimes fail to work2022-09-22
- Installing a Safari extension on iOS takes many unintuitive steps2022-07-18
- Can't find the brightness slider, so must install browser addons instead2022-05-20
- Extension UIs designed for desktop don't work well on mobile browsers2021-07-23
- Extensions can't open, delete, or retry downloads by keyboard, forcing mouse use2021-01-28
- Browser interfaces are built confusingly, then features are removed making them worse2020-09-01
- Extension opens a PayPal donation page on every update, interrupting users daily2020-08-27
- Invisible layer opens unwanted page on click, and user can't tell which extension causes it2020-08-12
- Browser extensions meant to help a visually impaired user cause more problems than they solve2019-07-29
- Buttons are too tiny to hit on mobile with smaller text2019-06-14
- Replacing new tab page confuses user, unsure if recently opened page icons will disappear2017-05-31
- Video chat requires installing a browser plugin, which the commenter refuses to do2016-04-13
- Results jump around as hidden entries are removed after the page draws2016-03-09
- RSS browser plugins had a really bad user interface2015-08-03
- Install button doesn't work, and the email link leads to a "User doesn't exist" error2012-11-13
- Username change option is invisible, so user can't find how to set name2012-03-18
- Info window is only about 4 characters wide when the icon is pressed2011-12-30
- Non-tech users get confused by plugin installs and abandon them2007-10-27