Products · Pattern or everyday thing
SMS
Raised as a usability problem by 30 people on Hacker News over 12 years (2015–2026), in 27 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
Every issue, all time, most people first
SMS login codes get lost, causing support callsUnreviewed
20152026- SMS codes arrive delayed and require a cell plan and service2026-09-25
- Login stalls while waiting up to 20 minutes for SMS codes that arrive late2026-09-21
- Waiting dozens of seconds for SMS codes, slower than authenticator apps2024-09-08
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 31 complaints
- SMS codes arrive delayed and require a cell plan and service2026-09-25
- Having to pick up and unlock a phone with signal just to log in2026-09-24
- Login stalls while waiting up to 20 minutes for SMS codes that arrive late2026-09-21
- Banks reject some phone numbers like Google Voice for SMS codes, forcing workarounds2025-05-14
- Waiting dozens of seconds for SMS codes, slower than authenticator apps2024-09-08
- Pricing page is hidden behind the profile icon and easy to miss2024-03-05
- SMS codes are confusing, with a 5-digit sender number resembling the 6-digit code2024-02-26
- Can't tell how to change numbers without access to the old SMS-based account login2024-02-06
- Many people would fumble enrolling in SMS-based login verification2024-02-06
- Users locked out when they lose phone, lack reception, or travel2024-02-06
- Poor cell reception means SMS codes can't arrive, forcing people to go outside to log in2024-02-06
- Remaining operators provide a terrible user experience2024-01-18
- SMS and MMS messaging experience is poor and frustrating to use2023-12-11
- Photos and videos arrive as tiny, degraded images when an Android phone is in the chat2023-11-16
- Switching SIMs to receive SMS codes makes bank login many cumbersome steps abroad2023-07-04
- SMS login codes sometimes get lost, causing support calls2023-06-06
- Elderly user needs help each login; codes often must be re-requested multiple times2023-03-01
- Replying STOP to unsubscribe doesn't seem to stop the messages2022-12-27
- Standard SMS app UX is much worse than modern chat apps2022-09-22
- Group messaging over SMS/MMS is a terrible, unreliable experience2022-08-09
- Typed text emoticons get auto-converted into pictures with no way to send plain text2022-05-01
- Locked out of accounts and payments when phone broke, since SMS was the only 2FA option2022-01-24
- No delivery confirmation, so senders can't tell if messages arrived or were duplicated2022-01-08
- SMS 2FA codes unreachable when travelling, forcing desperate lockouts and tech support calls2021-03-16
- SMS codes need a phone nearby and lock users out when travelling with a different SIM2021-01-17
- Codes require finding phone, unlocking, opening app, and manually typing back and forth2020-07-29
- Green SMS/MMS group threads are slower, fail more, and lack typing indicators and read receipts2019-08-17
- Sites force SMS as the second factor, blocking users from choosing their own authenticator app2019-03-22
- Group texts show random phone numbers and some messages fail or duplicate2018-11-30
- Texts lost on new phones, media attachments barely work, messages split at character limit2017-01-26
- Messages fail silently or arrive garbled with no error indication2015-12-23