Products · Broad category
Software
Raised as a usability problem by 639 people on Hacker News over 20 years (2007–2026), in 653 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.
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- 2Apps take up to a minute to load contentUnreviewed
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- 3Apps take up to a minute to load contentUnreviewed
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Every issue, all time, most people first
Constant UI changes force relearning or staying on outdated versionsUnreviewed
20072026- Software layers new interfaces over old ones, so each change adds clumsy indirection users must tolerate.2025-12-29
- Upgrades make software slower and buggier and change the UI unnecessarily, with no way to stay on the old version2024-04-29
- Menus and buttons keep moving, so users must relearn where things are2023-10-16
Apps take up to a minute to load contentUnreviewed
20072026- Game takes a long time to load2026-09-07
- First login takes forever as background software loads, and PCs slow down within a couple of years2026-06-04
- Software from the 90s is very slow, with long start-up times and pauses while loading2025-07-21
Lag makes keystrokes trigger unintended actions and corrupt workUnreviewed
20072026- Clicks and typing respond with visible delays of hundreds to thousands of milliseconds2026-10-27
- Lagging interface makes keystrokes trigger unintended actions and corrupt work2025-11-05
- Laggy, complex and unintuitive interfaces frustrate users every time they use them2024-04-05
Unwanted guided tours and UI changes interrupt work dailyUnreviewed
20072026- Feature-moved popups interrupt tasks and hide where features went2026-05-05
- Unwanted guided tour pop-ups and UI changes interrupt work daily2025-09-03
- Interfaces interrupt users with pop-ups, sounds, tours and unwanted changes they never asked for2023-06-28
Inconsistent workflows across free apps force people to learn each oneUnreviewed
20072026- Free apps have inconsistent interfaces and workflows, confusing ordinary users who must learn each one2025-10-30
- Work software is far harder to learn than consumer apps, and users get no guidance on it2020-03-15
- Apps abandon basic concepts for intuitiveness, making them harder to use for experienced users2019-09-23
Time tracking requires entering the same hours into two toolsUnreviewed
20072026- Time tracking tools have a bad UI, and people must enter the same hours into two tools2021-12-17
- Off-the-shelf time tracking systems are hard to use because they try to serve everyone2021-07-09
- Time tracking apps hide dark patterns, so the user gave up finding an easy workflow2021-01-03
Translated UI text is out of place, forcing people to reconstruct meaningUnreviewed
20072026- Translators get strings without context and cannot ask what was meant2022-08-04
- Translated terms are unnatural and hard to guess; UI mixes Latvian and English text2017-04-23
- Translated UI text is confusing and out of place, so the user must mentally reconstruct the original meaning2015-01-15
Dark patterns in consumer interfaces deceive peopleUnreviewed
20072026- Consumer apps have tragically bad user experiences and dark patterns pushing users toward investor goals2026-05-28
- Confusing UX and dark patterns serve engagement metrics instead of users2025-02-07
- Consumer interfaces riddled with dark patterns that deceive people2022-07-09
Added features make core tasks clunkier and harderUnreviewed
20072026- Added features make products clunky and harder to use for core tasks2025-09-05
- Software keeps adding features until it becomes bloated2024-04-05
- Most options are hard to use and bloated with unwanted features2023-04-30
Simplified interfaces remove essential functions and replace easy buttons with touchUnreviewed
20072026- Simplified interfaces are dismissed as fisher-price toys, implying usable design is beneath experts2023-07-23
- Simplified interfaces remove essential functionality, and new touch screens replace easier buttons2022-09-04
- Dense NASA-style interfaces packed with features were marketed as value, cluttering the UI2012-02-29
Icons are unrecognisable, so people can't tell what they doUnreviewed
20072026- Icons are unintelligible and menus and shortcuts have been removed, making tools harder to use2023-05-30
- Icons are idiosyncratic and unrecognisable, so the user can't tell what they do2012-09-05
- Icons like a dog for fetch are cryptic, so users can't tell what buttons do2010-01-21
Time goes to fiddling with settings, setup and library installsUnreviewed
20072026- Small changes need outsized effort across many config files and toolchains2023-02-06
- Managing the tooling takes more time than solving the actual code problem2018-12-26
- Spends a large share of time fiddling with settings, setup and library installs instead of coding2017-02-24
Frameworks make easy tasks hard and hard tasks impossibleUnreviewed
20072026- Frameworks make easy things hard and hard things impossible, forcing inferior workarounds2021-10-19
- Frameworks are a pain to learn and integrate, and lock you in once adopted2011-05-16
- Two frameworks are very hard to use together, and frameworks are harder to use than libraries2010-07-21
Interface is not accessible on small mobile screensUnreviewed
20072026- Interface not accessible on small mobile screens2026-09-28
