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Why doesn't HN have a mobile app?

8 points by kranirudha 6mo ago

I think its much more convenient to access from a mobile app. My reddit usage grew massively when the reddit mobile came upto on par with other third party apps over last couple of years.

mac3n 6mo ago
> My reddit usage grew massively and that's a good thing?
- kranirudha 6mo ago
  That's a good point. Bad for me I guess but should be good for product, no? I was thinking from a product standpoint, why wouldn't they want one if it increases usage.
TimedToasts 6mo ago
If a mobile app results in higher Reddit-esque behavior then I'm permanently opposed to a mobile app.
- kranirudha 6mo ago
  Fair enough.
- krapp 6mo ago
  Why on earth would a mobile app result in "higher Reddit-esque behavior?"
  - MostlyFragile 6mo ago
    Perhaps the concern is more eyes means more poor content?
deleted 6mo ago
[deleted]
Cider9986 6mo ago
[dead]
chistev 6mo ago
It doesn't need one?
- kranirudha 6mo ago
  I'd argue in favor of it though. I understand that most folks here might not prefer it, but it does make it more accessible and convenient.
  - fullstick 6mo ago
    How is a mobile app you have to install from a third party more convenient and accessible than a website in a browser?
    - kranirudha 6mo ago
      That's actually the question. I'd not want to use a third party app if there's an official one available. Hence I'm still on browser.
p1esk 6mo ago
What’s wrong with reading HN in a browser? What problem are you trying to solve?
- kranirudha 6mo ago
  I'm not solving anything. Was just wondering why it doesn't exist. Cause I find it more convenient on mobile. Mostly from discoverability and experience wise.
vunderba 6mo ago
You can just add the site to your home screen on Android / iOS - that addresses the convenience point IMHO. I’m also not sure how an HN app (buried among the trillions of other in the respective app store) would necessarily be any more "discoverable" than the site itself.
- kranirudha 6mo ago
  as PWA. That's fair actually. I forgot about that.
al_borland 6mo ago
I just use the browser, it works well enough for me. There are apps people have made. Without ads, the incentives aren’t such that they should want to drive excessive engagement.
- kranirudha 6mo ago
  That's fair. I guess incentive is the key.
- PaulHoule 6mo ago
  Most directly, if somebody replies to your comment and you get a notification about that and it results in an ad impression: ka-Ching!
  - kranirudha 6mo ago
    Yea, notifications can be considered annoying. but I sometimes miss replies to some posts, cause HN right now doesn't even track these. Maybe a design decision to reduce infra load.
    - al_borland 6mo ago
      I see this as a feature. I check the “threads” like periodically to see if there is anything to reply to, but once it falls off the first page, it’s pretty much over (unless it’s something very specific I wanted to keep an eye on, which is rare). This prevents a lot of the long back and forths, or getting pulled into an old conversation, that would often happen on other platforms with notifications. It makes a reply more of an intentional act. With notifications it feels more like a task that needs to be completed.
      - kranirudha 6mo ago
        Interesting take. Fair enough. How about you saw the comment number go up and you open and now have to scroll entire thread to find where the new comment is at.
replooda 6mo ago
I'm replying to this using Hacki. Glider has treated me well too. Both are available on F-Droid.
- livinglist 6mo ago
  Developer of Hacki here, thanks for your support!
  - frm88 6mo ago
    Finally I found you! Thank you for making Hacki - it's perfect. The most recent updates enhance the quality quite a bit. Do you have a patreon where I can donate?
    - livinglist 6mo ago
      Thanks for the love! Simply a five star review on App Store/google play would be greatly appreciated!
  - kranirudha 6mo ago
    Hack is also brilliant. Thanks for your work and continued maintaining it. But would you know why they never made an official mobile app?
powerbook5300CS 6mo ago
Octal is the best one. Typing this comment from it right now. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/octal-for-hacker-news/id1308885491 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/octal-for-hacker-news/id130888...
- kranirudha 6mo ago
  Yes octal is one of best the third party apps available and quite popular. My question was why there's no official app.
01jonny01 6mo ago
If they created a simple webview app and framed the website would you use that or the website in your browser? I am just curious to what the OP classes as "convience and accessibility". I find this an interesting topic. Since many users have requested my websites have an app, but I'm loathed to go through all the hoops of the app stores.
- kranirudha 6mo ago
  Probably not. It's the same experience as the website. I've tried adding it to home screen so it opens immediately like a bookmark.
  - 01jonny01 6mo ago
    So you like the responsiveness and snappiness of an app?
ratrace 6mo ago
[dead]
MostlyFragile 6mo ago
I use Octal which does everything I would need. Night mode, Pleasant UI, and lightweight
- kranirudha 6mo ago
  Octal is brilliant. But it's third party. My question was why there's no official app.
stonecharioteer 6mo ago
I'm halfway glad HN doesn't have a mobile app. You're not incentivized to maintain karma here like reddit does. HN's unsaid rules make it harder to gain karma and seem to improve the quality overall compared to /r/programming. Have you noticed you can't downvote yet?
- kranirudha 6mo ago
  Fair enough. But it's easy to miss replies or not know unless I re-open old posts to see if there's new replies to it, and so on. The experience drops there for me. I once forgot to check back on a post and saw it had relevant questions about a year later.
gdmka 6mo ago
The main problem with why mobile apps aren't very convenient is that even on Octal, in heated debates on HN it becomes extremely difficult to read nested comment threads. Personally, I lack focus when a parent comment generates a comment tree with deep nesting on the web, let alone on mobile clients. What's really missing is a userscript like on imageboards where under each comment there's a link showing who replied to it, with auto expansion preview of in depth reply hierarchy. But honestly, it's not that hard to do now. Just give the task to Codex or Claude Code. For those seeking ways to track replies to their messages, HNRSS[0] exists. I don't even visit HN, I just pull the filtered RSS feed, and engage where I feel I'm interested or can provide value. [0]: https://hnrss.github.io/#reply-feeds https://hnrss.github.io/#reply-feeds

