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what's wrong with reading HN in a web browser?

by nanijoe 16y ago

gmaster1440 16y ago
nothing whatsoever :) It just seems that extra functionality like the ability to read offline and maintain a collection of articles may be beneficial for certain people. I guess this app is for those people.
- javery 16y ago
  Actually that is what instapaper is for.
  - gmaster1440 16y ago
    Indeed Instapaper can do it directly if you manually go to the HN site, find the article, and load the page; however, let's say you want to send this very old article for offline viewing. It may be on the nth page of hacker news, and you may never find it. Hacker News Reader stores all articles (critical information about them actually) to a db on your iPad, so you can decide to do whatever you want with them at any point in time with no hassle. Instapaper Pro for iPad is also $4.99 while Hacker News Reader is $0.99.
jws 16y ago
The HN user interface leaves a bit to be desired on mobile devices. Ever notice to "sorry I downvoted you" comments? That is people with touch screens. Another example, to reply to you I had to find your comment in the mysteriously small text, double tap zoom, pinch zoom, reposition, and then I could finally hit the microscopic "reply" link. It is a persistent itch that the site itself does not address. Some people do things with style sheets or HTML rewriters, some do it with an app. I'd do width sensitive CSS with the media type selectors if it were my site.
- icefox 16y ago
  And the iPad isn't really a mobile device. It has a very large screen so large that it is the same resolution as one of my laptops.
  - jws 16y ago
    On my iPad my finger is many times the size of the voting arrows. Your pointing device on your netbook is pixel accurate with pre-click position feedback. But beyond the clicking, I think the reason I like the native HN app on my phone is because it makes better use of the pixels. On the web page there are great swathes of pixels that are not contributing. I'm not as sensitive on the ipad, but paid my $3 because the author promised an iPad upgrade, and HN on a small screen could be $3 better.
- steveklabnik 16y ago
  I'm moderately scared to up/downvote people when reading HN on my phone. At a comfortable level of zoom for reading, the buttons are so small, and with no option to undo my vote, I'd rather not accidentally penalize someone.

what's wrong with reading HN in a web browser?

by nanijoe 16y ago

what's wrong with reading HN in a web browser?

nothing whatsoever :) It just seems that extra functionality like the ability to read offline and maintain a collection of articles may be beneficial for certain people. I guess this app is for those people.

javery 16y ago
Actually that is what instapaper is for.
- gmaster1440 16y ago
  Indeed Instapaper can do it directly if you manually go to the HN site, find the article, and load the page; however, let's say you want to send this very old article for offline viewing. It may be on the nth page of hacker news, and you may never find it. Hacker News Reader stores all articles (critical information about them actually) to a db on your iPad, so you can decide to do whatever you want with them at any point in time with no hassle. Instapaper Pro for iPad is also $4.99 while Hacker News Reader is $0.99.

jws 16y ago

The HN user interface leaves a bit to be desired on mobile devices. Ever notice to "sorry I downvoted you" comments? That is people with touch screens. Another example, to reply to you I had to find your comment in the mysteriously small text, double tap zoom, pinch zoom, reposition, and then I could finally hit the microscopic "reply" link. It is a persistent itch that the site itself does not address. Some people do things with style sheets or HTML rewriters, some do it with an app. I'd do width sensitive CSS with the media type selectors if it were my site.

icefox 16y ago
And the iPad isn't really a mobile device. It has a very large screen so large that it is the same resolution as one of my laptops.
- jws 16y ago
  On my iPad my finger is many times the size of the voting arrows. Your pointing device on your netbook is pixel accurate with pre-click position feedback. But beyond the clicking, I think the reason I like the native HN app on my phone is because it makes better use of the pixels. On the web page there are great swathes of pixels that are not contributing. I'm not as sensitive on the ipad, but paid my $3 because the author promised an iPad upgrade, and HN on a small screen could be $3 better.
steveklabnik 16y ago
I'm moderately scared to up/downvote people when reading HN on my phone. At a comfortable level of zoom for reading, the buttons are so small, and with no option to undo my vote, I'd rather not accidentally penalize someone.