Products · Product
Google Photos
Raised as a usability problem by 174 people on Hacker News over 18 years (2009–2026), in 128 threads.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9Hard to delete many photos at onceUnreviewed
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
Every issue, all time, most people first
Repeated backup prompts make it easy to turn backup on accidentallyUnreviewed
20092026- Backup prompt keeps reappearing after the user has declined it repeatedly2026-08-17
- Backup prompt offers only "Yes" or "Ask Me Later" instead of a clear No, forcing repeated prompts2026-08-17
- Repeated backup pop-up prompts make the app hard to use2026-08-17
Search returns irrelevant or no results, so photos are hard to findUnreviewed
20092026- Search returns irrelevant or no results, so photos are hard to find2025-05-05
- Search results are unreliable and users have no visibility or control over photo categories2024-06-15
- Too many photos to sort; can only find things via AI search or timestamps2023-10-30
Synced folder images get pulled in and are hard to clean upUnreviewed
20092026- Badgers users endlessly to enable auto sync, and makes deleting synced photos awkward2026-07-08
- Cloud sync enabled by default, so users unknowingly upload all their photos2021-08-29
- Synced folders' images get pulled into Google Photos, and cleaning them up is a nightmare2019-06-12
Cannot easily download own photos; Takeout is hard to useUnreviewed
20092026- Can't easily download their own photos; Takeout is horrible to use2026-02-02
- Takeout exports duplicate album photos and arrive as many huge zip files2025-12-30
- Takeout duplicates each photo per album, tripling size, and downloads fail2025-08-20
Must scroll slowly so thumbnails load before multi-selectingUnreviewed
20092026- Must scroll slowly through all photos so thumbnails load before multi-selecting2026-08-17
- Selecting many photos requires zoomed-out browser, shift-clicks and repeated PgDn presses2023-10-30
- Thumbnails sometimes fail to load, so photos appear as blank until tapped2020-11-11
Must sign into Google to view photos, with no way around itUnreviewed
20092026- Photos got uploaded to Google despite user disabling sharing and backup options2017-05-27
- Must sign into Google to view the photos, with no way around it2016-12-06
- Can't see backed-up photos in Google Drive; must use a separate site2016-05-05
Hard to delete many photos at onceUnreviewed
20092026- Hard to delete many photos at once, so users give up and pay2024-05-10
- No way to mass delete photos, forcing a hacky browser script2020-07-25
- Bulk deleting photos requires awkward shift-click zooming, hundreds of repetitions, and browser crashes2020-05-04
Swiping to adjacent photo leaves black screen until app restartUnreviewed
20092026- After applying the workaround, the interface breaks and not all photos are visible2026-08-17
- Swipes fail to change photo unless user zooms all the way out first2024-03-22
- Swiping to adjacent photo leaves black screen, forcing app restart and reselection2023-01-20
Downloading photos with correct metadata requires a paid third-party toolUnreviewed
20092026- Downloading from Google Photos is super confusing, forcing a paid third-party tool to fix metadata2025-02-01
- Full export takes weeks and strips or alters photo metadata2024-07-27
- Some files download at reduced quality with metadata stripped, originals hard to get2023-10-30
Similar photos collapse into one thumbnail, hiding wanted picturesUnreviewed
20092026- No simple way to get all photos out; had to scroll and download one by one2025-12-06
- Similar photos collapsed into one thumbnail, so user can't find the pictures they took2024-05-10
- All photos listed together in thumbnails, hard to browse without folders2020-11-18
Android upload gives no way to pick an albumUnreviewed
20092026- Can't sort photos the way the replaced Picasa app allowed2017-07-31
- Android upload has no way to pick an album, unlike Picasa2016-02-12
- Picasa albums now default into Google+ Photos, with no RSS feeds to reach pictures2013-07-12
Deleted photos get re-added by auto backupUnreviewed
20092026- Can't fully delete the backup online, and deleting photos silently removes them from all devices2026-07-13
- Deleted photos get re-added by auto backup; bulk download requires manual selection2026-04-10
- Can't bulk download backed-up photos to a computer; only one by one2019-06-12
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 50 complaints
