stdout. vs Hackercast
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
stdout.
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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.
Hackercast
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Hackercast turns top Hacker News stories into your daily audio digest. No time to read? Just listen. Every day, the highest-scoring stories are curated, summarized by AI, and converted into natural-sounding audio you can listen to anywhere.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Hackercast at none against stdout.'s shown. stdout.'s advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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.
stdout. ships an update every 4 days, Hackercast every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.
| Parameter | stdout. | Hackercast |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 5 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Hanshuo Tan | BERENALP BEYGIRCI |
In-app purchases
stdout.
No in-app purchases
Hackercast
No in-app purchases
