We've all stared at a progress bar that seems to move in slow motion—or worse, jumps from 90% to 100% without warning. In a hilarious new video from ComriteAITutor, the truth is finally exposed: progress bars are liars.
"Sometimes 99% takes 10 minutes, and 100% is just a wild guess," jokes the narrator.
The short, which has already garnered laughs among tech enthusiasts, highlights how these seemingly innocent loading indicators are often more fiction than fact. From operating system updates to file downloads, progress bars have a long history of misleading users.
But why do they lie? The video explains that developers often don't know exactly how long a task will take, so they estimate—and sometimes those estimates are way off. Other times, the bar is purposely designed to be optimistic to keep users from abandoning the process.
While it's all in good fun, the video serves as a reminder that even our most trusted digital interfaces can be playing tricks on us. So next time you see a progress bar, take it with a grain of salt.