Web apps

Every issue, all time, most people first

1. In-app Back button conflicts with browser Back and breaksUnreviewed

   23 people since 2008, in 12 different years · none this year

   20072026
   • In-app Back button conflicts with browser Back, which breaks2025-11-02
   • Apps tell users not to use the back button, training them to avoid it2025-05-05
   • Web apps break the browser back button, so users rely on in-app back buttons2025-05-04
   Something wrong here?

2. Browser owns shortcut keys, blocking reliable keyboard controls in web appsUnreviewed

   21 people since 2013, in 11 different years · 1 this year

   20072026
   • Lost drag-and-drop UI consistency and UX in modern web apps2026-04-24
   • Web apps lack stable keyboard bindings and UI changes unpredictably, breaking automation2025-08-15
   • Browser owns many shortcut keys, so web apps can't offer reliable keyboard-friendly controls2023-12-29
   Something wrong here?

3. Many web apps are broken for screen reader and assistive tech usersUnreviewed

   13 people since 2008, in 9 different years · 1 this year

   20072026
   • Canvas-rendered UIs break screen readers, developer tooling and browser extensions2026-08-09
   • Many web apps are broken for users of screen readers and other assistive technology2025-11-01
   • Canvas-drawn interfaces are inaccessible, slow to load, and behave unnaturally on mobile2025-03-02
   Something wrong here?

4. Web interfaces are very slow to respond to interactionUnreviewed

   12 people since 2008, in 9 different years · 1 this year

   20072026
   • Web interfaces are very slow to respond to interaction2025-11-05
   • Updates in response to input take multiple seconds, so the app feels slow2025-07-30
   • Web interfaces respond too slowly for users' perceived response thresholds2025-01-16
   Something wrong here?

5. Gestures and device interactions stop working inside the browserUnreviewed

   10 people since 2008, in 8 different years · 1 this year

   20072026
   • Wrapped web apps give a poor user experience and inconsistent behavior with weird errors2026-03-03
   • Mobile web apps have unwanted text selection, pull-to-refresh, and swipe-back behaviour2025-03-30
   • Ported web apps have content hidden by the keyboard or layout breaking on rotation2023-12-26
   Something wrong here?

6. Web apps lack desktop affordances, so the interface feels wrongUnreviewed

   9 people since 2013, in 7 different years · 1 this year

   20072026
   • Web apps must build application UI from scratch on a document-oriented platform2026-04-12
   • Web version feels more annoying, struggles with big files, and is less responsive2025-10-30
   • Web app versions are unworkable with dozens of tabs, and notifications are worse than desktop2025-01-12
   Something wrong here?

7. Non-keyboard-friendly forms slow proficient usersUnreviewed

   9 people since 2009, in 6 different years · none this year

   20072026
   • Mouse-driven web interfaces slow operators down; keyboard shortcuts are inadequate2025-04-13
   • Mouse switching and non-keyboard-friendly forms slow proficient users; page renders are slow2025-03-13
   • Web booking UI so slow to load that keyboard-driven TTY was faster2023-09-07
   Something wrong here?

8. Users do not know how to add a web app to the home screenUnreviewed

   9 people since 2010, in 6 different years · none this year

   20072026
   • Button for adding web apps to home screen is in a different position on iPhone than iPad2024-02-16
   • Not intuitive that PWAs can be installed via the Share button; users must be told2024-01-08
   • Most people don't know the add-to-home-screen feature exists, so it must be taught2021-05-31
   Something wrong here?

9. Elements move just before a click registers, so the wrong thing is clickedUnreviewed

   9 people since 2017, in 5 different years · none this year

   20072026
   • Elements shift under the cursor just before clicking, causing misclicks2023-02-09
   • Heavy client-side frameworks on simple sites are slower than server round-trips2023-02-03
   • Elements move just before a click registers, so the user clicks the wrong thing2021-11-30
   Something wrong here?

10. Web apps have terrible layouts when squeezed onto mobile screensUnreviewed

    8 people since 2013, in 6 different years · 1 this year

    20072026
    • Websites are often broken, with layout quirks and slow responsiveness, unlike apps2026-07-14
    • Constant browser chrome wastes screen space and web apps need back/forward controls2023-04-20
    • Web apps resize sidebars and columns poorly, so the interface lags and stutters2019-12-27
    Something wrong here?

11. Web apps hijack scrolling and disable zoom, ignoring system settingsUnreviewed

    6 people since 2010, in 6 different years · 1 this year

    20072026
    • Web apps glitch and behave oddly during zoom, selection and scrolling, so users often refresh2026-06-30
    • Pinch zoom triggers accidentally while playing games in mobile webapps2025-08-30
    • Zoom is disabled on mobile web apps, so users cannot zoom in on content2023-11-02
    Something wrong here?

