Products · Pattern or everyday thing
Email verification and login codes
Raised as a usability problem by 21 people on Hacker News over 16 years (2011–2026), in 17 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
- 1
- 2
Every issue, all time, most people first
Login codes sometimes arrive 45 minutes late, leaving users stuckUnreviewed
20112026- Waiting minutes for login email makes users abandon logging in2026-08-11
- Users confused by emailed login links; emails delayed, spammed or greylisted so login takes hours2024-09-07
- Login codes sent by email may arrive after the token expires2023-07-22
Email verification adds steps that make signing up annoyingUnreviewed
20112026- Signing up needs a form, then leaving the site to click through email verification2024-07-06
- Email verification adds extra steps that make signing up annoying for real people2023-12-04
- Users would need to send email from their own address, which is effort they'd skip, so they wouldn't sign up2022-08-21
Each login requires finding email, then switching back to siteUnreviewed
20112026- Login requires leaving the app for the email client and back, which is awful2024-09-08
- Must find and open an email each login, then switch back to the site2022-04-14
- Clicking the email link opens a second tab, leaving one logged in and one not2019-02-06
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 21 complaints
- Waiting minutes for login email makes users abandon logging in2026-08-11
- Copying emailed code, finding the original tab, and pasting it is a hassle2024-09-09
- Magic links return users to extra code or password forms instead of signing them in2024-09-09
- Login requires leaving the app for the email client and back, which is awful2024-09-08
- Users confused by emailed login links; emails delayed, spammed or greylisted so login takes hours2024-09-07
- Signing up needs a form, then leaving the site to click through email verification2024-07-06
- Email verification adds extra steps that make signing up annoying for real people2023-12-04
- Login codes sent by email may arrive after the token expires2023-07-22
- Users would need to send email from their own address, which is effort they'd skip, so they wouldn't sign up2022-08-21
- Users must juggle unique random passwords per site and reset them often2022-04-28
- Must find and open an email each login, then switch back to the site2022-04-14
- Email codes need email synced on every device and break in private sessions2022-02-22
- Login codes sent by email are sometimes delayed by 45 minutes, leaving the user stuck2020-12-18
- Clicking the email link opens a second tab, leaving one logged in and one not2019-02-06
- Older users mistype emails, can't follow verification steps, and struggle to check mail2018-03-29
- Users cannot log in until they click an emailed verification link, which often fails to arrive2018-03-24
- Retyping the email address is burdensome on mobile, and even copy-paste is annoying2016-09-08
- Users must request a new code every time they close the browser or clear cookies2013-12-04
- Mismatch errors don't show which part differs, forcing users to find the error themselves2012-05-13
- Users often never receive the confirmation email and must check spam folders2011-01-29
- Login email takes minutes to arrive, so user repeatedly refreshes inbox waiting2011-01-28