# Comments Owl for Hacker News — Draws the rest of the fun owl > Hacker News comment thread enhancer with new comment highlighting and user management. (iPhone/iPad app by J BUCHANAN & L.J BUCHANAN.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/comments-owl-for-hacker-news/id6451333500 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [J BUCHANAN & L.J BUCHANAN](https://appshunter.io/developer/1668516169) - Category: Productivity, Utilities - Price: Free - Rating: 4.00/5 from 1 App Store ratings · 1 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 15.0 · 1 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2023-07-16 - Data updated: 2026-08-12 - Monetization: free - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/comments-owl-for-hacker-news/id6451333500/reviews.md ## What is Comments Owl for Hacker News? Browser extension which makes it easier to follow Hacker News comments threads across multiple visits, by automatically highlighting new comments and showing which items have new comments. It also adds the ability to annotate and mute other users, plus other UX tweaks. Features: List pages • Show new comment counts since you last viewed each item - clicking on the "X new" link will highlight new comments and collapse trees without any new comments • Hide "AI" items in the main list pages • Prevent accidental flagging and hiding on mobile by making the "flag" and "hide" controls require confirmation, or hiding them Item pages • Highlight new comments and collapse trees without any new comments when you revisit an item - you can configure whether or not this happens automatically when you revisit without using an "X new" link • Default comment folding controls are replaced with a Reddit-style left-aligned control, with a slightly larger hit target • Manually highlight the X most-recent comments if it's your first visit or there are no new comments to show • Mute users to hide their comments and replies to them - muted users can be managed on your own profile page • Logged out users get a new 'muted' link in the header they can use to manage their muted users • Add notes to users on their profile page - the first line will be displayed next to their comments • Toggle display of "reply" links below comments, to make more room for comments on the screen • Increased distance between the upvote and downvote arrows at mobile sizes • Increase the contrast of submission text Navigation • Hide navigation links you don't use • Add an "upvoted" link to the navigation for more convenient access to items you recently upvoted • Improved mobile navigation - navigation links are displayed underneath other header contents ## Key features - Highlight new comments automatically - Mute and annotate users - Customizable navigation links - Improved mobile navigation - Default comment folding controls - Hide AI items ## Recent user reviews (1 of 1) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/comments-owl-for-hacker-news/id6451333500/reviews.md ### 4/5 — Makes HN much nicer to use *2025-05-16* Fixes most of my bugbears with HN — great work! Two feature requests: prominent user tagging (e.g. highlight selected users with a chosen color, something more obvious than just a note) and CloudKit sync for consistency across platforms. ## Frequently asked questions about Comments Owl for Hacker News ### Does Comments Owl have ads? No, Comments Owl does not contain advertisements. ### What devices does Comments Owl support? Comments Owl is available on Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iPod. ### How often is Comments Owl updated? The latest version, 3.8.1, was released on May 4, 2026, indicating active development and regular updates. ### What is the age rating for Comments Owl? Comments Owl has an age rating of 4+, making it suitable for a wide range of users. ### Can I mute specific users on Hacker News with Comments Owl? Yes, Comments Owl allows you to mute users to hide their comments and replies. You can manage muted users on your profile page. ### How does Comments Owl help me follow comment threads? It automatically highlights new comments since your last visit and can collapse trees without new comments, making it easier to track discussions. ### What are the pricing details for Comments Owl? Comments Owl is available for free. ### Can I add notes to users with Comments Owl? Yes, you can add notes to users on their profile page, and the first line of the note will be displayed next to their comments. