Products · Product
Vimium
Raised as a usability problem by 37 people on Hacker News over 16 years (2010–2025), in 24 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
Every issue, all time, most people first
Shortcuts fail unpredictably while the page is still loadingUnreviewed
20102026- Vimium stops working on unloaded pages, system pages, and the address bar shortcut2025-02-28
- Users must guess whether Vim-like shortcuts are active on the current page2025-02-02
- Shortcuts silently stop working on some pages, so you must guess whether they're active2025-02-02
Hint letters overlap on busy pages, selecting wrong or unselectable linksUnreviewed
20102026- Hint letters overlap on crowded pages, so some links can't be selected by keyboard2020-05-10
- Hint letters misplaced or overlapping on busy pages, so wrong or unselectable links2020-03-21
- Link hint letter labels overlap on HN, making the second letter hard to read2013-06-19
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 40 complaints
- Vimium stops working on unloaded pages, system pages, and the address bar shortcut2025-02-28
- Users must guess whether Vim-like shortcuts are active on the current page2025-02-02
- Shortcuts silently stop working on some pages, so you must guess whether they're active2025-02-02
- Shortcut keys sometimes don't work depending on focus and state, feels slow2024-10-22
- The "o" key opens a non-native address bar that doesn't find bookmarks properly2024-10-22
- Scrolling is too smooth and does not behave like a single line step per key press2023-02-28
- Web elements look clickable differently, so keyboard extension can't detect them reliably2023-02-28
- Hard to remember to use the keyboard shortcuts, so falls back to mouse2023-02-28
- Breaks YouTube and other sites' keybindings, annoying to use2023-02-28
- Navigation becomes much slower because the extension disables the browser's back-forward cache2023-02-28
- Mode-switching and keyboard takeover make it easy to forget and hard to stick with2023-02-28
- Conflicts with site shortcuts, so users must blacklist sites and remember which ones2023-02-28
- Typing movement commands lands in random forms or docs when pages capture the cursor2022-10-08
- Vim-style hotkeys fail on loading pages and browser pages like New Tab and Settings2022-02-24
- Doesn't work on pages still loading or system pages; address bar key brings up one that misses bookmarks2021-11-18
- Link-hint keyboard navigation on many websites is slower and more mentally taxing than using the mouse2021-05-20
- Can't tell which keyboard mode is active, so keeps switching between shortcut sets2020-10-07
- Easy to accidentally leave Vimium's mode, requiring a click in the page to return2020-10-07
- Keyboard shortcuts don't work while the page is loading, so they fail unpredictably2020-10-07
- Requires two hands, so impractical when eating or holding a drink2020-10-07
- Keybindings unavailable until the page finishes loading, so it feels unusable2020-10-07
- Vimium shortcuts clash with apps' native shortcuts, forcing menu clicks or mouse use2020-10-06
- Hard to figure out how to turn it off for a particular site or interaction2020-08-11
- Hint letters overlap on crowded pages, so some links can't be selected by keyboard2020-05-10
- Hint letters misplaced or overlapping on busy pages, so wrong or unselectable links2020-03-21
- Shortcuts unusable until the page finishes loading, which is annoying2019-12-04
- Shortcuts don't work while a page is still loading2018-06-21
- Vimium commands don't work on about: pages, forcing different commands and breaking flow2017-11-20
- After opening a new tab, Escape doesn't leave the address bar, so typed keys go into it2017-10-04
- Default setting requires pressing Enter after filtering hints, so links aren't opened directly2017-09-26
- Shortcuts stop working on some pages, leaving user stuck until they use the mouse2017-09-26
- Impossible to navigate some sites and slows the browser over time2017-03-12
- "f" is a default hint character, so pressing it again may accidentally navigate away2017-01-16
- Link hint letter labels overlap on HN, making the second letter hard to read2013-06-19
- Often selects the wrong link due to mistyped or misread hint labels2012-10-07
- Vimium shortcuts stop working on Chrome's internal error pages, forcing mouse or ctrl+w use2012-10-07
- Pages that fail to load lack Vimium shortcuts, forcing mouse use to leave the tab2011-12-30
- Having to lift hand off keyboard to reach the mouse is annoying2010-04-16
- J and K tab-switching keys fail on some pages like Gmail, leaving user stuck2010-04-15
- Automatically switches to insert mode, so users type into the page or jump around unintentionally2010-04-15