Products · Product
Raised as a usability problem by 240 people on Hacker News over 14 years (2013–2026), in 197 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
Desktop app requires phone to stay connected, draining batteryUnreviewed
20132026- Desktop client disconnects and needs the phone nearby to unlock whenever the phone sleeps2023-10-24
- WhatsApp Web needs the phone connected, since messages live only there2023-03-22
- Cannot access WhatsApp across all devices because there is no iPad app2022-01-08
Without contacts access, chats show numbers and new contacts can't be messagedUnreviewed
20132026- Can no longer message a number directly; must grant contact list access or be blocked2025-12-02
- Requires granting Contacts access; couldn't type a phone number to start chat without web client workaround2025-07-24
- Clicking to message a number forces a permission request to view all contacts2025-06-16
Chat backups can't transfer between Android and iOSUnreviewed
20132026- Keeps losing access to chat history repeatedly2026-10-10
- Users can't restore a local backup, so years of chat history get lost after moving to Google Drive2024-12-11
- Can't restore a local chat backup, so years of history get lost after moving to Google Drive2024-12-11
Searching years of chat history is painfully slowUnreviewed
20132026- Searching years of chat history in the app is painfully slow2026-04-15
- Searching old messages in WhatsApp Web is painfully slow2024-04-30
- Takes around 25 minutes to scroll back three years in a large chat2023-09-16
Received chat photos and videos mix into the main photo rollUnreviewed
20132026- Unwanted images from chats fill the camera roll, forcing manual cleanup2024-02-20
- Photos received in WhatsApp get mixed with the user's own photos, with no obvious source2021-11-01
- Received chat photos and videos mix into my main photo roll, causing accidental sharing2021-11-01
Transferring phones loses messages, as backups take hoursUnreviewed
20132026- Old messages stay unreadable on the new phone because the key exchange never completes2025-11-30
- Messages get lost when restoring after a device reset or switch2021-12-06
- Transferring to a new phone loses messages because backups take hours and only restore the last backup2021-09-10
Messages delayed after idle phone, with confusing 'not connected' noticeUnreviewed
20132026- Messages arrive delayed when the phone has been idle, and the desktop shows a confusing 'phone not connected' notice2021-01-18
- Phone blows up with notifications for messages already being read on the computer2018-06-06
- Gets logged out when idle and messages arrive out of order across devices2017-03-30
Trivial reactions clutter group chats, hiding past important messagesUnreviewed
20132026- Long group chats bury key facts under off-topic messages, hard to find what's needed2023-05-08
- Trivial reactions clutter group chats, making it hard to find past important messages2020-02-17
- One-to-one message threading makes organised topic discussions and finding past info hard2018-01-07
Can't use the same account across devices, SIMs, or iPad and PCUnreviewed
20132026- Cannot create a userID and password or use it on multiple devices without a phone number2022-02-07
- Hard to use on more than one mobile device2020-02-18
- Can't use the same account across devices, SIMs, or iPad and PC2013-10-08
Keeps nagging to enable plain-text cloud backups after opting outUnreviewed
20132026- Users get tricked into enabling cloud backups; the decline prompt keeps reappearing2023-03-09
- Keeps nagging users to enable plain-text cloud backups even after opting out2021-10-25
- Users get nudged into cloud backups and can't tell whether messages are backed up2020-03-02
Group chat shows channels instead of friends, hiding how to reach themUnreviewed
20132026- Creating group chats forces users to expose all contacts unless they find a skip option2025-06-11
- Group chat screen shows unwanted channels instead of friends; hard to figure out how to talk to acquaintances2021-02-26
- Deleted groups and chats keep reappearing and can't be removed2021-01-25
Tapping a contact card forces a call that fails on spotty dataUnreviewed
20132026- A one-click mistake shared the entire personal contact list with WhatsApp2025-06-17
- Tapping a contact card from a message forces a WhatsApp call, which fails on spotty data2025-03-28
- Phone icon starts a WhatsApp call with no option to choose a regular call2016-03-07
