Products · Product
TikTok
Raised as a usability problem by 80 people on Hacker News over 8 years (2019–2026), in 67 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
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Every issue, all time, most people first
Feed keeps showing unwanted videos despite likes and searchesUnreviewed
20192026- Endless scrolling pulls people into hours of scrolling via one-more-swipe pattern2026-02-07
- Scrolling endlessly and finding nothing of interest2025-01-15
- Feed keeps showing unwanted sexual content and repeated duplicate videos despite training2022-10-24
No progress bar or rewind, so video must restart to replayUnreviewed
20192026- Going back a few seconds means rewatching the whole video, which is frustrating2022-09-02
- No progress bar or way to rewind; must wait to restart video2022-02-28
- Can't find a pause or stop button while watching2021-09-07
Skipping each video takes seconds, slowing content discoveryUnreviewed
20192026- Scrolling through short videos in a rapid feed is frustrating when content would be better longer2025-01-22
- Can't skip ahead in videos, so must watch to find out if interesting2024-09-08
- Must spend seconds on each video to skip it, making finding interesting content slow2022-07-27
Search returns irrelevant videos, forcing use of default feedUnreviewed
20192026- Searching for chosen channels still returns unwanted local content in the feed2026-02-06
- Search returns no relevant videos, so finding content means wading through the default feed2022-05-15
- Can't get the feed to show technology videos despite searching hashtags2021-08-01
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
- New accounts open to a blank page with a prompt pushing personalised suggestions2026-05-12
- Opening a TikTok link traps the user in the browser so they can't get back2026-04-14
- Endless scrolling pulls people into hours of scrolling via one-more-swipe pattern2026-02-07
- Searching for chosen channels still returns unwanted local content in the feed2026-02-06
- Cannot delete viewing history on the website, so unwanted videos keep showing2025-12-22
- UI keeps users scrolling in the app longer than they intend2025-12-01
- TikTok's web version is very poor to use2025-10-30
- Shared links force non-logged-in users to sign up or install the app2025-10-14
- Videos autoplay muted and the unmute button is hard to find under popups2025-10-14
- Captchas and install prompts block viewing after one video, and the site breaks while navigating2025-10-13
- Unusable with ad blocker because of too many bots2025-09-17
- Back button needs to be pressed three times because each open and close adds a history entry2025-09-10
- Visitors can't tell what the site is from the landing page2025-07-07
- Users can't see or escape downranked content; the app offers no UI to do so2025-06-21
- Mobile users get pushed to install the app and hit captchas when viewing videos2025-03-28
- Hard to catch ingredient lists and steps while pausing and rewinding videos2025-03-05
- Scrolling through short videos in a rapid feed is frustrating when content would be better longer2025-01-22
- Pausing requires holding finger down, and seeking uses a very small touch target2025-01-19
- Keeps showing disturbing content despite user reporting and thumbs-down feedback2025-01-18
- Scrolling endlessly and finding nothing of interest2025-01-15
- Can't skip ahead in videos, so must watch to find out if interesting2024-09-08
- Permission modal appears where the user is likely to tap it accidentally, a dark pattern2024-06-08
- Wishes TikTok and Instagram worked in landscape orientation, forcing eyes on small portrait view2024-05-31
- Search results seem unsorted, and the default ordering is impossible to understand2024-04-26
- Dragging multiple videos fails with a message saying only one video is allowed, which is confusing2024-04-05
- Users couldn't dismiss the pop-up; swipe-right gesture was confusing and the close button was hidden2024-03-08
- Users couldn't tell how to close the modal without calling2024-03-08
- TikTok's web version is so broken it is unusable on desktop2024-03-06
- No native playback speed control, so user must run console code to speed up videos2024-02-22
- Constant frustration using it, finds the UI confusing to navigate2023-07-24
- Recommendations stay in Vietnamese despite an hour of searching for English videos2023-07-01
- Video volume ignores system volume and silent mode, with no in-app mute setting2023-04-02
- Search offers no date sorting or filters, making results hard to narrow2023-01-18
- Comments section gets stuck on an endless loading spinner while videos load fine2023-01-18
- Repeated app-install popup appears and cannot be dismissed, pushing users toward the native app2023-01-05
- Couldn't navigate away from the birthday prompt; reinstalling didn't help and the account got banned2022-11-15
- Takes much effort to train feed away from unwanted sexual content; interests not respected by default2022-11-09
- Has to close eyes and tap search button blindly to avoid the feed2022-11-09
- Feed keeps showing generic, unwanted videos despite hours of liking and searching2022-10-24
- Feed keeps showing unwanted sexual content and repeated duplicate videos despite training2022-10-24
- Search shows an anti-bot puzzle and hides results until the user logs in2022-09-24
- Back button refreshes the feed instead of leaving, so users need two presses to quit2022-09-14
- Going back a few seconds means rewatching the whole video, which is frustrating2022-09-02
- No way to open or copy the link into a real browser2022-08-19
- Autoplaying feed plays content without the user deciding to view it, leaving them no decision point2022-08-16
- Can't get page URL or long-press links to open them elsewhere2022-08-11
- Very hard to find good content; feels coerced into mindless behaviour2022-08-02
- Feed never improves to match interests; keeps showing same predictable content2022-07-30
- Must spend seconds on each video to skip it, making finding interesting content slow2022-07-27
- Can't find relevant content; the app's discovery is described as garbage2022-06-29