VNC

Raised as a usability problem by 33 people on Hacker News over 16 years (2011–2026), in 30 threads.

People raised many different problems with VNC, but no single problem has yet been raised by 3 people in 3 different months and threads.

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 32 complaints

Remote desktop becomes unusable on high-latency, lossy mobile connections2026-08-22
Remote desktop sessions fail or show black screens, and VNC often gets stuck needing restarts2025-10-18
Opens a separate offscreen desktop with an unusable minimalist window manager, so setup is a chore2024-08-06
Can't share single windows; windows fail to redraw until dragged, and inputs sometimes don't register2024-04-27
Caps state gets confused, unshifted symbols stop working until the app is restarted2023-12-05
Remote desktop feels laggy to interact with2023-06-28
Remote access tools like VNC are incredibly hard to set up2023-02-09
VNC is awful to use on Macs unless connecting from another Mac2023-02-09
Tunneling VNC over SSH adds complexity and limitations to the connection2022-12-16
VNC becomes unusably slow when used with the virtual monitor setup2022-12-16
Remote macOS over VNC is a punishingly bad experience to use2022-08-20
VNC from Linux/Windows to macOS lacks multi-monitor, correct scaling, and copy-paste2022-08-20
Colleagues use slow, painful VNC for remote admin instead of RDP or WinRM2022-06-16
Remote screen updates only run at 2-3 fps, making it laggy to use2022-03-19
VNC is a mess for interactive use with high latency2022-01-15
Remote GUI sessions are slow and laggy, discouraging daily use2021-08-06
Remote desktop performance is abysmal, making remote use of a desktop frustrating2020-10-25
Remote desktop feels clunkier than RDP to use2020-09-23
VNC is an awful user experience for the commenter, with no specific problem named2020-06-12
Displays don't render correctly for some applications, especially 3D ones, and some keys aren't recognized2020-04-10
Remote desktop over VNC has poor performance and a bad user interface2019-06-30
Poor substitute for RDP: scaling and window handling feel worse than RDP2019-02-25
Remote typing of non-Latin characters fails because VNC servers can't convert keysyms to key presses correctly2019-02-10
Screen updates paint slowly top to bottom and typed text doesn't appear in real time2017-10-03
Server GUI is a cluttered grid of confusing knobs and switches2017-02-21
Remote desktop feels laggy to use compared with RDP2016-10-22
Remote desktop feels too slow to use for anything beyond basic administration2016-07-04
Desktop apps via VNC on mobile require awkward panning and zooming2015-07-20
High-frame-rate applications are unusable over VNC on slow connections2014-11-15
Every UI interaction feels delayed, so nothing feels right2014-07-08
VNC feels sluggish and unresponsive compared to RDP, nearly unusable2014-04-16
VNC becomes unusable on unreliable internet connections while travelling2011-05-21