Products · Pattern or everyday thing
Two-factor authentication
Raised as a usability problem by 76 people on Hacker News over 18 years (2009–2026), in 66 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
Entering 2FA codes dozens of times a day wastes timeUnreviewed
20092026- Entering 2FA codes dozens of times a day wastes huge amounts of time2026-10-12
- 2FA asks for verification far too often, more than once a month2025-05-15
- Average people get confused setting up 2FA and it doesn't work well2024-04-10
Lost or stolen phone leaves users locked out with no easy recoveryUnreviewed
20092026- Bank forces 2FA through its app, so old phones that can't update the app are locked out2025-09-01
- Opening the bank's 2FA app destroys the payment app's session on low-memory phones2025-07-08
- Smartphone-based 2FA is unusable for someone who has no smartphone2025-03-09
Disabling SMS codes requires contacting support, without turning off 2FAUnreviewed
20092026- SMS 2FA fails when traveling abroad without the phone's SIM card2025-05-14
- Forced to use SMS two-factor login with no option to disable it2023-04-26
- Many MFA methods make it hard to track exposure; old SMS options left enabled2021-08-20
Logging in means juggling many keys, cards, passwords and texted codesUnreviewed
20092026- Login needs app switching, waiting for codes, and copying them back2024-04-10
- Extra login layers make logging in annoying; losing SSH keys or hardware keys blocks access2023-12-10
- Logging in requires juggling many keys, cards, passwords and texted codes every day2021-12-10
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
- Entering 2FA codes dozens of times a day wastes huge amounts of time2026-10-12
- Adding a new phone as second factor deletes the old phone's entry, making migration hard2026-01-24
- Forces getting up to fetch phone to log in on PC2025-10-27
- Bank forces 2FA through its app, so old phones that can't update the app are locked out2025-09-01
- Opening the bank's 2FA app destroys the payment app's session on low-memory phones2025-07-08
- 2FA asks for verification far too often, more than once a month2025-05-15
- Must fetch phone repeatedly, requiring it charged, to log into services2025-05-14
- SMS 2FA fails when traveling abroad without the phone's SIM card2025-05-14
- Smartphone-based 2FA is unusable for someone who has no smartphone2025-03-09
- Some two-factor authentication combinations are unergonomic and painful for users2024-10-25
- Re-establishing access after losing the phone's second factor was tedious2024-05-06
- Login needs app switching, waiting for codes, and copying them back2024-04-10
- Average people get confused setting up 2FA and it doesn't work well2024-04-10
- Locked out of bank account when old phone number is still on file2024-02-09
- Phone-based SMS codes are unreliable due to carrier and device problems2023-12-10
- Extra login layers make logging in annoying; losing SSH keys or hardware keys blocks access2023-12-10
- Codes may not arrive right away and users must copy them manually2023-10-07
- Users get locked out multiple times daily and can't recover access when 2FA fails2023-08-11
- Sites force SMS, email or device prompts instead of accepting a password manager's TOTP code2023-07-04
- Google Authenticator lacked code backup, so losing the phone locks users out2023-06-21
- Forced to use SMS two-factor login with no option to disable it2023-04-26
- Can't log into banking and apps while abroad or after a phone change without SMS access2023-02-23
- Enrolling new accounts requires the 2FA device, making off-site backup devices impractical to keep2023-01-19
- Two-step sign-in is annoying, requiring typing email first before choosing a provider2022-11-23
- Logging in on a laptop forces the user to go find their phone for the SMS code2022-10-04
- Users without 2FA face a confusing box they must leave empty2022-09-20
- Phone-based 2FA is a major problem when switching phone numbers while travelling2022-09-14
- Switching 2FA device means redoing every code, and sites require turning 2FA off first2022-06-26
- Users must find the site in an app, copy six digits between screens, and check them, taking about a minute2022-06-22
- Locked out when old phone number or hardware key is unavailable2022-05-05
- Selecting and copying a code from an SMS is fiddly, so people select surrounding text and must edit it2022-04-22
- 2FA on low-stakes sites adds friction to every login for accounts nobody cares about2022-03-18
- Must redo the 2FA login on every site after clearing cookies2022-03-01
- Users must repeatedly create app-specific passwords and install vendor authenticator apps2022-02-20
- MFA apps lack tablet versions, so iPad-only users cannot use them2022-01-16
- Banks and employer systems force a smartphone 2FA app, so users without phones cannot log in2022-01-16
- Remember-device checkbox often has no apparent effect, so codes keep being requested2021-12-10
- Logging in requires juggling many keys, cards, passwords and texted codes every day2021-12-10
- Having to pull out phone and manually type codes multiple times a day2021-11-24
- Recovery options vary across services, making it hard to know what to keep for lockouts2021-11-03
- Many MFA methods make it hard to track exposure; old SMS options left enabled2021-08-20
- Each website forces users to install its own separate 2FA app2021-05-07
- Lost phone blocked access to Gmail while traveling abroad2021-05-07
- Codes arrive late and in bunches, then account gets locked with long phone-call wait2021-05-06
- Locked out of accounts with no easy way back in if phone is lost or stolen2021-02-10
- Users must keep offline backup codes for every site they use2020-02-29
- No 2FA method suits everyone; some are inaccessible to blind users2019-09-11
- People without mobile phone signal at home cannot use SMS-based 2FA at all2019-07-18
- Too hard to use correctly, so users make mistakes even experts2019-06-20
- Recovering accounts after a lost or dead phone is a huge hassle, often needing support calls2019-06-20