- Search now requires enabling GenAI and results seem worse than before2026-11-03
- Must buy an AI subscription to use it, then gets a confusing Google Pay country error2026-09-02
- Must scroll slowly through all photos so thumbnails load before multi-selecting2026-08-17
- Users must use an ad blocker because the prompt can't be turned off in settings2026-08-17
- Photos button in the camera app doesn't open the photos app, which is inconvenient2026-08-17
- Repeated backup pop-up prompts make the app hard to use2026-08-17
- After applying the workaround, the interface breaks and not all photos are visible2026-08-17
- Update pop-up reappears every time the app opens and can't be permanently dismissed2026-08-17
- Dialog lacks a permanent 'never' option, only 'maybe later', so the prompt keeps returning2026-08-17
- Red warnings cover much of the screen and mark every photo as unbacked despite backup being off2026-08-17
- Scary prompts keep switching phone backup back to Google Photos, and the user can't stop it2026-08-17
- Pop-up covers so much of the screen that content in the corner is hidden until dismissed2026-08-17
- Backup prompt keeps reappearing after the user has declined it repeatedly2026-08-17
- Backup prompt offers only "Yes" or "Ask Me Later" instead of a clear No, forcing repeated prompts2026-08-17
- Backup notification pop-up makes the app unusable for the commenter2026-08-17
- Dark pattern buttons train users to ignore the highlighted option and hunt for greyed-out text2026-08-17
- Keeps re-asking to back up photos after every update, with no permanent way to turn it off2026-08-13
- Can't fully delete the backup online, and deleting photos silently removes them from all devices2026-07-13
- Badgers users endlessly to enable auto sync, and makes deleting synced photos awkward2026-07-08
- Repeatedly prompts for cloud backup, with the dismiss options easy to misjudge2026-05-03
- Deleted photos get re-added by auto backup; bulk download requires manual selection2026-04-10
- Backup prompt keeps reappearing and defaults to yes2026-04-10
- API changes make it unusable for querying and geo-querying photos2026-03-05
- Can't easily download their own photos; Takeout is horrible to use2026-02-02
- Deleting photos on the web also removes them from the phone, which is confusing2026-01-07
- Takeout exports duplicate album photos and arrive as many huge zip files2025-12-30
- Next button vanishes, so a later click accidentally fullscreens the image2025-12-14
- No simple way to get all photos out; had to scroll and download one by one2025-12-06
- Groups different people together as similar-looking faces, making the people albums useless2025-12-06
- Searching for common words like car or guitar now misses photos it used to find2025-12-05
- Large Okay button in unexpected popup easily triggers unwanted backup upload2025-10-12
- Repeatedly shows a 'turn on backups' screen after every update, with no real way to decline2025-10-11
- Export split into 250 zips, metadata separated from images, needing scripts2025-10-01
- Can't re-edit photos already edited; editing UI is fiddly and too small2025-09-24
- Dark-pattern prompts push users to back up their entire photo library repeatedly2025-09-24
- AI search changes forced on users, with a setting needed to opt out2025-09-23
- Can't find a way to extract the first frame of a motion photo2025-09-23
- Users can't properly organise photos into folders or get files out without a web interface2025-08-20
- Users must manually find settings to back up photos from apps, unclear which view is offline or online2025-08-20
- Takeout duplicates each photo per album, tripling size, and downloads fail2025-08-20
- Dialog pushes people into granting full access, making them think they have no choice2025-08-18
- Repeated nagging prompts to use Google Photos feel like dark patterns2025-08-11
- Timeline scrolling and zooming stutter and lag for a second after every movement2025-05-17
- Repeatedly prompts to enable backup, then hides the option to turn it off2025-05-11
- Search returns irrelevant or no results, so photos are hard to find2025-05-05
- Drop-down has no scroll bar, so options past three are hidden2025-03-07
- Users must manually add each photo to slideshows, and the new system is too complicated2025-03-07
- Repeatedly prompts multiple times a month to enable cloud backup, a manipulative pattern2025-02-22
- Downloading from Google Photos is super confusing, forcing a paid third-party tool to fix metadata2025-02-01
- Repeated backup prompts make it easy to turn backup on accidentally2025-01-18