What users hate. Clustered.

1- and 2-star reviews fed into NVIDIA NIM gpt-oss-120b, grouped into themes with verbatim examples. Each cluster is a wedge a competitor could exploit.

200 reviews·8 themes

App is just a web browser redirect
The app merely opens a web browser window to Codecademy's website instead of providing native functionality, making it redundant and defeating the purpose of a mobile app.
34
reviews
- “All the app does is let you click on the search bar that takes you to the web to find a course. It doesn’t serve any purpose.”
- “It’s just a hyperlink — Codecademy is a great website and amazing tool. BUT their app is just a hyperlink to the website… I could literally just go on safari and bookmark it to have the same results.”
- “The app doesn’t do anything but redirect you to a website. I downloaded the app, created an account via Apple, and tapped “find a course” only for it to load a web page that makes me create yet another account”
Poor iPad support and scaling issues
The app is not optimized for iPad, lacks landscape mode, appears as a stretched iPhone interface, and fails to utilize tablet screen real estate properly.
28
reviews
- “This apps is small size only for iphone. When do you update your app for tablet size?”
- “No landscape mode? Will actually review when the app doesn’t force my iPad screen upright.”
- “The app does not scale well on an iPad Pro display and appears cheaply put together.”
Limited or missing sign-in options (GitHub, LinkedIn, email)
Users cannot sign in using GitHub, LinkedIn, or standard email addresses—only Google, Facebook, or Apple accounts are accepted, excluding many users.
25
reviews
- “I have my CodeAcademy paid account linked to my GitHub, so that’s what I use to login when using the browser version; however, that’s not an option on the mobile app…making the app useless for me.”
- “Can’t sign up unless you go through Facebook or Google. If you don’t have either of those, I guess you’re a second class citizen. Lame.”
- “No GitHub Sign In — No Github sign in options on the app and that’s the only way I can access my account.”
Content and progress sync issues with web version
The app fails to sync user progress, courses, or content with the desktop/web version, leading to inconsistent experiences and lost work.
22
reviews
- “the app is not in sync with my actual progress, this is a lot different from accessing it from the web which makes it useless.”
- “The app and the website have me registered for two different career paths. What I see on the website, which is my current path, is not what I see on the app (the old path).”
- “I bought the full subscription after initially liking the app but do not buy this app! Most of the courses they “offer” have content missing. Node.js missing...”
Buggy, broken, or non-functional core features
Critical bugs prevent basic functionality: crashes, freezing, unresponsive buttons, incorrect question rendering, and login failures.
20
reviews
- “After selecting topics to study, and setting up notifications and reminders and selecting Continue, it just crashes every time.”
- “Review question text not populating correctly — literally says BLANKBLANKBLANK”
- “The app freezes on me after one review....”
Inadequate teaching and poor learning experience
The app provides flashcards and quizzes without proper explanations, assumes prior knowledge, and fails to teach concepts effectively.
19
reviews
- “Doesn’t teach things very well on the app, basically gives you a few generic versions of one thing and then gives you questions not based off of those few generic things it just attempted to teach you.”
- “Not beginner friendly — When I joined I said I wanna be a game dev. I clicked the beginner friendly course and it’s throwing acronyms in my face I’ve never heard of.”
- “The app doesn’t teach, it just provides flash cards. It’s not useful to me as I have no background in coding.”
Forced subscriptions and misleading pricing
Users report being charged unexpectedly during free trials, unable to cancel, and misled about pricing, with no clear free tier available.
16
reviews
- “Free Trial charges 2x per day unable to cancel — Beware the “free trial” charges you day 1 and attempts charge 2x per day.”
- “There is no free tier. Tried to use the free “basic” tier but it doesn’t exist.”
- “Worst cancellation policy — I didn’t like the program and haven’t used it for months. I forgot to cancel and did not receive a warning that I would be recharged for the next year.”
Account deletion and management problems
Users are unable to delete their accounts, get trapped in loops, or cannot access account settings, violating privacy expectations.
14
reviews
- “Impossible to delete account — Classic case of over promise under deliver. But what pisses me off is that it’s impossible to delete you account once you make it.”
- “Cant delete account — Unable to delete account, asks to sign in again every time! Violation of Apple terms”
- “PLEASE ADD ACCOUNT SETTINGS — This is honestly so annoying! I want to access my own account in the app but you can’t because there’s no access to it!”

First load takes ~60–120s. Cached after.