[HN Gopher] Show HN: HackerNewt - Breadth-first exploring HN cli...
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Show HN: HackerNewt - Breadth-first exploring HN client for iOS
I made a HN client that allows you to explore comments in a
breadth-first manner. Compared to the classic depth-first approach,
it works much better for the larger threads - you don't lose the
context and can easily skip discussions you're not interested in.
Video preview: https://imgur.com/a/tzBdpXw
Author : hnand
Score : 37 points
Date : 2025-07-01 15:57 UTC (7 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (apps.apple.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (apps.apple.com)
| pvg wrote:
| A thread 2 years ago
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36030350
| sneak wrote:
| Thanks for not surveilling the users of your app. I bought the
| premium version.
| fraXis wrote:
| Nice job! Will you be releasing an Android version?
| hnand wrote:
| Thanks! As of now I don't have any plans for Android. It's a
| native iOS app written in Swift, so that would require building
| a new app from the ground up.
| tnetenbaa wrote:
| Don't know if you saw, but Swift is coming to Android. Might
| not require a rebuild after all.
| xp84 wrote:
| Related: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44387409
| defenestrated wrote:
| For Android users: Download the excellent, and well maintained
| Harmonic app and enable "Auto-collapse top level comments" to
| achieve the same BFS effect.
|
| No need to download a new shareware app.
| ashish01 wrote:
| I also prefer BFS expansion of comments. So I implemented
| https://hn-reader.pages.dev/ for this. Also has dark mode to be
| easy on eyes.
| vednig wrote:
| I built one too at hacked.stream few months back in React Native
| thebruce87m wrote:
| How does this compare to HACK? Getting fed up with the crash bug
| that's been around for years.
| CharlesW wrote:
| I can't recall it crashing on me (not that I doubt it is for
| you), but for other issues the author has been extremely
| responsive. IIRC you can report issues directly from the app.
| glitchcrab wrote:
| Yup, a recent update fixed a bug which I corresponded with
| the developer about a little while ago; I was very pleased to
| see it implemented.
| recov wrote:
| Been using it for a while. Sometimes it takes a minute+ to
| initially refresh feeds but I thank that's a HN issue?
| afro88 wrote:
| This is great. Thanks for creating it! Matches how I read
| comments, and fixes my only gripe with HN: I'm forever missing
| the touch target of the little [-] to collapse a thread once I
| have read it. Yes there is a next button too, but I prefer to
| collapse so I don't see what I've already read when scrolling
| around.
|
| I found a bug on first launch. Every item was duplicated in the
| list. A refresh fixed it.
|
| Anyway, thanks for building this, it's very nicely done and
| useful.
| mittermayr wrote:
| Opened it up, first thing I do is set it to dark because every
| other HN app runs on dark -- immediately prompts me to upgrade
| and pay. Sorry, but making money by not being annoying is such an
| old-school way to try and make a buck. Totally understand it
| can't be free, but then let people pay for things that make your
| app stand out -- not the ability to "let the dark mode toggle
| stay put", I mean...
| ForceBru wrote:
| What could make such an app "stand out"?
| tartoran wrote:
| Should be free first of all, HN is free after all and with
| it's old tech it is still working well and is also friction
| free. I've seen plenty of show HN:HN and most don't have
| traction because the original is just too good. It's probably
| one reason why it withstood the test of time and why we still
| have a community here.
| zamadatix wrote:
| I think it's less "too good" and more "$0 but been around
| 18 years so why bother with any alternative for >=$0 which
| has been around for 2 months. Also, why do I trust you
| again?". I.e. "not bad enough".
| zamadatix wrote:
| The app already does a good job of standing out with its main
| premise and I doubt there are enough other stand out features
| to add for the niche. The problem really lies in the
| monetization focusing on the table stakes features up front
| instead of the stand out features after a while.
| xp84 wrote:
| The app's premium unlock appears to be a _$6_ one-time
| purchase. Given that it 's not a consequential life decision,
| the way a subscription can sometimes be, I would rather
| normalize paying for software that is well-made and lovingly
| maintained instead of having everything be free but it falls
| into disrepair after some big Apple update because it's too
| hard to justify working on it anymore.
|
| I have a harder time with software that I have to sign up for a
| "trial" of a $20 monthly subscription before I can really
| experience what it's like to use it. With this app, you can see
| exactly how it works during the daytime at least, and what
| settings you'd be able to use once you pay, and no trial
| hanging over your head.
| xp84 wrote:
| I had already downloaded a previous version of this app, so I was
| happy to see that it was already on my phone. With Octal having
| an issue recently, it's nice to try out this alternative.
|
| We're very fortunate that so many hackers are intrinsically
| motivated to make excellent (even free) apps for this purpose,
| since we like hanging out here!
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