Products · Broad category
Google products
Raised as a usability problem by 336 people on Hacker News over 18 years (2009–2026), in 322 threads.
This is a broad category rather than one product, so its issues aren't ranked on the home page.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
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Every issue, all time, most people first
Many Google products are very slow or unusable in Safari and FirefoxUnreviewed
20092026- Google and SaaS services are buggy or unusable in Firefox2026-10-01
- Many Google products are notoriously slow or unusable in Safari and Firefox2026-06-12
- Google's products run noticeably slower when used in Firefox2024-02-28
Many Google interfaces are inconsistent, making them hard to use confidentlyUnreviewed
20092026- Can't find anything in Google's interfaces, making navigation frustrating2026-01-04
- Google's user interface is broken across many places2025-07-30
- Each Google app reinvents how things are done, so interactions are inconsistent2024-08-20
Site is very slow to respond to almost any actionUnreviewed
20092026- Google services respond very slowly, though speed tests look fine2026-06-05
- Site is very slow to respond for almost any action2024-06-20
- Internal service pages take minutes to load with barely any data2022-12-24
Site does not work in normal browsers without configuration workaroundsUnreviewed
20092026- Google UI works only for simple happy paths; complex tasks like deep search or long threads break down2026-01-04
- Sites show 'works best in Chrome/Edge' popups or break until user switches browsers2024-06-20
- Links ignore the default browser setting and open pages without sign-in cookies2021-06-07
Ignores browser language setting and forces language based on locationUnreviewed
20092026- Ignores browser language setting and forces language based on location2022-03-11
- Hard to find where to change the language in the UI2021-09-09
- Language keeps switching between three languages, so settings can't be changed and flows fail2020-05-18
Redesigns trade functional usefulness for trendy, overengineered changesUnreviewed
20092026- Updates redesign interfaces so users must re-learn common usage patterns2023-05-21
- Redesigns sacrifice usability for trendy, overengineered changes, making products less functionally useful2016-04-01
- Redesigns remove features and get more annoying to use2016-01-14
Location history can only be deleted one day at a time in Android appUnreviewed
20092026- After disabling location history, a prompt to delete nonexistent history confuses users2019-05-30
- Location history persists after turning it off in Maps, with no way to disable it2018-12-11
- Location history can only be deleted one day at a time in the Android app2016-10-05
Cumulative popups across Google sites are overwhelmingUnreviewed
20092026- Repeated Chrome popups appear on Google sites when using Firefox2023-08-30
- Cumulative popups across Google sites and apps are unbearable to deal with2021-06-05
- Frequent intrusive popups interrupt work and must be dismissed across multiple accounts2013-05-03
Apps forget chosen browser and push Chrome for linksUnreviewed
20092026- Apps keep pushing people to Chrome instead of their default browser2024-01-20
- Google apps keep forgetting the user's chosen browser and push Chrome for links2022-03-01
- Google apps ignore Firefox for links, though they let users pick Safari or Chrome2019-05-28
Android breaks its own app conventions, inconsistent with web appsUnreviewed
20092026- Google's apps are inconsistent in layout, so screen reader users struggle to find things2017-07-15
- Google iOS apps look and behave unlike other iOS apps, confusing iOS users2016-05-27
- Google's web apps are a mess to use, and Android feels inconsistent with its own apps breaking conventions2015-06-11
Middle-clicking links in Gmail and Maps does not open new tabsUnreviewed
20092026- Clicking links hijacks navigation so middle or cmd-click cannot open tabs2018-05-09
- Middle-clicking links in Google services no longer opens them in a new tab2012-11-16
- Middle-clicking links in Gmail and Maps doesn't open them in a new tab2012-09-24
Multi-coloured icons are nearly indistinguishable from each otherUnreviewed
20092026- New multi-coloured icons are nearly indistinguishable from each other2022-11-10
- Redesigned icons sacrifice functionality for style, hurting usability2022-01-30
