Products · Broad category
Smartwatches
Raised as a usability problem by 31 people on Hacker News over 14 years (2013–2026), in 32 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
Touch targets shift on the wrist and swipes are slow and unpredictableUnreviewed
20132026- Touch screens are hard to use: shifting targets on the wrist and slow, unpredictable swipes2025-01-27
- Touch screen is a gigantic pain to use while glancing elsewhere2020-12-28
- 1-inch touchscreen interfaces are hard to use2018-01-28
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 35 complaints
- Tiny miniature keyboard is slow to use and gives no feedback2026-08-09
- UI feels English-second, so it is confusing to navigate2026-01-06
- Setting an alarm requires swiping on a tiny touch screen instead of using buttons2026-01-06
- Tap accuracy is poor and the device freezes, making daily use frustrating2025-11-18
- Watch interface is annoying enough to deter scrolling social media2025-06-23
- Confused about which button reaches apps, quicklooks, widgets, or shortcuts; timer setup more confusing than it should be2025-01-28
- Sleep tracking, heart rate sync, and notifications unreliable; needed a third-party app to fix2025-01-28
- Touch screens are hard to use: shifting targets on the wrist and slow, unpredictable swipes2025-01-27
- UI feels sluggish when interacting with the watch2024-01-28
- Smartwatches are often unusable or unstable across all price ranges2024-01-28
- Typing on the watch is nearly impossible because the keys are too small for big fingers2023-12-08
- Hard to message back and forth and can't read the internet on the watch2023-09-02
- Setting a timer on newer watches is terrible compared to the Pebble's easy controls2023-08-23
- Wearers must look down at the watch to dismiss notifications, breaking eye contact2023-08-22
- Confusing which app and accounts to use, and too many info requests2023-08-09
- Notifications scroll past and can't be recalled, and the small screen makes reading them hard2023-06-29
- Screen is unreadable in bright sunlight, forcing users to shade it and shake the wrist2022-11-21
- Must accept a broad privacy policy before basic time setting works2022-01-19
- Full-screen notifications block the distance display mid-ride, forcing a second hand to dismiss2021-09-10
- DND timer expiry reverts to notifications on instead of the previous scheduled DND2021-02-03
- Current smartwatch lacks physical buttons, making music control inconvenient while showering2021-01-14
- Touch screen is a gigantic pain to use while glancing elsewhere2020-12-28
- Watch UI is poorly designed, hard to use compared to Pebble2020-12-01
- Complex actions take forever, and one mistake forces looping back through the whole interface2020-10-03
- Screen wakes too slowly or unreliably when raising the wrist to look2019-05-01
- Text messages get clipped at the sides, showing only about three lines on a round screen2019-01-17
- Must look at the screen to skip songs or dismiss notifications2018-07-03
- Watch interfaces are horrendous to navigate2018-02-25
- 1-inch touchscreen interfaces are hard to use2018-01-28
- Watch misses Gmail and Google Voice notifications when phone is off; Gmail shows wrong inbox2017-11-21
- Tiny screen and very limited buttons make content and interaction hard2016-04-10
- Screens take a moment to wake before they can be used2015-09-08
- Current smartwatch interfaces are not simple; the experience hasn't been made easy to use yet2014-07-14
- Tiny watch size makes it very hard to interact with beyond viewing data2014-03-18
- Tapping the tiny watch screen is awful to use2013-12-03