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 3.8.1 — 2026-05-04 • Added an option to toggle user profile hovercards • Added a --mobile-header-spacing variable (default: 6px) • Made mobile nav items line up with the HN logo ### 3.8.0 — 2026-04-27 List page changes: • Items with new comments are now marked as read if the user visits them in another tab • List page functionality now works for new items added the end when you hide an item • Item hiding features now apply to all list pages, except those showing things a user did (e.g. their hidden items) Item page changes: • Added options to individually hide the root/parent/prev/next nav links on comments • Added an option to hide all nav links on collapsed comments • Made the child count on collapsed threads clickable to expand them • Comment threads now support unmuting • Item pages now react to mute and note changes in other tabs • Reduced flashing by processing more page elements as soon as they appear • Removed extra space above and below the comment tree • Fixed toggle control changing width when toggled • Fixed storage listeners being accumulated when opening user hovercard, these will now only use initial mute and note state Theming: • Added page attributes to html for the top level pages we support, e.g. [item], [item-list], [user] • Added an --item-spacing variable to control space between list page items • Added missing --hovercard-text variable derived from --text-secondary, and a rule to apply it • Derive default --link value from --text-primary • Derive default --hovercard-bg from --bg-content Other: • Rearranged option groups and split some options out into new General and Comments groups • Don't hide the Custom CSS "open in tab" link on iOS, as it lets the textarea grow • Fixed a navigation stylesheet being created when no related features are active • Fixed performance highlighting new comments in very large threads ### 3.7.1 — 2026-04-22 • Reduced or eliminated most flashes of original HN style when navigating between screens while using a theme • Added basic styling to more unstyled auth / error pages which were missed • Fixed nav bar features on the custom /muted page for logged-out users to manage their mutes ### 3.7.0 — 2026-04-22 • Added an option to hide the submission comment form behind a "reply" link (pairs with the option to hide "reply" links) • Added html[desktop] and html[mobile] styling hooks for more convenient responsive styling • The header is no longer themed if the user's topcolor isn't the default #ff6600 (case-sensitive, set it to #FF6600 to force HN Orange) • The option to make submission text (toptext) more readable now also underlines links • Fixed the bar above the footer not being themed & added a #footer id to it • Fixed some footer text not having theme variables applied • Fixed pages which don't have a nav bar having their title duplicated • Fixed the submit URL input not being themed • Don't run on .html URLs • Removed --link-visited as HN wasn't specifying a distinct color for it ### 3.6.1 — 2026-04-20 This release makes HN themeable, and adds a dark mode, with a pure black variant for OLED screens. Colors in the default HN stylesheet have been reapplied using CSS variables, and new rules have been added to allow colors hardcoded in HTML (and the HN SVG logo) to be reconfigured. • Made HN themeable - when in default/light mode there will be an html[light] attribute for theming • Added a dark mode, with a pure black variant for OLED screens - these add html[dark] and html[pure-black] attributes for theming • Added an option to enable CSS view transitions • Added a list → item transition • Custom CSS is now injected earlier • Fixed caching failed profile requests forever ## Apps similar to Comments Owl for Hacker News | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Thoughts & Ideas List: IdeaLog](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/thoughts-and-ideas-list-idealog/id6448161962) | 5.0 (7) | Free | Productivity | | [Taskito: To Do List & Planner](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/taskito-to-do-list-and-planner/id6471266496) | 4.6 (17) | Free | Productivity | | [Secret Photo Vault - Hide App](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/secret-photo-vault-hide-app/id6468763500) | — | Free | Productivity | | [ScanWritr](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/scanwritr/id641480804) | 4.3 (19) | Free | Productivity | | [AI Text to Speech & TTS Reader](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ai-text-to-speech-and-tts-reader/id6480406183) | 3.9 (15) | Free | Productivity | | [UpTalk - AI Reply Assistant](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/uptalk-ai-reply-assistant/id6504782459) | 4.7 (18) | Free | Productivity | ## More apps by J BUCHANAN & L.J BUCHANAN - [Control Panel for Twitter](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/control-panel-for-twitter/id1668516167) - [Control Panel for YouTube](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/control-panel-for-youtube/id6478456678) - [AI Overview Hider for Google](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ai-overview-hider-for-google/id6739935376) All apps by J BUCHANAN & L.J BUCHANAN: https://appshunter.io/developer/1668516169 ## Related topics [hackerman](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/hackerman) --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-12.*