Comparison

Hacker Reader vs stdout.

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

Head to head
About

Hacker Reader

A native iOS client for Hacker News offering a streamlined reading experience with home screen widgets, community interaction, and a beautiful, dark-mode-friendly design. Securely log in to upvote, comment, and bookmark stories.

Highlights
  • Browse all story categories
  • Upvote stories and comments
  • Secure login with HN account
  • Post comments and replies
  • Bookmark stories
  • Home screen widgets
  • Dark mode support
Features
Read full description

Hacker Reader is a beautifully designed native iOS client for Hacker News, featuring home screen widgets, authentication, and a delightful reading experience. BROWSE ALL STORY CATEGORIES • Top Stories - The most popular stories on HN • New Stories - Recently submitted content • Ask HN - Questions and discussions from the community • Show HN - Projects, products, and creations shared by users • Jobs - Opportunities from YC companies and startups INTERACT WITH THE COMMUNITY • Upvote stories and comments with your HN account • Secure login using the official Hacker News website • Post comments and replies to stories and comments • Bookmark stories for later reading HOME SCREEN WIDGETS • Three widget sizes: Small (3 stories), Medium (5 stories), Large (10 stories) • Dark mode support matches your system theme • Tap stories to open directly into the app BEAUTIFUL, NATIVE DESIGN • True dark mode with lights-out black theme • Automatic theme switching follows your system preference • Link previews with Open Graph images • Collapsible comment threads for easy navigation PRIVACY & SECURITY • Your credentials never leave your device • Login uses the official Hacker News website in a secure WebView • Session cookies stored in device keychain via SecureStore • Open source - view the code on GitHub More features coming soon! Hacker Reader is built with modern technologies: React Native, Expo Router, TypeScript, and SwiftUI for widgets. It's designed and developed by an indie developer who loves Hacker News and wanted to create the best possible reading experience. Questions or feedback? Open an issue on GitHub, hit me at X @danielcspaiva or reach out via the support URL. Not affiliated with Y Combinator or Hacker News. Built using the official HN API: https://github.com/HackerNews/API

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 — 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 — no context switching to external apps.

Screenshots

Hacker Reader4 screens
stdout.4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Hacker Reader at none against stdout.'s shown. stdout.'s advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs every 3 months). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

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

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

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

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Hacker Reader ships an update every 3 months, stdout. every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences Ā· 6 level
Hacker Reader versus stdout.: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHacker Readerstdout.
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 4 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.4 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size59 MB5 MB
Age rating9+17+
DeveloperDaniel Capistrano Sarinho PaivaHanshuo Tan

In-app purchases

None

Hacker Reader

No in-app purchases

None

stdout.

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Hacker Reader free?
Hacker Reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is stdout. free?
stdout. is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Hacker Reader or stdout. have ads?
stdout. shows ads; Hacker Reader does not.
Which is updated more often, Hacker Reader or stdout.?
Hacker Reader ships an update every 3 months, and stdout. every 4 days. Most recently, Hacker Reader was updated on September 22, 2026 and stdout. on September 21, 2026.

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