# Hackers for Hacker News — Clean Hacker News Reader

> Fast, clean, and efficient Hacker News reader for iOS with advanced comment navigation. (iPhone/iPad app by Weiran Zhang.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hackers-for-hacker-news/id603503901 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Weiran Zhang](https://appshunter.io/developer/588120679)
- Category: News
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Rating: 4.60/5 from 429 App Store ratings · 88 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 9+
- Requires: iOS 26.0 · 8 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2013-02-21
- Data updated: 2026-08-28
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hackers-for-hacker-news/id603503901/reviews.md

## What is Hackers for Hacker News?

The best way to read Hacker News on iOS.
Fast, clean, and designed for deep technical discussions.
Built for people who actually read the comments.

Hackers for Hacker News is a powerful, thoughtfully designed Hacker News client for iPhone and iPad. It focuses on speed, clarity, and efficient navigation, making it easy to follow discussions without distractions.

Whether you are quickly checking the front page or spending time in long, complex comment threads, Hackers is built to keep the experience smooth and readable.

Key features:
• Fast, native performance with a lightweight interface
• Clean, readable layout optimised for long discussions
• Advanced comment collapsing for navigating deep threads
• Swipe gestures to vote, reply, and move between stories
• Light and dark mode support
• Designed with privacy in mind

Hackers for Hacker News is built for developers, founders, and curious readers who value thoughtful discussion and high-signal content. The interface stays out of your way so you can focus on what matters: the stories and the comments.

If Hacker News is part of your daily routine, this is a better way to read it.

Download Hackers for Hacker News and experience Hacker News the way it should be.

Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

## Key features

- Fast, native performance
- Clean, readable layout
- Advanced comment collapsing
- Swipe gestures for actions
- Light and dark mode
- Privacy-focused design

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**Subscriptions**

| Subscription | Price | Period |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Hackers Supporter | $0.99 | per month |

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Quick Tip | $0.99 | one-time |
| Nice Tip | $2.99 | one-time |
| Generous Tip | $6.99 | one-time |


## What do users think of Hackers for Hacker News?

Overall sentiment: mixed

**Pros**

- 🎨 Beautiful and clean UI design
- ⚡ Fast and responsive performance
- 🌙 Dark mode support
- 📱 Native iOS implementation
- 🆓 No ads or paywalls
- 🔓 Open source code
- 📖 Simple and intuitive interface
- 🎯 Focused reading experience
- 🖥️ Works well on M1 Macs

**Cons**

- 🐛 Frequent connectivity issues loading posts/comments
- 🎨 Recent UI redesign poorly received (excessive spacing/padding)
- 👆 Overly sensitive swipe gestures interfere with scrolling
- 🔗 Link copying includes unwanted thread titles
- 🔐 Unnecessary network device permissions requested
- ⚠️ Inconsistent comment loading
- 🔄 Share link duplication issues
- 📱 Login functionality broken
- ⏱️ Slow comment loading times

**Commonly reported bugs**

- App fails to load posts or comments
- Login/password reset not working
- Swipe gestures trigger unintended menu opens while scrolling
- Links open accidentally during scrolling
- App crashes on refresh
- Comments not loading completely
- Share functionality duplicates links
- iOS 14 compatibility dropped in bugfix release
- Blank page/no content loading
- Comment markup rendering incorrectly
- Scrolling lag during background refresh
- Jerky animations when loading comments

**Most requested features**

- Ability to comment and post
- User authentication/login support
- Upvote and downvote functionality
- Save/bookmark posts for later
- Search functionality
- Show HN category filter
- Offline viewing/download comments
- Mark visited posts visually
- Display full post content, not just titles
- Font size customization options
- Replies/threading support
- Pagination or infinite scroll
- URL scheme support for Shortcuts
- Text selection in comments
- Best feed option

## Recent user reviews (10 of 88)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hackers-for-hacker-news/id603503901/reviews.md

### 2/5 — Doesn’t work on iPad

*2026-07-11*

Not able to see the comments on iPad.. mobile is perfect but wish iPad worked well

### 5/5 — A decent reader for HN

*2026-06-14*

This has been a great daily reader for HN. I’ve never logged in through it, but the read only experience is excellent. The design is clean and highly readable, looks great on my OLED screen.

### 3/5 — Good reader

*2026-04-24*

Can’t seem to login to my account even after resetting my password. No VPN on either. Otherwise, it’s a good app.

### 5/5 — new ui sucks

*2026-03-06*

Please revert it back, the new UI is really ugly. Components are too spaced, cant find a good font size; too much empty space everywhere. Appreciate the attempt, but it's really bad. Makes me want to look for other options.

