Friction

Challenges

NotionWidely reported

People lose their place, and their work, when the editor freezes

7 people raised this across 6 weeks, on both iOS and Android.

iPhone, iPad and Android users, across six app versions rather than one bad release.

In their own words

Neither app store gives a review a permanent public link, so each entry is a snapshot taken on the date shown and the link goes to the app's review listing.

The screen keeps randomly jumping from one place to another

iOS, version 1.7.338, 1 star, United States,

Captured on . See reviews on the App Store

NOT usable on Android, very very slow, lagy, buggy whatever

Android, version 0.6.4100, 1 star, United States,

Captured on . See reviews on Google Play

the app is really really laggy on iPhone

iOS, version 1.7.328, 3 stars, United States,

  • described a workaround

Captured on . See reviews on the App Store

Sometimes the screen just freezes; have no clue why

iOS, version 1.7.328, 2 stars, United States,

  • described a workaround

Captured on . See reviews on the App Store

it causes phone to freeze or just kicks me out

iOS, version 1.7.308, 1 star, Canada,

  • worked before an update

Captured on . See reviews on the App Store

I have to close the app like every minute because it gets stuck or freeze

iOS, version 1.7.301, 1 star, United States,

  • described a workaround

Captured on . See reviews on the App Store

What people do instead

  • close and reopen the app
  • select the text and use cut instead of delete

What you could do with this

These four are written from the reviews above. Everything else on this page is quoted or counted.

written

BUILD IT

An editor that keeps your text when the app stops responding.

See how3 points
  • Write each keystroke to local storage, not only on save
  • Restore the caret and scroll position after a forced restart
  • Start with the close-and-reopen path reviewers keep describing

Why it might not workA mobile OS can kill a backgrounded app before it finishes writing anything to disk.

written

START IT

A recovery layer that editors could license rather than build.

See how2 points
  • Capture edits below the app, at the input layer
  • Sell to the teams shipping editors, not to the people typing

Why it might not workThe apps losing the work are the ones who would have to buy it, and they already believe their sync works.

written

STUDY IT

How much writing is actually lost, and does anyone notice at the time?

See how2 points
  • Instrument a real editor and compare keystrokes typed against keystrokes persisted
  • Ask whether people who lose work switch tools or simply repeat it

Why it might not workThe apps holding this data will not share it, and self-reported loss is unreliable.

written

WRITE IT

Why the little saved indicator lies.

See how2 points
  • Trace what saved means across three editors people trust
  • Open on the reviews describing a restart every few minutes

Why it might not workAutosave failure is well-trodden ground; the fresh angle is the gap between the indicator and the truth.

Microsoft Teams

People cannot keep up with a conversation that stutters

extremely slow, you can't search anything you send

Reported repeatedly

See all 25 challenges

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