Products · Broad category
Raised as a usability problem by 383 people on Hacker News over 19 years (2008–2026), in 337 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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- 4AI API setup process is hard to useUnreviewed
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- 7AI API setup process is hard to useUnreviewed
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Every issue, all time, most people first
Page language follows location, ignoring the browser language settingUnreviewed
20082026- Can't set default language without a Google account; pages hard to switch language2025-11-10
- UI language keeps resetting to Spanish despite English account setting2025-05-19
- Switches page language to match location, ignoring the browser's language setting while traveling2024-05-05
Cannot reach a real person at Google supportUnreviewed
20082026- Impossible to reach a human at Google through normal channels2026-04-16
- Hard to reach a human; runaround through a maze of support pages2025-10-01
- Hard to find any way to contact Google for help2025-09-21
Dark patterns push users into choices they did not makeUnreviewed
20082026- A popup that is an egregious dark pattern pushes users into something they did not choose2025-08-05
- Repeated pop-ups push users to Chrome despite repeatedly choosing another default browser2025-07-13
- Uses systemic dark patterns that push users into choices they didn't make2024-03-25
Liking while logged out shows a manipulative sign-in promptUnreviewed
20082026- Sign-in loops through many prompts and redirects, then ends up still logged out2026-10-07
- Can't find a way to sign out since the sign out link disappeared2019-11-25
- Clicking like while logged out prompts a sign-in message that feels manipulative2018-01-20
Locked out of account with no way to reach supportUnreviewed
20082026- Locked out of account, so cannot reach support or cancel subscription2024-06-20
- Locked out of account and couldn't find any way to reach Google support2018-05-18
- Cannot resolve account problems because Google offers no real customer support2011-07-23
New icons look too similar, so apps are hard to tell apartUnreviewed
20082026- Can't pick the wanted app out among similar-looking icons2026-01-18
- Icons replaced text labels and look too alike to tell apart at a glance2022-12-24
- Icons became plain letters, so the email app is no longer easy to recognise2020-11-04
AI API setup process is hard to useUnreviewed
20082026- Google's AI API has an abominable UI and setup process2026-10-12
- Fragmented Google AI products with no unified way to know the standard2026-04-25
- Struggles to find where to use Google's AI products and took too long to access Veo 32025-10-03
Page content moves just as user is about to clickUnreviewed
20082026- Page content moves just as the user is about to click a button2022-11-28
- Page content keeps moving as it loads, so taps land on the wrong element2018-11-22
- Page never loads content, user gives up after struggling with it2013-12-10
Error page does not say what the user should doUnreviewed
20082026- Error page says "Something went wrong" without telling the user what to do2015-12-11
- Help link from error message leads to a not-found page, a dead end2011-07-06
- Cutesy error messages like "Oops something went wrong" give no explanation of what failed or how to fix it2009-03-11
Features randomly missing, so users cannot tell what existsUnreviewed
20082026- Features randomly missing for some users, so they can't tell what exists or why2024-01-12
- Hard to tell whether features were removed or just hidden away2013-08-21
- Hidden features under a menu are rarely found by users2008-07-02
Account settings links stay in Chinese after switching language abroadUnreviewed
20082026- Switched to Chinese while abroad and the links back to account settings are also in Chinese2023-12-04
- OAuth popups stay in Chinese even after setting Google to English2020-05-18
- Page shows in Chinese despite English language settings on laptop2009-11-07
Using Google services pushes users into Google+Unreviewed
20082026- Google services are so slow and defective in China that users hate them2013-11-04
- Hard to use Google services without being pushed into Google+2013-10-11
- Using Google services is more complicated today than browsing with IE was2012-03-16
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
- Hard to get access to try the models, so the commenter skips them2026-10-27
- Hard to find the right app and payment fails for valid cards and PayPal2026-10-13
- Google's AI API has an abominable UI and setup process2026-10-12
- Clicking any link just opens a new tab to the same page2026-10-07
- Sign-in loops through many prompts and redirects, then ends up still logged out2026-10-07
- On mobile, game windows stack over each other and the text is hard to read2026-10-07
- Takes minutes to find where the models and documentation are2026-09-30
- Delete button removes only the JSON file, leaving the prompt in place2026-09-20
- Delete button removes only a JSON file, so the prompt remains2026-09-20
- Low information density, lots of horizontal scrolling, and a tab bar with a notifications tab that never changes and an empty community tab2026-09-08
- Init time concept unclear; calendar click for future dates fails, must use slider2026-09-07
- Interfaces suffer many small annoying frictions that accumulate over time2026-07-20
- Too many similarly named products, so the commenter can't tell which is which2026-07-03
- Products and tiers get renamed often, so users can't tell what they're paying for2026-07-03
- Users have to look harder to find the correct app2026-06-30
- Support forms and workflows loop endlessly, sending user between pages without resolving the account problem2026-06-08
- Layout is cramped and cluttered; model selection hidden under the + button despite free space2026-05-27
- Modal dialogs lack clear OK or Cancel buttons, wasting the user's time2026-05-24
- Endless pain around login, billing, upgrades and product sunsets2026-05-22
- Fragmented Google AI products with no unified way to know the standard2026-04-25
- Commercial products have very poor user experience overall2026-04-20
- Impossible to reach a human at Google through normal channels2026-04-16
- Open in app prompts are confusing and designed to push users into the app2026-04-14
- Customer service experience is dreadful; wife had endless trouble with bad SIM cards2026-03-14
- Screen filled with repetitive AI summaries and irrelevant categories, hard to escape2026-02-04
- Contact search matches letters anywhere in names, not names starting with typed letters2026-01-20
- Can't pick the wanted app out among similar-looking icons2026-01-18
- AI mode gives poor-quality, wrong answers for some queries by default2025-12-30
- Unique icon on every menu item is cluttered and less helpful2025-12-10
- Same or generic icons used for different actions, so users must read text anyway2025-12-09
- Form won't complete and gives no useful error message2025-11-24
- Feedback question uses dark-pattern wording that may mislead users into choices2025-11-23
- Big int64 IDs lose precision when passed through the framework's tool calls2025-11-22
- Site is hard to use on a phone2025-11-18
- Can't set default language without a Google account; pages hard to switch language2025-11-10
- Struggles to find where to use Google's AI products and took too long to access Veo 32025-10-03
- Hard to reach a human; runaround through a maze of support pages2025-10-01
- Hard to find any way to contact Google for help2025-09-21
- Alt+Space shortcut sometimes doesn't work because other apps capture the key2025-09-16
- App ignores the system Make text bigger setting, so text stays too small for users who need it2025-09-16
- Blind user finds the app's accessibility experience poor, unlike other apps2025-09-16
- Search bar removed from front page; tapping its old spot shows a popup, then another screen2025-09-09
- Confusing tiers; buying Gemini CLI requires navigating GCP billing and subscriptions, and the app isn't included2025-08-06
- A popup that is an egregious dark pattern pushes users into something they did not choose2025-08-05
- Forced to re-explain the same problem repeatedly and get scripted answers that go nowhere2025-08-04
- A data consent pop-up covers the whole page2025-08-01
- Repeated pop-ups push users to Chrome despite repeatedly choosing another default browser2025-07-13
- Search cannot find formulas; math symbols make queries fail2025-07-07
- Dumbed-down interface shows vague "something went wrong" with no warning or recourse2025-07-04
- Very hard to reach a human when you have a problem2025-06-26