Products · Product
YouTube Music
Raised as a usability problem by 163 people on Hacker News over 15 years (2012–2026), in 107 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
Uploaded music is separated from search, playback and playlistsUnreviewed
20122026- Keeps repeating the same songs, and uploaded music is kept separate from streaming library2023-11-01
- Uploaded music split across uploads and library tabs; artist pages sorted poorly2023-04-06
- Local MP3s can play but can't be put in playlists or browsed by artist or album2023-01-16
Songs randomly disappear and Liked Songs cluttered with unrelated videosUnreviewed
20122026- Music playlists clutter up video playlists, making them hard to use2025-06-21
- Thumbed-down songs still play in playlists; liking artists affects video subscriptions unexpectedly2023-10-06
- Video and music playlists get mixed together; some videos randomly can't play in background2023-02-16
Thumbs up and down have no effect on song choicesUnreviewed
20122026- Thumbs up/down feedback seems to have no effect on the algorithmic feed's song choices2024-07-31
- Keeps suggesting songs the user already disliked, often frequently2020-11-13
- Liking one searched song floods recommendations with the same artist that downvotes can't stop2020-09-17
Podcasts bundled into the music app, clumsy compared with a podcast appUnreviewed
20122026- Default Android music app is a poor experience for listening to podcasts2025-10-10
- Cluttered with useless content when user just wants to listen to podcasts2024-04-02
- No way to queue podcast episodes, and podcasts mixed confusingly into the music interface2024-03-29
Purchased songs vanished after forced move, with no way to download themUnreviewed
20122026- Transferring saved playlists from Spotify was a horrible experience, so user went back to paying for both2024-12-28
- Purchased songs vanished after forced move from Play Music; no way to back up or download them2023-09-26
- Purchased music won't play without the app open or work with Assistant unless subscribed2020-11-12
Shuffle needs several steps: start playlist, enable shuffle, skip nextUnreviewed
20122026- Shuffle needs several steps: start playlist, enable shuffle, then skip next2024-01-20
- Shuffle only reorders a hidden list, so it can't be toggled on or off directly2024-01-05
- Must manually turn on shuffle for a playlist every time driving2020-11-12
Plays downloaded songs online, causing pauses on flaky connectionsUnreviewed
20122026- Downloads often don't start on wifi, take minutes for albums, and pause/resume fails2026-09-01
- Playback stops when connectivity drops, with no buffer or offline songs available2020-10-26
- Downloaded songs wait for album art to download before playing offline2020-10-24
Album lists load slowly, and playback stops with the screen offUnreviewed
20122026- Scrolling through album collection stutters and lags, worse than the old client2023-05-10
- Album covers load slowly and wrong covers show beside songs2021-10-09
- Album lists load slowly and the app can't play with the screen off2020-11-12
Music app sits on top of videos, making real music hard to reachUnreviewed
20122026- Music app sits on top of videos, hard to reach the real music2025-06-21
- Forced onto new music apps that prioritize music videos, losing offline playlist workflow2020-10-24
- Home screen fills first rows with music videos instead of music the user wants2020-01-29
Browsing by artist shows all albums, not just the user's collectionUnreviewed
20122026- Basic album info is impossible to get and search is abysmal2023-10-14
- Searching the library shows all catalog results, not the user's own saved music2023-04-06
- Browsing by artist is nearly impossible and shows all albums, not just the user's collection2021-12-01
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
- Interface won't load offline-ish; spinner for ten minutes, and buttons move2026-10-01
- Downloads often don't start on wifi, take minutes for albums, and pause/resume fails2026-09-01
- Tapping one track accidentally deletes the whole play queue2026-09-01
- Minimal browsing and search functionality makes content discovery hard, with no filters2026-06-29
- Some videos can't play in YouTube Music, forcing users to switch to YouTube, which CarPlay doesn't support2026-03-18
- Music and video playlists mixed together make the service unusable for the commenter2026-03-18
- Asking whether the interface feels outdated is an unnecessary annoyance2026-02-04
- UI has usability issues, with likes and playlists shared with main YouTube account2025-10-29
- Hard to use for playing music or music videos on Android TV2025-10-17
- Default Android music app is a poor experience for listening to podcasts2025-10-10
- Misleading message about downloads; user had to find a hidden setting to enable them2025-09-24
- Music app sits on top of videos, hard to reach the real music2025-06-21
- Music playlists clutter up video playlists, making them hard to use2025-06-21
- Play, shuffle and autoadd playlist controls are confusing, especially across app and desktop2025-06-17
- On-device file management is abysmal, so the user falls back to a file manager2025-05-22
- Unwanted artists and genres keep downloading, and deleting them takes hours or requires clearing all downloads2025-04-23
- YouTube Music's player is worse than Spotify's, deterring switching2025-04-11
- Library section is an afterthought for people who buy music2025-03-05
- Has many UX and usability problems that drive the commenter crazy2024-12-29
- Track stops playing when user tries to browse to another track on kids-labeled content2024-12-28
- Transferring saved playlists from Spotify was a horrible experience, so user went back to paying for both2024-12-28
- Must hunt through browser tabs and windows to change songs2024-12-28
- The interface was so bad the commenter left the service after being moved to it2024-12-28
- Crashes and stops playback randomly, forgets podcast position, sometimes needs phone hard reboot2024-12-28
- Listening to a chosen song quickly drifts into random long YouTube mixes with ads2024-12-28
- Deleting a song from a playlist also removes it from the library2024-08-12
- Thumbs up/down feedback seems to have no effect on the algorithmic feed's song choices2024-07-31
- Interface layout keeps changing due to constant A/B testing2024-07-25
- Cluttered with useless content when user just wants to listen to podcasts2024-04-02
- Filled with dark patterns that push users into unwanted choices2024-04-02
- No way to queue podcast episodes, and podcasts mixed confusingly into the music interface2024-03-29
- App freezes when loading the next track, forcing repeated force-stops per session2024-03-21
- Player randomly malfunctions during playback2024-02-22
- Interface is apparently heavily inspired by Snapchat and impossible to navigate2024-02-01
- Interface is not great and tangles confusingly with YouTube videos2024-01-20
- Toasts hide UI elements the user wants to tap; queue forgotten every day or two2024-01-20
- Shuffle needs several steps: start playlist, enable shuffle, then skip next2024-01-20
- Tries to play video when used for podcasts, which is unwanted2024-01-18
- Shuffle only reorders a hidden list, so it can't be toggled on or off directly2024-01-05
- Keeps repeating the same songs, and uploaded music is kept separate from streaming library2023-11-01
- Basic album info is impossible to get and search is abysmal2023-10-14
- Thumbed-down songs still play in playlists; liking artists affects video subscriptions unexpectedly2023-10-06
- Dark patterns pushed the user toward subscribing2023-10-04
- Impossible to manage a music library2023-09-27
- Purchased songs vanished after forced move from Play Music; no way to back up or download them2023-09-26
- Apple TV YouTube app lacks proper repeat and shuffle music controls2023-09-26
- Couldn't cast from YouTube Music web for a year after migrating from Play Music2023-09-26
- Inconsistent, clunky UI that the user never got into2023-05-10
- Scrolling through album collection stutters and lags, worse than the old client2023-05-10
- Asks approval for every song on certain albums, even with restrictions off, stalling playlists2023-04-23