Comparison

Pulse for Hacker News vs stdout.

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side β€” with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Pulse for Hacker News

Features
Read full description

Welcome to Pulse for Hacker News, the dedicated, high-performance client for the world’s most insightful tech community. Stop settling for slow, cumbersome interfaces. Pulse for Hacker News is engineered from the ground up to be the fastest, smoothest, and most dependable way to read, comment on, and track your favorite discussions across all your devices. - Extreme Fluidity and Speed Our primary focus is performance. Pulse for Hacker News delivers an "extreme fluidity" that transforms your reading experience: Instant Loading: Articles and comment threads load instantly, minimizing wait times and maximizing consumption. Buttery Smooth Scrolling: Navigate even the longest comment threads and front pages without a single stutter. Resource Optimized: Designed to be lightweight, preserving your battery life while delivering maximum speed. - Transparently Open Source We believe in transparency and community contribution. Pulse for Hacker News isn't just a reader; it's a public project built by the community, for the community. Trust and Security: You can inspect every line of code. There are no hidden trackers, no excessive permissions, and absolutely no ads. Your reading is your own. Community Driven: Found a bug? Have an idea for a feature? Our open-source model means you can contribute directly or influence the roadmap. We listen to our users. Contribute Today: Find our complete source code on GitHub (https://github.com/jarvislin/HackerNews-KMP). - Modern Design, Essential Features Pulse for Hacker News strips away the distractions and focuses on what matters: the content. Enjoy a suite of features designed to enhance readability and productivity: Intuitive Navigation: Easily switch between the Top, New, Best, and Ask HN feeds with a simple tap. Readability Mode: Open external articles in a clean, stripped-down view for distraction-free reading. Powerful Comment Threading: Clearly organized comment sections with easy-to-use collapse/expand options to follow conversations effortlessly. Cross-Device Consistency: Whether you’re on iOS or another platform, enjoy a consistent, reliable experience. Adaptive Themes: Choose between beautiful Dark, Light, and AMOLED modes to suit your environment and preferences. Why Download Pulse for Hacker News? If you are a serious Hacker News user who values privacy, speed, and a modern, reliable interface, Pulse for Hacker News is the perfect client for you. It’s an ad-free commitment to making the world’s best tech content accessible, fast, and completely transparent. Download Pulse for Hacker News now and join the community that's building the future of the mobile reading experience.

About

stdout.

Features
Read full description

stdout. is a native iOS client for Hacker News, built from the ground up with SwiftUI. It goes far beyond content aggregation β€” offering a rich, interactive experience designed around how you actually read. DUAL THEMES Switch between two handcrafted visual modes. Zen offers warm, editorial typography with Georgia serif headlines. Terminal transforms the app into a retro green-on-black CRT aesthetic, complete with monospaced type and animated scanlines. OFFLINE-FIRST WITH SWIFTDATA Stories and comments are cached locally so the app loads instantly on launch. When your connection drops, you keep reading seamlessly with a subtle offline indicator. HOME SCREEN WIDGETS Add a Top Stories widget to your home screen in Small or Medium size. The widget updates every 30 minutes and matches your in-app theme. Tap any story to jump straight to it. NATIVE INTERACTIONS Long-press any story to save it to Favorites, share the link, or hide it from your feed. Pull-to-refresh and save actions are accompanied by haptic feedback for a tactile, responsive feel. IN-APP READING Story links open in a themed Safari View Controller with optional Reader Mode β€” no context switching to external apps.

Screenshots

Pulse for Hacker News4 screens
stdout.4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Pulse for Hacker News at none against stdout.'s shown. Pulse for Hacker News also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.3 vs 17.0). stdout.'s advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs every 3 weeks). On price and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pulse for Hacker News ships an update every 3 weeks, stdout. every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences Β· 2 level
Pulse for Hacker News versus stdout.: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPulse for Hacker Newsstdout.
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 4 days β€” better
AdsNo β€” betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod β€” betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.3 β€” better17.0
Further details β€” not scored
Size38 MB5 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperDong Sian LinHanshuo Tan

In-app purchases

None

Pulse for Hacker News

No in-app purchases

None

stdout.

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pulse for Hacker News free?
Pulse for Hacker News is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is stdout. free?
stdout. is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Pulse for Hacker News or stdout. have ads?
stdout. shows ads; Pulse for Hacker News does not.
Which is updated more often, Pulse for Hacker News or stdout.?
Pulse for Hacker News ships an update every 3 weeks, and stdout. every 4 days. Most recently, Pulse for Hacker News was updated on October 12, 2026 and stdout. on October 8, 2026.

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