8 points by kranirudha 6mo ago

I think its much more convenient to access from a mobile app. My reddit usage grew massively when the reddit mobile came upto on par with other third party apps over last couple of years.

mac3n 6mo ago

> My reddit usage grew massively and that's a good thing?

kranirudha 6mo ago
That's a good point. Bad for me I guess but should be good for product, no? I was thinking from a product standpoint, why wouldn't they want one if it increases usage.

TimedToasts 6mo ago

If a mobile app results in higher Reddit-esque behavior then I'm permanently opposed to a mobile app.

kranirudha 6mo ago
Fair enough.
krapp 6mo ago
Why on earth would a mobile app result in "higher Reddit-esque behavior?"
- MostlyFragile 6mo ago
  Perhaps the concern is more eyes means more poor content?

deleted 6mo ago

[deleted]

Cider9986 6mo ago

[dead]

chistev 6mo ago

It doesn't need one?

kranirudha 6mo ago
I'd argue in favor of it though. I understand that most folks here might not prefer it, but it does make it more accessible and convenient.
- fullstick 6mo ago
  How is a mobile app you have to install from a third party more convenient and accessible than a website in a browser?
  - kranirudha 6mo ago
    That's actually the question. I'd not want to use a third party app if there's an official one available. Hence I'm still on browser.

p1esk 6mo ago

What’s wrong with reading HN in a browser? What problem are you trying to solve?

kranirudha 6mo ago
I'm not solving anything. Was just wondering why it doesn't exist. Cause I find it more convenient on mobile. Mostly from discoverability and experience wise.

vunderba 6mo ago

You can just add the site to your home screen on Android / iOS - that addresses the convenience point IMHO. I’m also not sure how an HN app (buried among the trillions of other in the respective app store) would necessarily be any more "discoverable" than the site itself.

kranirudha 6mo ago
as PWA. That's fair actually. I forgot about that.

