# Hacky - Hacker News — Hacker News Reader > Hacker News reader with bookmarking, comment organization, and themes. (iPhone/iPad app by Mark Murphy.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hacky-hacker-news/id1459946382 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Mark Murphy](https://appshunter.io/developer/1459946381) - Category: News, Social Networking - Price: $1.99 - Rating: 4.70/5 from 23 App Store ratings · 9 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 12+ - Requires: iOS 10.0 · 85 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2019-06-12 - Data updated: 2026-08-25 - Monetization: paid - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hacky-hacker-news/id1459946382/reviews.md ## What is Hacky? Hacky is a user-friendly Hacker News Reader for browsing Hacker News stories and comments. Features Include: View stories by Hot, Top, New, Ask, and Show. Bookmark your favorite stories and come back to them later. Organize your bookmarks with custom folders. Quickly search your bookmarks to find what you need. Traverse the comments easily by collapsing them with a tap. Color-coded comments make browsing threads a breeze. Press and hold to copy comment text and paste it anywhere. Easily share interesting stories you find with your friends. Viewed stories turn grey so you know where you've been. Theme switcher for when you're feeling light or dark. and more to come! ## Key features - Browse stories by Hot, Top, New, Ask, Show - Bookmark favorite stories - Organize bookmarks with folders - Search bookmarks - Collapse and color-code comments - Copy comment text - Share stories - Viewed story tracking ## Chart rankings - #66 in Top Paid · News (US App Store) ## Recent user reviews (9 of 9) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hacky-hacker-news/id1459946382/reviews.md ### 2/5 — Unusable *2021-10-03* This app is very buggy - something as basic as scrolling down the feed doesn’t work. ### 3/5 — A promising start. *2021-03-31* This is a great start to something that will be my go-to HN reader once the kinks are worked out. The colored lines to show thread depth are great, but tapping on a comment to collapse the thread makes everything move upward (the current viewing position doesn’t move up to show the newly-collapsed thread) so it’s very easy to get totally lost. Also, it would be great if the copy text feature used the standard iOS method where you can choose the start and end of what’s going to be copied, rather than having to copy a paragraph at a time. (And there’s a large bug to be dealt with: article titles repeat and glitch when you scroll down the article list past a certain point.) Keep up the good work, it’s getting there! **Developer response:** Thank you for the positive review and feedback!! Adding the ability to copy in the comments is 100% on my list. Limiting the comments to a depth of 3 was initially made for performance reasons, but I agree it’s not ideal. I’m working on a more performant solution to roll out in the future that is more user friendly. Thanks again for the review and definitely let me know if you have any other feedback! ### 2/5 — Largest hn/feed reader so far (50MB) 25x larger than most popular one *2020-12-27* Largest hn/feed reader so far (50MB) 25x larger than most popular one **Developer response:** Thank you for the feedback! Reducing the app size is definitely on my development backlog, albeit not a high priority at the moment. Hacky is built in Expo and React Native. With Expo's managed workflow comes a subset of libraries that cause the overall app size to be larger even though they may not all be used. However, the managed workflow allows me to development a lot faster and respond to feedback quicker which is great for Hacky users! Hopefully Expo will gives developers more control over reducing the app size in the future. Thanks again for the feedback and if you have any other questions or concerns don't hesitate to reach out! ### 5/5 — Impressive! Very much needed. *2020-07-09* This is super satisfying to use. The regular hacker news site so so ugly lol. This is refreshing. A bit slow to load posts when switching tabs but I’m sure you know and/or are working on it! Keep it up! Oh, and thanks for including a light version even though it’s called “Dark” Hacker News 😂. I truly appreciate it. **Developer response:** Thank you so much for the kind words and feedback! I’m continually working on performance improvements with each version. Haha and yes despite the “Darkness” I thought it was ok to have a little light. Enjoy the app and let me know if you have any suggestions for features or improvements! ### 5/5 — Truly awesome *2020-03-24* I’m glad I found this app for HN! Great work!! **Developer response:** Thank you for the kind words! If you have any feedback or features you’d like to see in the app please let me know. Enjoy! ### 5/5 — super smooth *2020-02-21* i like this one best. very elegant & the light mode is equally so. nice flow into comments and the in-app browser option makes me happy. settling here after playing with several option. **Developer response:** I really appreciate the thoughtful and kind review! Enjoy the app! ### 5/5 — Best of the bunch *2019-11-19* Does what it needs and stays out of your way. The UI I prefer. Softer edges. **Developer response:** I tried to keep the UI minimal so I really appreciate this feedback! Enjoy the app! ### 5/5 — Love it *2019-11-06* Thank you ;) **Developer response:** Thank YOU! ### 5/5 — Nice and snappy *2019-10-25* This just works, and works brilliantly! Thanks Murph! If only we could also have a dark theme on the new logo too ;) **Developer response:** Thank you for the kinda words! Your wish is my command! ## Frequently asked questions about Hacky ### What is Hacky? Hacky is a dedicated reader for Hacker News, designed to make browsing stories and comments more efficient and enjoyable. It offers features like bookmarking, comment organization, and theme customization. ### How much does Hacky cost? Hacky is a paid application, available for a one-time purchase of $1.99. This grants you full access to all its features without any recurring fees. ### What devices does Hacky support? Hacky is available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices. It is optimized for the iOS ecosystem. ### How often is Hacky updated? The latest version of Hacky is 1.4.2, last updated on December 4, 2020. While updates may not be frequent, the app is stable and functional for its core purpose. ### What are the main ways to browse stories in Hacky? You can browse stories in Hacky by 'Hot', 'Top', 'New', 'Ask', and 'Show' sections, providing various ways to discover content on Hacker News. ### Can I organize my saved stories in Hacky? Yes, Hacky allows you to bookmark your favorite stories and organize them into custom folders for easy retrieval and management. ### Does Hacky have ads? No, Hacky does not contain advertisements. As a paid application, it provides an ad-free reading experience. ### What is the age rating for Hacky? Hacky has an age rating of 12+, indicating it is suitable for users aged 12 and older. This is based on its content and functionality. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 1.4.2 — 2020-12-04 Updated app icon. ### 1.4.1 — 2020-12-03 Rebranded 'Dark Hacker News' to 'Hacky'. Updated logo. Added press and hold to copy comment text. Updated default click to open story in web browser. Moved open comment view to the upvote/comment icon area. Improved story and comment load performance. Improved comments scrolling performance. Increased default comment load depth. ### 1.4.0 — 2020-10-07 Introducing colorful comments!!! Easily sift through comment threads by color. (Seriously it's so much easier to browse comments now) Trying my best to make things faster for y'all. Oh and I squashed a few more bugs as usual. ### 1.3.2 — 2020-08-09 App redesign!!! Added bookmarks search. Added ability to swipe between tabs. Performance improvements. Renamed 'Trending' to 'Hot'. Renamed 'Best' to 'Top'. Updated logo. Squashed bugs. ### 1.2.1 — 2020-06-26 Added 'Best' stories tab. Updated app screenshots. --- *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 2026-08-25.*