Products · Product
Google TV
Raised as a usability problem by 70 people on Hacker News over 17 years (2010–2026), in 53 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
Every issue, all time, most people first
Home screen suggestions disguised as ads clutter itUnreviewed
20102026- Interface is very slow to navigate and cluttered with ads2026-03-23
- System updates keep adding bigger ads to the TV home screen2025-03-30
- Interface is heavy and fills with ads and add-on subscription suggestions2025-03-14
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
- Cluttered TV interface with splash screens and ads the commenter wants to avoid2026-07-22
- Took forever to set up and couldn't tell what caused lag2026-06-24
- Interface is very slow to navigate and cluttered with ads2026-03-23
- Presses don't register right away, then a second press counts twice2026-03-23
- Kids confused by unexpected screens and accidentally triggering things with the remote2026-01-13
- Google TV's interface is mostly images with some text, which the commenter finds unusable2025-10-08
- Must click through paid content icons before reaching own apps2025-09-09
- System updates keep adding bigger ads to the TV home screen2025-03-30
- Hard to find or turn off the frame-smoothing setting, which makes picture stutter2025-03-30
- Interface is heavy and fills with ads and add-on subscription suggestions2025-03-14
- Ads and suggestions are hidden behind a setting that is made to look unattractive2024-08-07
- Smart home controls require browsing through the TV interface, which is cumbersome2024-08-06
- Home screen is cluttered with suggestions disguised as ads2024-08-06
- Commenter sees no reason to adopt it over the cluttered smart TV UI already owned2024-08-06
- Roommates must repeatedly log out and back in to reach their own app accounts2024-05-03
- Ads and unwanted content pushed onto the home screen, cluttering it2024-02-25
- Laggy home screen cluttered with unwanted ads and promotional content2024-02-09
- Home screen cluttered with unwanted suggestions and no way found to simplify it2024-02-01
- Must open each streaming service as a separate app to browse; unwanted unwatchable ads shown2024-01-06
- Getting an apps-only list requires a hidden setting that also disables continue-watching2023-12-05
- Must scroll past rows of promoted content to reach installed apps2023-11-08
- Purchased content won't play after casting; must start playback on phone first2023-08-09
- No pause button on the TV while casting; playback randomly freezes for seconds2023-06-18
- Signing into the wrong account with no switcher, then 10-30s refresh to fix2023-05-09
- TV boots into Google TV unexpectedly even when the TV remote isn't touched, a third of the time2023-04-08
- Interface takes about 5 seconds per button press and TV keeps booting into Google TV2023-04-08
- Refreshed interface is cluttered with ads, making the premium device less pleasant to use2023-03-07
- Home screen is cluttered with recommendations the user has to ignore to reach apps2023-03-01
- Laggy input and app startup, and constant pushing of paid streaming options2023-01-04
- Can't add a separate account and have it work properly2022-12-05
- Can't easily find shows they want; recommendations are poor and irrelevant2022-12-05
- Casting requires a second cast attempt, and it opens the Google TV app browser first2022-09-28
- Switching Google accounts takes more clicks and often fails; subtitles are eye-searing bright and unadjustable2022-09-28
- Smart TV software may be unusable without internet and is terrible2022-06-21
- Home screen is covered by ads, with no way to turn them off except Basic Mode2022-04-03
- Switching back to smart mode is one click, but switching to basic requires a full reset2021-11-29
- Universal search routes through TV app pushing paid content, with no way to disable ads2021-06-27
- Takes a long time to find the mute button among many similar buttons2021-04-12
- Can't log out of YouTube alone, so shared TV shows personal suggestions2021-02-28
- Only fix for bugs is a restart menu three levels deep; power off doesn't help2021-02-28
- Audio adjustment works only half the time; casting does nothing but shows a settings notice2021-01-07
- Unclear whether a Specifications section exists, forcing user to scroll to the bottom2020-10-01
- Recommendation ads on startup and home screen are shoved in front of users repeatedly, cluttering the screen2020-10-01
- Scrolling is inconsistent, sometimes shrinking and moving panes instead of scrolling2020-10-01
- Ridiculously frustrating to find information in it2020-10-01
- Hard to side scroll and unclear what the product is2020-10-01
- Casting connection drops after about 10 minutes, so pause and skip stop working2020-09-30
- Visual presentation gets in the way of the information, so users leave2020-09-30
- Footer bar stays up for a minute, and accidental remote presses hijack the screen2020-09-30
- Operating system is so frustrating it makes the user angry2020-09-30