12. Slow loading, bad scrolling, and poor touch and tap targetsUnreviewed

    6 people since 2011, in 6 different years · none this year

    20072026
    • Web-based apps have slow loading, bad scrolling, and poor touch and tap targets2023-01-02
    • Taps take forever to register and scrolling is hijacked, making the UI unresponsive2022-09-08
    • Web apps feel janky: scrolling hesitates, taps lag, and back/forward navigation breaks2016-08-24
    Something wrong here?

13. Entered data lost at least twice, and forms do not match requirementsUnreviewed

    6 people since 2011, in 6 different years · 1 this year

    20072026
    • Search settings are lost on refresh and back button goes to unpredictable places2025-12-19
    • Lost entered data at least twice; forms do not match current requirements2024-04-08
    • Form errors wipe entered data, forcing users to re-enter information2017-08-31
    Something wrong here?

14. Apps take seconds to load and lag from too many rendered elementsUnreviewed

    6 people since 2009, in 5 different years · 1 this year

    20072026
    • Users found the app's responsiveness too slow and asked for it to be faster2026-08-28
    • Apps take several seconds to load and lag because too many elements are rendered2023-08-23
    • App took 20 minutes to load, then slow for users2022-07-22
    Something wrong here?

15. Web controls behave differently from native widgets and must be relearnedUnreviewed

    6 people since 2011, in 5 different years · none this year

    20072026
    • Every web app uses different custom controls, so users must relearn interactions2023-06-19
    • Each new app's interface changes so often that users never learn it and can't reuse prior knowledge2021-08-28
    • Web apps roll their own widgets, so controls are inconsistent and repeat the same mistakes across apps2019-10-25
    Something wrong here?

16. Users must constantly log in againUnreviewed

    5 people since 2011, in 5 different years · none this year

    20072026
    • Web apps break in ways that force users to reload and restart them daily2025-11-02
    • Installed web apps make the user log in every time they open them2024-02-26
    • Reopening a web app in a browser takes many steps, including re-login and password manager lookups2020-03-12
    Something wrong here?

17. Opening a menu traps keyboard focus in an infinite loopUnreviewed

    4 people since 2016, in 4 different years · none this year

    20072026
    • Tab key moves focus away instead of inserting a tab in the editor2022-08-17
    • Grid can't be focused with Tab, so keyboard-only users can't use it2020-09-17
    • Opening a menu traps keyboard focus in an infinite loop; tab support poor2019-10-25
    Something wrong here?

18. Links cannot be opened in a new tab by right-click, duplicating tabs re-navigates pagesUnreviewed

    4 people since 2009, in 4 different years · 1 this year

    20072026
    • Ctrl-click, middle-click and new-tab opening don't work, and URLs are mishandled2026-02-22
    • Opens new tabs instead of reusing existing ones, so tabs pile up2022-07-05
    • Links can't be opened in a new tab via right-click, and duplicating tabs forces re-navigating 5 pages2015-10-21
    Something wrong here?

19. Canvas text selection fails to bring up the mobile keyboardUnreviewed

    4 people since 2017, in 4 different years · none this year

    20072026
    • Right-click, copy and text lookup don't work in canvas-rendered apps2025-08-06
    • Text selection on canvas-based apps is iffy and fails to bring up the on-screen keyboard on mobile2024-11-27
    • Canvas-drawn text breaks assistive tech, password managers, spell checking, and standard keyboard shortcuts2020-05-06
    Something wrong here?

20. Typing into text boxes lags because the box waits unnecessarilyUnreviewed

    4 people since 2017, in 4 different years · 1 this year

    20072026
    • Rebuilt text inputs lack native shortcuts, menus, and keyboard behavior, so they feel laggy and wrong2026-08-09
    • Textbox in a web app lags when the user types2022-09-07
    • Input boxes lag noticeably even on a powerful laptop2021-10-12
    Something wrong here?

21. Keystrokes typed while the browser waits are lostUnreviewed

    4 people since 2016, in 3 different years · none this year

    20072026
    • Keystrokes typed while the browser waits are lost, slowing expert users2022-10-31
    • Web apps drop keystrokes when the user types quickly2022-08-15
    • Keystrokes typed ahead while the page loads or responds get lost or mishandled2020-02-08
    Something wrong here?

