Products · Broad category
Mobile user interfaces
Raised as a usability problem by 30 people on Hacker News over 16 years (2011–2026), in 26 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.
Every issue, all time, most people first
Adjusting text selection while scrolling long text or URLs is hardUnreviewed
20112026- Accidental scrolling or scrolling too far while dragging to select text2026-01-23
- Text selection on mobile is hard to control precisely2025-12-14
- Moving the selection cursor back doesn't unselect text, so mistakes ruin the selection2023-09-25
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 30 complaints
- Long-press triggers copy-paste handles that are infuriating to use and easy to trigger accidentally2026-10-26
- Interface doesn't work ergonomically on mobile because it relies on mouse or trackpad movement2026-09-29
- Accidental scrolling or scrolling too far while dragging to select text2026-01-23
- Text input is hard to use on touch devices without physical keyboards2025-12-24
- Typing, app switching, and copy-paste on phones are slow and tedious2025-12-18
- Text selection on mobile is hard to control precisely2025-12-14
- Moving the cursor, selecting text, and typing special characters is hard on a phone2023-11-27
- Jumpy scrolling as the page loads shifts content away from view2023-11-14
- Moving the selection cursor back doesn't unselect text, so mistakes ruin the selection2023-09-25
- Easy to mistime taps and select a word instead of placing the cursor2023-09-24
- Fat-finger imprecision makes precise cursor placement hard for text editing2023-09-24
- Adjusting text selection while scrolling long text or URLs is very hard2023-09-24
- Paste menu appears after delay, tapping again dismisses it, no feedback on whether tap worked2023-07-11
- Keyboard autocorrects first password character on return, forcing awkward workarounds on touchscreen2022-06-08
- Without animated transitions, people struggle to build a mental model of navigation2022-05-07
- Touch dragging makes latency obvious, breaking the feeling of tool as body2022-04-14
- Per-posting read/unread status is impractical to manage with touch or voice input on mobile2021-12-28
- Controls placed far from typical thumb reach, making them hard to tap2021-08-17
- Expanding menus cause accidental clicks, especially with slow animations, and take over the screen2021-03-20
- Users can't tell where press-and-hold or swipe actions are, and gestures behave inconsistently across apps2021-01-29
- Swipe actions are hidden, so users must swipe every list to discover them2021-01-29
- Hidden options in scrollable areas that users never realize exist2020-08-03
- Can't drag with one finger while scrolling with another on phones2020-05-16
- General interface UX is far worse than it could be2020-03-04
- Lack of easy confirmation and undo for unwanted touch inputs on mobile2019-03-07
- Copying long URLs on mobile is awkward and frustrating2017-05-14
- Can't see what they type on mobile, so they slip and make mistakes2016-10-30
- Beginners can't find their way around; features are hard to discover in current mobile UIs2015-11-15
- Mobile and web interfaces are often pointlessly obtuse and confusingly designed despite looking good2012-02-18
- Site unusable on phone because fixed element is too large for screen2011-10-17