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App Store: What Users Actually Complain About

— · Photo & Video · iOS · App Store

297 reviews analyzed 199 negative (≤3★) 7 pain clusters updated Oct 18, 2026

Overview

The primary pain points center around VSCO's shift to a subscription model that locks previously free features behind paywalls, combined with significant app performance issues and disruptive UI changes. These changes have fundamentally altered the user experience, causing frustration among loyal users who feel the app has become less functional and more expensive.

Top complaints

1. Paywall Restrictions

cluster 1/7
18% of complaints●●●●○ sev 4/536 reviews

Users are frustrated as previously free features and basic editing tools are now locked behind a subscription paywall.

“Taking previously accessible (free) filters and features and changing them to be membership only is a horrible business”
“Essential tools that have been free from the beginning are now locked behind a subscription pay wall.”
“VSCO has decided to take advantage of their loyal users by forcing you to upgrade to a paid premium subscription to use”

2. App Performance Issues

cluster 2/7
12% of complaints●●●●● sev 5/524 reviews

The app is experiencing frequent crashes, slow loading times, and technical glitches that disrupt the user experience.

“The app itself has crashed & closed out multiple times within the last few months.”
“The app takes forever (as in more than one minute) to start, so whatever i wanted to photograph is long gone.”
“app has been glitching like crazy in the last few months. I can't crop photos the way I want, photos upload sideways and”

3. User Interface Changes

cluster 3/7
11% of complaints●●●○○ sev 3/522 reviews

Recent updates have made the app less user-friendly with confusing layouts and disrupted workflows.

“new update is HORRIBLE. You have so many people paying for this app, including me, who can't even use it anymore or edit”
“new layout is anything but user-friendly”
“The minimalist yet endlessly confusing interface often gets in the way of all functionality.”

4. Photo Management Issues

cluster 4/7
8% of complaints●●●●○ sev 4/516 reviews

Problems with photo deletion, storage, and missing content are causing significant frustration for users.

“delete a photo in the camera roll then it is automatically deleted in the vsco app, this is extremely frustrating.”
“I lost 10-12 photos this summer that I spent hours editing, and have never been able to recover them because they went b”
“if you delete a picture from you camera roll, it's deleted from the vsco studio and you won't be able to access it.”

5. Subscription Problems

cluster 5/7
7% of complaints●●●○○ sev 3/514 reviews

Users are concerned about pricing, account access issues, and aggressive subscription prompts.

“I have absolutely no good reason to pay $30 a year just to enhance my images, nor does the average user.”
“I had VSCO premium for a while but then I got logged out of that account and had to create a whole new one bc VSCO suppo”
“Every SINGLE TIME I open the app I have to close like 3 pop ups , and they're always the same ones trying to get me to p”

6. Missing Features

cluster 6/7
6% of complaints●●●○○ sev 3/512 reviews

Users are upset about the removal of previously available features like journals and bulk editing capabilities.

“I woke up this morning to see my app had updated and that all my Journals were removed.”
“can't pull in a dozen or more photos at once to edit at my leisure”
“took away a feature I use every time - tap two photos to select all in between”

7. Export and Upload Problems

cluster 7/7
5% of complaints●●●○○ sev 3/510 reviews

Issues with photo exports, saving edits, and uploading multiple photos are disrupting the editing workflow.

“All the photos I adjust in VSCO Disappear from my camera roll when I texport.”
“You can only upload 1 picture at a time to edit.”
“I permanently edited a photo on my camera roll and cannot get back to the original image because of the new set up.”

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