Products · Broad category
Operating systems
Raised as a usability problem by 77 people on Hacker News over 18 years (2009–2026), in 77 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
System dialogs steal keyboard focus mid-typing, losing workUnreviewed
20092026- Keystrokes get lost when the OS can't keep up or focus is stolen by pop-ups2026-07-05
- Dialogs from other apps steal focus and keystrokes, accidentally accepting unknown actions2025-05-26
- Newly loaded apps steal focus mid-typing, sending typed text into the wrong window2025-03-29
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
- Shitty UX persists for years in major platforms, unfixed despite large teams2026-10-27
- Connection problem messages are not in words ordinary users understand2026-08-23
- Keystrokes get lost when the OS can't keep up or focus is stolen by pop-ups2026-07-05
- Modern designs hide scrollbars for looks, hurting usability compared to older OSes2026-05-12
- Permission popups are confusing, obtuse and cause fatigue, so users click through them2026-04-21
- Permission prompts are confusing and obtuse, causing users fatigue2026-04-20
- Constant redesigns keep changing interfaces so users cannot learn them2026-03-01
- DPI setting is well hidden and difficult to discover, leaving fonts too small2026-01-16
- Confirmation dialogs appear at random times with cryptic wording, interrupting users2025-08-15
- Critical functions need gestures, zoom missing, UIs break at large scale, keyboard support lacking2025-06-27
- Hard to find all startup apps, and untrusted background code runs invisibly2025-06-13
- Dialogs from other apps steal focus and keystrokes, accidentally accepting unknown actions2025-05-26
- Search results are cluttered with irrelevant web and ad results, burying what you want2025-05-09
- Flat-styled interfaces are harder to use than older designs2025-03-30
- Newly loaded apps steal focus mid-typing, sending typed text into the wrong window2025-03-29
- Frequently used menu options buried three layers deep; accidental button clutters toolbar2025-01-05
- Permission prompt never reappears after denial, so features silently fail2025-01-03
- Filesystem offers no cheap write ordering, so fsync blocks databases and forces complicated code2024-02-07
- Adding a small image to a button or changing fonts is painful2024-01-25
- OS theming over apps breaks their UI and makes them unusable2023-10-05
- Boot spinner replaces scrolling messages, so users can't see where a failed boot stalls2023-08-11
- Settings are poorly accessible and hard to find without a unified search2023-08-03
- Scroll bar is too small and tone is hard to see, and dark mode flashes bright white before rendering2023-06-13
- OS scrollbars lack dark mode and mixed high-DPI support, hurting accessibility2023-06-13
- Simplifying removed abilities rather than making complex tasks easier, so complex things are out of scope2023-03-07
- Many apps and OS UI require the pointer, with no keyboard shortcuts, painful for aging joints2023-02-13
- "Not now" prompts keep reappearing, pushing users toward decisions they already declined2022-11-08
- No easy way to change locale on most operating systems except Windows2022-11-04
- OS keeps nagging users to switch default browser, so they accidentally switch back2022-09-23
- Scrollbars stay hidden until hovering or scrolling, so users can't tell content scrolls2022-08-05
- Modern OS and apps lag behind normal typing speed, adding seconds of delay2022-04-30
- Tools nag with screens and buzzers instead of letting people work efficiently2022-04-29
- OS lacks standardized accessibility and many needed UX controls and interactions2022-04-16
- Frustrating buggy, slow, crashing behaviour and waiting for reboots eats attention2022-03-30
- Cannot combine dark UI theme with light content; white-on-black text is unreadable for long2022-03-15
- Can't copy animated GIFs or videos easily, forcing screen recording or downloader sites2022-02-20
- Users must relearn how to do things every decade as OS and apps change2022-02-17
- Users can't tell executables from documents because attacker-controlled characters disguise the file type2022-02-16
- Hard-to-use software and confusing operating systems crippled customers, especially older farmers2022-01-20
- Hidden file extensions leave students unable to tell which program a file needs2021-09-23
- Hidden boot messages withhold useful information when things go wrong2021-06-01
- Constant UI churn makes discovery impossible, so updates feel terrifying2021-05-25
- Dialog pops up late and steals Enter key, triggering an unwanted choice2021-03-09
- Middle-click and Shift+Insert paste don't work, forcing manual copy via menus or chords2021-02-11
- Focus shifts to newly loading windows, so keypresses land in the wrong window and close it2021-01-11
- Software is slow to boot, freezes on save and takes seconds to load pages2020-08-17
- Random waits and unpredictable responses to input make the computer feel unreliable2020-07-07
- People ignore modal messages then get frustrated when background elements won't respond2020-06-25
- Average users find it nearly impossible to easily share files they create2020-06-19
- Home directory cluttered with app junk, making it hard to back up only what matters2020-06-03