### 1/5 — Latest update sucks

*2026-02-20, version 5.2.3*

The app's latest update sucks. I only want to copy the link but it keeps copying the thread title alongside the URL which is so frickin annoying. Please remove this and return it to the way it was. I only want to copy the URL, not the superfluous text. I’ll change my review to 5 stars otherwise.

### 4/5 — Cool app

*2025-11-11*

It is a nice looking app, pretty simple.
One request I have is if it’s possible to show the actual post instead of just the title

### 3/5 — Weird redesign

*2025-10-26, version 5.2.0*

App was great, before this unnecessary redesign which now makes every news too big. We can only reduce the font size, but the padding is way too big, and the buttons for upvotes/downvotes ate taking way too much space.

### 5/5 — Beautiful UI

*2025-09-28*

This app looks absolutely gorgeous and so native in iOS 26, could’ve fooled me that Apple made it. Huge props to the dev!

### 5/5 — The perfect iOS app for hackernews

*2025-09-20*

GOTO Title

### 1/5 — Broke a few months back

*2025-06-19, version 4.9.2*

This app no longer loads comments and just says can’t connect to hackers news. Been going on for months. I’ve moved on.

## Frequently asked questions about Hackers for Hacker News

### What does Hackers for Hacker News do?

This app provides a fast, clean, and distraction-free way to read Hacker News on your iPhone and iPad. It's specifically designed to enhance the experience of reading articles and navigating through deep comment threads, focusing on clarity and efficient interaction.

### What are the key features of this Hacker News reader?

Key features include fast native performance with a lightweight interface, a clean layout optimized for long discussions, advanced comment collapsing for easy navigation of deep threads, swipe gestures for voting and replying, and support for both light and dark modes. It's also designed with privacy in mind.

### Is Hackers for Hacker News free to use?

The app is free to download and use, offering a core experience for reading Hacker News. It also includes in-app purchases, suggesting that some advanced features or customization options may be available for purchase.

### What devices is Hackers for Hacker News compatible with?

The application is designed for iOS devices, specifically mentioning compatibility with iPhone and iPad. This indicates it's optimized for Apple's mobile operating system and screen sizes.

### Who would benefit most from using this app?

This app is ideal for developers, founders, and curious readers who frequently engage with Hacker News and value thoughtful technical discussions. Its design prioritizes staying out of the way so users can focus on the content and comments.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 5.4.0 — 2026-08-10

• Refreshed iPad web browsing with a cleaner Liquid Glass look and feel.
• Bug fixes for the new Embedded Browser on iPhone.

### 5.3.2 — 2026-06-29

Fixes an issue where links opened from the embedded browser could fail to hand off to the system browser.

### 5.3.1 — 2026-06-12

Open stories inside Hackers with a new embedded browser experience.
Read comments alongside the story using a redesigned draggable comments sheet.
Search results now support filters for popular or recent posts, date ranges, and loading more results.
Read posts can now be dimmed in the feed, with read status synced across devices.

### 5.2.3 — 2026-01-13

Fixed a crash when running on macOS.

### 5.2.2 — 2025-12-24

Improvements to iPad in-app browser.

## Apps similar to Hackers for Hacker News

| App | Rating | Price | Category |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Hack The News: Hacker News](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hack-the-news-hacker-news/id6447095897) | 5.0 (2) | Free | News |
| [NewsNinja: Smart RSS Reader](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/newsninja-smart-rss-reader/id6504148117) | 4.6 (41) | Free | News |
| [Artemis - read, upvote, post](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/artemis-read-upvote-post/id6751728465) | 4.6 (114) | Free | News |
| [Big News - Smart Reader](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/big-news-smart-reader/id1582306019) | 4.3 (54) | Free | News |
| [Bulletin: AI News Reader](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bulletin-ai-news-reader/id6476572500) | 4.2 (185) | Free | News |
| [Hazumi for Hacker News](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hazumi-for-hacker-news/id1670237209) | 3.8 (5) | Free | News |

## More apps by Weiran Zhang

- [A4 Mobile](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/a4-mobile/id799386220)
- [Infinite Loop](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/infinite-loop/id1076098267)
- [Watch It Later](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/watch-it-later/id1191095941)

All apps by Weiran Zhang: https://appshunter.io/developer/588120679

## Related topics

[hacker news](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/hacker-news) · [hacker news app](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/hacker-news-app) · [hacker news by emerge](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/hacker-news-by-emerge) · [hacker news redux](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/hacker-news-redux) · [hacker news zero](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/hacker-news-zero) · [hacker news headlines](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/hacker-news-headlines) · [z combinator for hacker news](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/z-combinator-for-hacker-news)

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*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 2026-08-28.*