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
- App freezes while typing, losing much of the typed message2026-10-27
- Calls WhatsApp's UX awful without saying what goes wrong2026-10-11
- Keeps losing access to chat history repeatedly2026-10-10
- All chats forced into one window, can't pull chats out or sort them across desktops2026-08-04
- Desktop app gets stuck loading and messages are slow to arrive2026-07-15
- Spelling suggestions stay in English, so Dutch chats show red underlines everywhere2026-07-15
- Third-party clients can only chat with contacts who also connected the same app2026-06-18
- Electron-based desktop apps feel unreliable and poorly supported on macOS2026-06-14
- Finds the communities navigation and experience confusing, got confused several times2026-05-31
- Can't tell if a message is important, so feels forced to read each one immediately2026-05-12
- Searching years of chat history in the app is painfully slow2026-04-15
- Archive icon looks like download button, so users can't tell what it does2026-04-13
- QR codes open website but don't add contact; manual ID entry silently vanishes with no feedback2026-03-08
- Chats and media can't transfer during setup; forced into slow, complicated cloud backup2026-03-02
- Lost dozens of chats and photos after phone number or phone changes2026-02-17
- The current interface feels laggy when interacting with it2026-01-28
- Chat export only covers a few weeks, omits media, and needs workarounds2026-01-25
- Using WhatsApp Web is awful to use2026-01-25
- Flooded with ad messages from businesses, making the app almost unusable2026-01-25
- Users must navigate many nested menus to enable the interoperability setting2026-01-24
- Error message blames missing microphone when the real problem is a missing webcam2026-01-20
- Pull-down voice feature is easy to trigger accidentally while scrolling2026-01-16
- Pulling down to see latest messages accidentally opens the audio recording control2026-01-16
- Buzzes repeatedly for each individual message within a minute2026-01-05
- Can't search properly or flag and filter important messages; desktop app is slow2025-12-25
- Reimplemented photo browser forces users to grant full photo access or suffer limited browsing2025-12-23
- No information found on how to become a compatible provider; waitlist-only apps2025-12-07
- Can no longer message a number directly; must grant contact list access or be blocked2025-12-02
- Old messages stay unreadable on the new phone because the key exchange never completes2025-11-30
- Can't restore a backup without Google cloud, and exporting chats or pictures in a work profile is painful2025-11-19
- Web version's keyboard shortcuts collide with browser shortcuts and context menus behave differently2025-11-13
- With a web wrapper, finding the right WhatsApp window among many browser windows is tedious2025-11-13
- App feels sluggish with long loading times when switching conversations2025-11-13
- Contact search takes about five seconds to register each typed letter, making the app lag2025-11-13
- Downloading multiple photos or videos requires many manual clicks, with download icon hidden behind submenus2025-11-13
- Switching to it now means finding the right browser window and tab, which is slower than a native app2025-11-13
- Text field randomly stops accepting input, forcing app restarts; accents from dead keys fail2025-11-13
- A huge box covers a third of the page demanding session verification every time2025-11-13
- Text input becomes unresponsive, making the app unusable2025-11-13
- App often takes over two minutes to load properly2025-11-13
- Can't select text inside message bubbles, so can't copy or translate it2025-09-24
- Copy icon is hard to find, far from the message among unclear icons2025-09-19
- Locked out repeatedly during setup after declining to share contacts2025-09-02
- Photos stay accessible after granting limited access unless the user manually revokes them in settings2025-08-29
- Uploading one photo under limited access takes several clunky steps, pushing users to grant full access2025-08-29
- Sending one photo requires extra steps through Manage and Select more photos2025-08-29
- Contact search was removed from the main screen, replaced by an AI tab2025-08-04
- Requires granting Contacts access; couldn't type a phone number to start chat without web client workaround2025-07-24
- Can't mark a message as unread to reply to it later2025-07-14
- Nudged by dark patterns into backing up chats to Google Drive2025-07-08