22. Text enlargement hides large amounts of functionalityUnreviewed

    3 people since 2017, in 3 different years · none this year

    20072026
    • Text sometimes gets lost and elements crowd each other, making the site hard to read2025-07-19
    • Many sites are broken or unusable on an older phone with large text2024-03-20
    • Text enlargement hides large amounts of functionality on many sites2017-11-19
    Something wrong here?

23. Toolbars scroll away with the page instead of staying fixedUnreviewed

    3 people since 2010, in 3 different years · none this year

    20072026
    • Re-implemented scrollbars feel janky and lose momentum scrolling on mobile2025-08-07
    • Toolbars scroll away with the page instead of staying fixed2012-04-24
    • Horizontal scrollbar appears at 1920x1200 with no obvious cause2010-12-22
    Something wrong here?

24. Browser text boxes lack editing commands, forcing paste into VimUnreviewed

    3 people since 2014, in 3 different years · none this year

    20072026
    • Browser text editing steals key bindings users can't recover and selects the wrong elements2022-06-29
    • Browser text boxes lack powerful editing commands, forcing copy-paste into Vim for big edits2019-06-10
    • Browser-embedded text editors are slow and poorly suited to editing text2014-02-26
    Something wrong here?

25. GUI replacing keyboard-driven terminal screens made end users slowerUnreviewed

    3 people since 2018, in 3 different years · none this year

    20072026
    • Enterprise GUIs are slow and discard keyboard input, unlike faster terminal interfaces2025-01-08
    • Front-line workers must go through too many steps; web GUIs are slower than old terminals2022-11-07
    • Replacing keyboard-driven terminal screens with GUI made end users slower2018-03-29
    Something wrong here?

26. Browser find cannot search across paginated pages, so content is missedUnreviewed

    3 people since 2022, in 3 different years · 1 this year

    20072026
    • Browser find doesn't search the whole 10K-line file because the UI only loads part of it into the page2026-04-14
    • Browser find can't search text across paginated pages, so content on other pages is missed2023-07-14
    • Browser find skips page text in virtualized lists, so users can't search2022-08-04
    Something wrong here?

27. Apps unusable when browser storage is disabled or not synced across devicesUnreviewed

    3 people since 2013, in 3 different years · none this year

    20072026
    • Many web apps break or become unusable when content or ad blockers are enabled2025-07-26
    • Web apps become unusable when browser storage is disabled or not synced across devices2016-12-23
    • Web apps are unusable on Opera Mobile and Nokia Xpress browsers2013-08-08
    Something wrong here?

28. UI freezes when the network connection is lost or unstableUnreviewed

    3 people since 2020, in 3 different years · none this year

    20072026
    • UI locks up on slow connections while a request is pending2023-01-14
    • Pages lock up for seconds or break entirely during brief network dropouts or latency2022-05-29
    • UI freezes when the network connection is lost or unstable2020-11-17
    Something wrong here?

29. Web apps clutter Cmd+Tab switching among many browser tabsUnreviewed

    3 people since 2017, in 3 different years · 1 this year

    20072026
    • Browser-based apps clutter Cmd+Tab switching among many browser tabs2026-02-20
    • Tabs trapped in a single window can't be isolated, preserved, or given their own window, slowing work down2023-05-01
    • Dozens of single-page app tabs slow the browser to a crawl2017-02-28
    Something wrong here?

30. Next section jumps to another page, and Back ends onboarding with no returnUnreviewed

    3 people since 2018, in 2 different years · none this year

    20072026
    • "Next section" jumps to another page and back button ends onboarding with no way to return2021-09-03
    • About page is mislabeled as a plus sign, and sliders reset or misbehave when navigating back2021-03-17
    • Pressing back unexpectedly skips or breaks navigation because of poor history handling2018-08-16
    Something wrong here?

31. Signup is required before users can try the appUnreviewed

    3 people since 2008, in 2 different years · none this year

    20072026
    • Can't see or try the app before being forced to register2013-10-11
    • Signup requires account creation before the user can try the app2008-12-01
    • Forced to sign up before being able to try the site2008-01-24
    Something wrong here?

32. Web apps break outside Chrome, forcing users to switch browsersUnreviewed

    3 people since 2021, in 2 different years · none this year

    20072026
    • Existing web apps silently switch browser engine without the user knowing2024-02-15
    • Web apps break outside Chrome, so users must switch browsers to get them working2021-11-29
    • Some web apps only work properly in Chrome, leaving other browser users stuck2021-08-27
    Something wrong here?

This list counts all time; the period switch above only changes the ranking. Each issue is a group of similar complaints raised by at least 3 people in 3 different months and threads. Each line under an issue is Claude Haiku's summary of one of its latest comments, not a quote; follow it to read the comment on Hacker News.