Products · Pattern or everyday thing
Browser push notifications
Raised as a usability problem by 22 people on Hacker News over 10 years (2017–2026), in 15 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
Every issue, all time, most people first
Sites pop up notification requests the user never asked forUnreviewed
20172026- Modal notification permission prompt pops up in a disruptive way2026-06-02
- No simple way to stop constant notification spam once permission was granted2025-06-13
- Websites show annoying pop-ups asking to allow push notifications2022-12-01
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 22 complaints
- Developers can't tell camera access failed, so users get black or fake images without helpful error2026-08-20
- Modal notification permission prompt pops up in a disruptive way2026-06-02
- Users must refuse location permission prompts repeatedly, with no clear way to decline2026-01-15
- No simple way to stop constant notification spam once permission was granted2025-06-13
- Permission prompts and settings are inconsistent, scattered, and hard to find or change2025-06-13
- People grant permissions without realizing they are consenting2025-03-14
- Non-technical users can't find where to view or remove push notifications2022-12-01
- People click allow by accident and then can't figure out how to turn the spam off2022-12-01
- Websites show annoying pop-ups asking to allow push notifications2022-12-01
- Allow prompt is an unclear opt-in that sites use to spam users after a single click2022-12-01
- User thought permission was already granted and didn't notice the domain change2022-11-24
- Same permission banner covers both useful and unwanted notifications, so users cannot separate them2021-12-08
- Constant permission pop-ups users can't realistically understand2021-06-14
- Managing input devices in the browser is a big pain2021-01-15
- Users click allow on notification prompts by default, then get flooded with unwanted notifications2020-02-03
- Notifications distract, cover page content, and disappear before users can act2019-04-02
- Blocking website notification spam requires finding multiple hidden settings, not blocked by default2019-02-13
- Websites ask for notification permission immediately with no explanation, feeling sketchy to the user2017-12-19
- Notification permission UI is too intrusive for the user2017-12-19
- Prompt appears on first visit before user knows the site, and denial is permanent with no easy way to re-enable2017-12-19
- Notification permission prompts on blogs and news sites are annoying and make the commenter think less of them2017-12-19
- Sites immediately pop up notification permission requests the user didn't ask for2017-06-08