Products · Broad category
Native apps
Raised as a usability problem by 21 people on Hacker News over 16 years (2011–2026), in 20 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.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads in the last 5 years.
Every issue, all time, most people first
Installing desktop apps takes two or three stepsUnreviewed
20112026- Installing native apps requires app store searches and long downloads2023-04-15
- Installing native desktop apps takes two or three steps, a major barrier for users2020-10-28
- Downloading and installing native mobile apps creates abysmal friction for users2018-04-16
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 23 complaints
- Some hotkeys conflict with browser shortcuts and are hard to use2026-08-04
- Can't open multiple tabs, use tab groups, or restore where you left off2026-07-15
- Companies use dark patterns and degraded websites to push users into native apps2025-10-15
- Native apps don't let users highlight text, and have bizarre design choices2025-07-26
- Services use dark patterns to push users into installing native apps2025-07-26
- Can't select text, unwanted pull-to-refresh and swipe navigation, and no multiple open pages hurt productivity2025-03-30
- Native apps lack URLs, so users can't link to a specific page2024-12-31
- Installing native apps requires app store searches and long downloads2023-04-15
- Installing native desktop apps takes two or three steps, a major barrier for users2020-10-28
- Installing and uninstalling apps creates cleanup work and clutters screen and storage2020-06-29
- Can't copy phone numbers or addresses from native apps2019-03-27
- Downloading and installing native mobile apps creates abysmal friction for users2018-04-16
- Share button sits in different places in different apps, unlike a web link's address bar2018-04-16
- Links don't open unless the app is installed first2017-09-24
- Installing apps creates cleanup work and storage clutter later2017-09-24
- Installing and onboarding takes many steps and waiting before the app delivers any value2017-03-10
- Apps make users look up and retype passwords from their password manager repeatedly2016-07-21
- Developers keep pushing users from the mobile website into the native app2015-12-28
- Trying an app permanently uses space, and removing unwanted apps is burdensome, so unused apps pile up.2015-08-03
- Content behind an app can't be deep linked, bookmarked, or found in search2015-06-09
- Native desktop apps have never shipped non-terrible software update mechanisms2015-05-26
- Native apps crash often, losing the current tab and work2012-09-10
- Opening apps and switching back and forth is slower than using the browser2011-09-05