Products · Product
Yelp
Raised as a usability problem by 86 people on Hacker News over 19 years (2008–2026), in 58 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
Every issue, all time, most people first
Mobile site is deliberately crippled to push the appUnreviewed
20082026- Forces users to install the app to view reviews, blocking the desktop site on iOS2024-08-03
- Desktop site repeatedly nags users to download the app and sign in2023-06-25
- Only two reviews visible before being prompted to download the app2023-06-14
Can't compare several restaurants side by side in the appUnreviewed
20082026- Hard to find restaurant info; reviews and locality views are worse than alternatives2020-11-16
- Can't compare several restaurants side by side, since the app has no tabs2018-11-09
- Can't compare several restaurants side by side; the app has no multiple tabs.2018-11-09
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
- Popups and junk cover much of the small screen on mobile browser2026-08-28
- Forces users to install the app to view reviews, blocking the desktop site on iOS2024-08-03
- Interface is cluttered2023-06-30
- Desktop site repeatedly nags users to download the app and sign in2023-06-25
- Searching grocery stores omits some chains, so users must search each chain by name2023-06-15
- Search results push users into the Yelp app, which they then ignore2023-06-14
- Only two reviews visible before being prompted to download the app2023-06-14
- Mobile site cut off, forcing users to install the app to use Yelp2023-06-12
- Mobile web is nearly unusable because it constantly pushes app installation2022-10-14
- Uses dark patterns that push users into actions they did not choose2022-05-10
- Searching for a specific restaurant shows unrelated sponsored chains instead, and pushes the app2022-03-03
- Yelp's user experience is objectively bad2021-09-20
- Menus are displayed in a generalized way that is hard to use2021-08-28
- Multiple marketing lists must each be unsubscribed from individually2021-07-10
- The overall experience is awful and core information is rarely helpful2020-11-16
- Mobile Yelp forces app-store detour, repeated location prompts, and ads that take four clicks to close2020-11-16
- Hard to find restaurant info; reviews and locality views are worse than alternatives2020-11-16
- Mobile browser shows only a few photos, pushing users to download the app2020-11-15
- Mobile site looks functional but funnels users toward the app2020-10-09
- Yelp app was so buggy it was essentially unusable on their phone2020-08-19
- Yelp pushes users to install its app instead of letting them view the mobile site2020-07-17
- Mobile websites are so crippled and pushy that people install apps instead2020-07-02
- Tapping any link on mobile redirects users to the Play Store2020-06-17
- Mobile site pushes users to app store to view photos, then login blocks them2020-02-16
- Site was extremely frustrating and pushes users into using the app2019-11-13
- Constant nagging to install the app and create an account2019-08-07
- Replies to contact requests are hidden in the app, so users miss them and must find contacts manually2019-08-07
- Photos are blurry when zooming menus and captions can't be searched on mobile2019-08-07
- Site is borderline unusable on devices other than a desktop2019-08-07
- Reviews are hard to sift through, full of unhelpful or irrelevant content2019-08-06
- Website keeps pushing users to switch to the app instead2019-08-06
- Reviews can only be read by downloading the app2019-08-06
- Mobile web walls off reviews, forcing users to download the app2019-08-06
- Must download and log in to the app again after every phone wipe or upgrade2019-08-06
- Restaurant phone numbers replaced with Grubhub links, so users are deceived into ordering elsewhere2019-08-06
- Mobile site deliberately crippled to push users into downloading the app2019-08-06
- Splash page blocks all content until user installs the app or logs in2019-07-16
- Confusing budget rules let billing exceed the defined monthly campaign spend2019-06-09
- Bottom tabs sit where curved screens get accidentally triggered, frustrating one-handed use2019-05-03
- Most features are blocked on the mobile site, forcing users to download the app2019-02-01
- Mobile site limits photos and reviews, redirecting to the app unexpectedly when going further2018-11-27
- Links open the Yelp app without warning, and returning to an open app clears its state2018-11-27
- Mobile site redirects users to the app, forcing a desktop mode workaround2018-11-10
- Clicking options doesn't do what the user wants; they must log in to use settings2018-11-10
- Website experience is poor and deliberately annoys users to push app installs2018-11-09
- Tapping links in mobile Safari triggers unwanted open-in-app prompts, and cancelling leads nowhere2018-11-09
- Every tap on the mobile site redirects to the app store, so nothing can be used2018-11-09
- Constantly nags user to re-enable notifications; links out of app are spotty2018-11-09
- Can't compare several restaurants side by side, since the app has no tabs2018-11-09
- Huge install button and tiny mobile-site link push users toward the app2018-11-09