- Icons look too similar to tell apart without close inspection2020-10-28
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
- New busy/loading icon appears every time the phone is opened2026-10-27
- Having to explain problems to a chatbot takes more effort than scanning an article2026-10-20
- Google's subscription options are confusing; user didn't know a product existed2026-10-01
- Google and SaaS services are buggy or unusable in Firefox2026-10-01
- Apps feel alien to the iOS system and have nonsensical, badly realised interfaces2026-08-28
- Hard to figure out how to access the feature2026-08-01
- Google's product range is a mess and using it is a nightmare2026-07-30
- Links redirect through share.google to a not-found page, which is annoying2026-07-27
- Google services use dark patterns and huge banners pushing people to install Chrome2026-07-02
- Many Google products are notoriously slow or unusable in Safari and Firefox2026-06-12
- Google services respond very slowly, though speed tests look fine2026-06-05
- Feels more cumbersome than Vim and sometimes lags despite fast hardware2026-05-15
- Pointer morphs into button backgrounds on hover, which is annoying to use2026-05-12
- Software is designed for huge displays, so it is awkward on small school screens2026-03-04
- Setup nudges users into re-enabling options they already unchecked2026-03-02
- Confusing for developers; keys have been abusable financially for years2026-02-26
- Confusing AI product names make it hard to know which Google product is which2026-02-26
- Only way to clear false warning is signing up for Search Console2026-02-25
- Falsely flagged site stays flagged; reports ignored unless the site owner signs up for Search Console2026-02-25
- Cuts the user off mid-sentence for no reason, most of the time2026-02-05
- Google's UX seems to keep getting worse, and users' struggles go unaddressed2026-01-04
- Google products have worse UX than Microsoft counterparts, with GCP more confusing than Azure2026-01-04
- Can't find anything in Google's interfaces, making navigation frustrating2026-01-04
- Google UI works only for simple happy paths; complex tasks like deep search or long threads break down2026-01-04
- Icon circle expands unpredictably into search and menu, making navigation harder to find and click2025-12-19
- Terrible UI made the free unlimited credits hard to discover2025-12-17
- Finds Google products confusing and difficult to use2025-12-10
- Support requests ignored outside DeepMind; access takes a month of tickets2025-11-25
- Custom JS scroll and touch handling makes scrolling worse and turns touch-to-stop into accidental clicks2025-11-18
- Voice recognition misses speech; stutters and bilingual words handled poorly2025-09-30
- Products are left half-documented with confusing integrations, leaving users confused2025-08-07
- Pricing is hard to find; overview page requires accepting terms first2025-08-06
- Text field saves take over 10 seconds to respond2025-08-06
- Google's user interface is broken across many places2025-07-30
- Many Google products have terrible UX that the commenter sees at the surface level2025-06-14
- Can't tell what the video generation limits are, so unclear if the warning is an error2025-05-20
- Interface forced into Urdu and right-to-left layout, disorienting for Sindhi speaker2025-05-19
- Hard to find the right action; unclear which ellipsis menu to tap2025-05-16
- UI shifts and lags, so clicks land on wrong items and open unwanted pages2025-05-15
- Hides frequently used features and shows unwanted ones; searching for transit leads to a wrong landing page2025-04-24
- Struggles to find basic common things because they are hidden2025-04-24
- Apps change interface unpredictably via server-side flags, sometimes reverting, disrupting users2025-03-20
- Pages are auto-translated into browser language, producing poor, unwanted text2025-03-19
- Waiting 1-2 seconds after a voice query feels laggy2025-03-19
- Redirects to a blank page showing only a cookie banner2025-02-20
- Account stuck with feature off, with no way to resolve it2025-02-06
- Opting out requires a Google account and hunting settings across car and phone2025-01-23
- Autocomplete cannot be turned off, so it gets in the way while typing2024-12-24
- Prompt pops over other activity, so users may accidentally tap Yes2024-12-21
- Features break unless location or history is turned on, pushing users into sharing2024-12-02