Top Now vs HNreader
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Top Now
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Top Now is the app you want when browsing YC's Hacker News via Safari is not enough, Top Now offers a familiar and enhanced navigation of the Hacker News web experience: - Every article opens in a temporary browsing session. - Delivers optional push notifications on every new top #1 article on the home page. - HN discussions are available right after you finish reading articles. Everything else works as expected, including your regular user sign-in, upvotes, flagging, comments and other sections of the Hacker News web experience.
HNreader
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Reader app for https://news.ycombinator.com (aka "Hacker News") with a focus on the comments. Features: - Supports sections "Top", "New", "Show" and "Ask" - Nested comments: press on a comment to reveal more entries of the discussion - Supports macOS, iOS (iPhone) and watchOS (Apple Watch) This application is Free and Open Source software (FOSS), source code is available at https://github.com/yep/HNreader
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Top Now at fortnightly against HNreader's every 27 months. Top Now also leads on iOS requirement (13.1 vs 17.6). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Top Now ships an update fortnightly, HNreader every 27 months. Both last shipped on November 3, 2026.
| Parameter | Top Now | HNreader |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 27 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 13.1 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | FIREBASE S A S | Jahn Bertsch |
In-app purchases
Top Now
No in-app purchases
HNreader
No in-app purchases