al_borland 6mo ago

I just use the browser, it works well enough for me. There are apps people have made. Without ads, the incentives aren’t such that they should want to drive excessive engagement.

kranirudha 6mo ago
That's fair. I guess incentive is the key.
PaulHoule 6mo ago
Most directly, if somebody replies to your comment and you get a notification about that and it results in an ad impression: ka-Ching!
- kranirudha 6mo ago
  Yea, notifications can be considered annoying. but I sometimes miss replies to some posts, cause HN right now doesn't even track these. Maybe a design decision to reduce infra load.
  - al_borland 6mo ago
    I see this as a feature. I check the “threads” like periodically to see if there is anything to reply to, but once it falls off the first page, it’s pretty much over (unless it’s something very specific I wanted to keep an eye on, which is rare). This prevents a lot of the long back and forths, or getting pulled into an old conversation, that would often happen on other platforms with notifications. It makes a reply more of an intentional act. With notifications it feels more like a task that needs to be completed.
    - kranirudha 6mo ago
      Interesting take. Fair enough. How about you saw the comment number go up and you open and now have to scroll entire thread to find where the new comment is at.

replooda 6mo ago

I'm replying to this using Hacki. Glider has treated me well too. Both are available on F-Droid.

livinglist 6mo ago
Developer of Hacki here, thanks for your support!
- frm88 6mo ago
  Finally I found you! Thank you for making Hacki - it's perfect. The most recent updates enhance the quality quite a bit. Do you have a patreon where I can donate?
  - livinglist 6mo ago
    Thanks for the love! Simply a five star review on App Store/google play would be greatly appreciated!
- kranirudha 6mo ago
  Hack is also brilliant. Thanks for your work and continued maintaining it. But would you know why they never made an official mobile app?

powerbook5300CS 6mo ago

Octal is the best one. Typing this comment from it right now. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/octal-for-hacker-news/id1308885491 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/octal-for-hacker-news/id130888...

kranirudha 6mo ago
Yes octal is one of best the third party apps available and quite popular. My question was why there's no official app.

01jonny01 6mo ago

If they created a simple webview app and framed the website would you use that or the website in your browser? I am just curious to what the OP classes as "convience and accessibility". I find this an interesting topic. Since many users have requested my websites have an app, but I'm loathed to go through all the hoops of the app stores.

kranirudha 6mo ago
Probably not. It's the same experience as the website. I've tried adding it to home screen so it opens immediately like a bookmark.
- 01jonny01 6mo ago
  So you like the responsiveness and snappiness of an app?

ratrace 6mo ago

[dead]

MostlyFragile 6mo ago

I use Octal which does everything I would need. Night mode, Pleasant UI, and lightweight

kranirudha 6mo ago
Octal is brilliant. But it's third party. My question was why there's no official app.

stonecharioteer 6mo ago

I'm halfway glad HN doesn't have a mobile app. You're not incentivized to maintain karma here like reddit does. HN's unsaid rules make it harder to gain karma and seem to improve the quality overall compared to /r/programming. Have you noticed you can't downvote yet?

kranirudha 6mo ago
Fair enough. But it's easy to miss replies or not know unless I re-open old posts to see if there's new replies to it, and so on. The experience drops there for me. I once forgot to check back on a post and saw it had relevant questions about a year later.

gdmka 6mo ago

The main problem with why mobile apps aren't very convenient is that even on Octal, in heated debates on HN it becomes extremely difficult to read nested comment threads. Personally, I lack focus when a parent comment generates a comment tree with deep nesting on the web, let alone on mobile clients. What's really missing is a userscript like on imageboards where under each comment there's a link showing who replied to it, with auto expansion preview of in depth reply hierarchy. But honestly, it's not that hard to do now. Just give the task to Codex or Claude Code. For those seeking ways to track replies to their messages, HNRSS[0] exists. I don't even visit HN, I just pull the filtered RSS feed, and engage where I feel I'm interested or can provide value. [0]: https://hnrss.github.io/#reply-feeds https://hnrss.github.io/#reply-feeds