- UI covers more than half the screen on mobile browsers2026-03-18
- Mobile interface is poor to use2020-11-20
No 'ask me later' option, so prompts must be dismissed unreadUnreviewed
20072026- Nag dialogs offer only "Ask me later" with no way to dismiss them permanently2026-03-27
- No 'ask me later' option, so users must dismiss prompts unread to keep working2021-07-22
- Prompts offer "Yes" or "Ask me later" with no clear way to decline2021-02-26
Poor or undocumented libraries make it hard to understand behaviourUnreviewed
20072026- Poorly or non-documented libraries make it hard to understand how things work2021-10-31
- Can't tell what a library expects, and can't deduce it without being told2021-08-31
- Library interfaces are often poorly documented, forcing developers to read source code2021-05-26
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
- Clicks and typing respond with visible delays of hundreds to thousands of milliseconds2026-10-27
- Feature silently unavailable in some situations, only explained in scattered documentation2026-10-11
- Interfaces are not obvious, so users need docs or an AI to find what button to press2026-10-09
- Frequent interface changes break muscle memory and spatial familiarity for users2026-10-05
- Updates keep appearing for Xcode tools even after they are uninstalled2026-10-05
- Poor usability in software only becomes apparent over time, not beforehand2026-09-29
- Interface not accessible on small mobile screens2026-09-28
- Software interfaces are inconsistent because UI gets treated as an afterthought by developers2026-09-26
- Cannot rotate the 3D view, and unclear whether controls exist2026-09-14
- Visiting Zoom's page triggers an install password prompt without the user clicking Install2026-09-13
- Dragging to rotate on Android Chrome is interrupted by page scrolling after briefly working2026-09-09
- Game takes a long time to load2026-09-07
- Employees depend on point-and-click interfaces and resist alternatives2026-09-07
- Most people struggle to navigate UIs and cannot tell good from bad interfaces2026-08-30
- Heavy animations make the product slow and a pain to use2026-08-22
- Modern consumer interfaces are over-simplified and hide controls, and recent ones are user hostile2026-08-02
- MIDI recordings had timings slightly off, so normal quarter notes couldn't line up in a bar2026-07-30
- Reversing the battery is hidden; the slider only appears after clicking the battery2026-07-27
- Apps re-enable notifications users turned off and install background update tasks by default2026-07-08
- Unclear whether a button press actually triggered its action2026-07-05
- Locks the whole OS, so you cannot open any other webpage or app2026-06-29
- Documentation lacks detail, examples and structure, hurting learning and usability2026-06-21
- Model download is a long process shown in the bottom bar instead of the installer2026-06-15
- Constantly shows exception-related error dialogs, making work unpleasant2026-06-15
- Excessive animations and cursor blinking distract and slow down regular users2026-06-14
- Software that is slow and stutters frustrates people when they use it2026-06-12
- First login takes forever as background software loads, and PCs slow down within a couple of years2026-06-04
- Old download links removed and existing files hidden behind support requests2026-06-03
- Consumer apps have tragically bad user experiences and dark patterns pushing users toward investor goals2026-05-28
- Software is hard to master because of missing shortcuts, lag, and constantly changing UI2026-05-12
- Feature-moved popups interrupt tasks and hide where features went2026-05-05
- Developers build interfaces as text, making windows, selection and formatting awkward for people2026-05-03
- Interfaces are attractive but frustrating, hard to discover features and locate information2026-05-01
- Icon uses dark version on dark taskbar, so it is unreadable2026-04-30
- Must keep a tab open to avoid clicking through pages of completed puzzles2026-04-28
- Nag dialogs offer only "Ask me later" with no way to dismiss them permanently2026-03-27
- Users must refresh the page or lock resources to avoid overwriting others' edits2026-03-22
- Cloud accounting apps are slow, buggy and have immature UI/UX2026-03-21
- UI covers more than half the screen on mobile browsers2026-03-18
- Must scroll through long contract before Accept button enables2026-03-09
- Window controls minimized so far that the interface becomes unusable2026-03-09
- Button gives no visual feedback: no animation and no active state2026-02-07
- Paid software constantly nags users with prompts they don't want2026-01-30
- Useful data buried under deeply nested modals, so people spend 20+ hours a week clicking through2026-01-23
- Recent submitted apps look polished but are almost unusable due to JavaScript bugs2026-01-22
- Software is buggy and slow to use, and people have grown used to it2026-01-14
- Building a usable query interface for data is a frustrating exercise for developers2026-01-10
- Software layers new interfaces over old ones, so each change adds clumsy indirection users must tolerate.2025-12-29
- Tipping small amounts is annoying because many intermediaries along the payment path each take a cut2025-12-05
- Can't check one thing without getting pulled into notifications, emails and feeds2025-12-03