Products · Product
PipeWire
Raised as a usability problem by 23 people on Hacker News over 6 years (2021–2026), in 18 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
- 1
Every issue, all time, most people first
Audio stays muted after replugging headphones; switching outputs needs digging through settingsUnreviewed
20212026- Audio stays muted after replugging headphones and switching outputs requires digging through a settings app2026-05-26
- Default audio output doesn't persist, so user must re-select it after login2022-05-21
- Plugged-in headset doesn't auto-switch from HDMI output, so user must switch manually2022-03-09
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 24 complaints
- Audio stays muted after replugging headphones and switching outputs requires digging through a settings app2026-05-26
- Had to repeatedly reconfigure services as bugs left audio temporarily unusable2026-03-23
- Interfaces are hard to grasp; docs are sparse and don't make sense without prior knowledge2025-05-12
- PipeWire is so obscure and underdocumented the commenter can't understand it2024-12-20
- Audio setup is so hard to get right that the user keeps fighting it2024-01-30
- Hidden 'pro audio' profile needed for low latency, and the specific setting that fixes it is unknown2023-06-13
- Constant crackling and client-too-slow errors force endless tuning before making music2023-03-04
- Cannot figure out the new config format to define a custom device profile2022-08-28
- Audio cuts off when idle, losing the first seconds of playback; config must be redone after upgrades2022-07-09
- Default audio output doesn't persist, so user must re-select it after login2022-05-21
- Tried installing and configuring it several times, always ended with no audio2022-05-21
- Spent an hour unable to stop DualSense haptics appearing as audio output2022-04-30
- Plugged-in headset doesn't auto-switch from HDMI output, so user must switch manually2022-03-09
- Automatic switching to Bluetooth headset is unreliable, so user must manually reroute apps in pavucontrol2022-03-09
- Couldn't figure out how to switch audio to HDMI screen speakers; manual lacked answer2022-03-09
- Settings shows headphones as output but app audio stays on analog stereo2022-03-09
- Stale config in /etc/pipewire makes it hang without clear cause2022-02-17
- No simple toggle for global loudness, so volume must be tweaked manually for everything2022-02-17
- Audio profiles break when devices are plugged or unplugged, and the wrong output port gets picked after reboot2021-12-17
- Custom audio settings keep getting reverted by updates and config locations stop working2021-11-15
- Selecting headset in the switcher dialog doesn't switch output; user must manually change Sound settings each time2021-10-03
- Developer documentation was too lacking for the author to work out how to use it2021-10-03
- Can't find docs to debug or configure audio when media stops playing2021-09-12
- Volume must be raised twice, via keyboard and headset, because one volume level is already maxed2021-03-04