Comparison

Hacker Pulse vs Neboskhyl

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

Head to head
About

Hacker Pulse

Features
Read full description

Hacker Pulse is a Hacker News reader built for reading — the article and the discussion, together, beautifully. THE ARTICLE, RE-TYPESET Every story is fetched, parsed and laid out natively — no web view, no reader-mode shortcut, no external service. Set your type size, and with Premium the typeface, line height, margins, spacing and paper colour; images, code blocks, tables, quotes and lists all survive the trip. The discussion continues below the article in the same scroll, and your place in a long read is remembered. BUILT FOR LONG THREADS The whole discussion arrives at once. Fold a subtree, step between conversations with the navigator, pull a deep reply's ancestors into view, open any comment on its own screen, or search inside the thread. Hold a comment to copy, share, translate, block or report. YOURS TO KEEP Read state, saved stories and reading positions live on your device, and a mis-swipe can be undone. With Premium, a saved story is downloaded whole — article and discussion — and stays readable offline until you remove it. TRANSLATE ON DEVICE With Premium, on iOS 26 and later, articles and comments translate entirely on your device. Nothing is sent to a server. The interface itself speaks nine languages — English, 简体中文, 繁體中文, 日本語, 한국어, Français, Deutsch, Русский and العربية — including full right-to-left layout. TWELVE LISTS, A WIDGET, AN iPad LAYOUT Top, New, Best, Ask HN, Show HN and Jobs from the official API, kept on disk so a cold launch is instant; Active, Classic and the front page from any day back to 2007; three score thresholds; and two lists of comments rather than stories. A widget in three Home Screen sizes — four on iPad — and one for the Lock Screen follows the list you choose. On iPad, a real two-column layout — list beside reader. TAKE PART, IF YOU WANT TO Reading needs no account. Sign in with your own Hacker News account and you can also upvote, downvote, reply, submit a story, and edit or delete your own comments — without leaving for a browser. Your password is never saved; only the session, in your keychain, until you sign out. QUIET BY DESIGN Block users, and with Premium mute title keywords or whole sites. No analytics, no tracking, no ads; the one server of ours the app ever talks to hands out reader-engine updates and learns nothing about you. Your reading habits are nobody's business — including ours. FREE TO READ, ONE PURCHASE FOR THE REST Every list, every discussion, search, profiles, your account and the reader itself are free, with no ads and no time limit. One purchase — no subscription — unlocks Premium: your own type and paper, saved stories kept offline, iCloud sync and library import, on-device translation, read aloud, automatic archive lookup, discussion detail, hiding read stories, four more colours with their icons, and keyword and site filters. One purchase covers iPhone, iPad and Mac, and Family Sharing shares it. AN HONEST NOTE Hacker News publishes no API for signing in, voting, replying or submitting, so Hacker Pulse does those the only way the site allows: by posting its own web forms, exactly as a browser does. They work today and could be broken by a redesign tomorrow. Hacker News itself has no downvote for stories, and it allows editing and deleting only for a couple of hours after posting. Hacker Pulse first shipped in 2012. Version 2.0 is a complete rewrite that keeps the original's look — the same rust-and-orange chrome, the same pulse — and the same two-finger flick to switch between light and dark. Hacker Pulse is an independent app, not affiliated with or endorsed by Y Combinator. Story and comment data come from the public Hacker News and Algolia APIs.

About

Neboskhyl

This app provides real-time tracking of drones and missiles over Ukraine, displaying their location, trajectory, and estimated time of arrival. It offers official air raid alerts and personalized notifications for threats heading your way.

Highlights
  • Live drone and missile tracking map
  • Personalized threat notifications
  • Official air raid alerts by oblast
  • Live Activity on Lock Screen
  • Apple Watch support
  • Light and dark themes
Features
Read full description

Air raid alert map and Shahed radar, live: what is flying, where, and whether it is heading your way. Neboskhyl gathers the posts of Ukraine's monitoring channels and the Air Force and shows on a map where the drones and missiles over Ukraine are right now: Shaheds, jet drones, cruise and ballistic missiles. • A status for your place: whether an object is heading for Home or Work, how far it is and how many minutes are left. • A live map of objects: courses, altitude, sudden descents. • Official air-raid alerts by oblast and threats to all of Ukraine. • Notifications: an object heading your way, a descent nearby, a ballistic missile, an alert and its all-clear. • A Live Activity on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island. • Apple Watch: your place's status, a live map of objects, the oblast's alert and threats, and a watch-face complication. Works without an iPhone too. • iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch; light and dark themes. Neboskhyl is an information service, not an official warning system. During an alert act on official signals and go to a shelter without waiting for the app. No accounts and no ads. Home and Work stay on the device; for notifications the server gets them rounded to ~1 km. The app is in Ukrainian. Neboskhyl+ is optional: every object's route, «Replay the night» (how objects moved during the last attack) and each object's altitude graph. Monthly with a free first week, or one purchase forever. Everything about danger — the status, notifications, alerts, ballistic missiles — is free for everyone. The subscription renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the period ends; manage it in your Apple ID settings. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy: https://neboskhyl.com/privacy

Screenshots

Hacker Pulse4 screens
Neboskhyl4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Neboskhyl at every 3 days against Hacker Pulse's every 3 weeks. 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Hacker Pulse sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and Neboskhyl sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Hacker Pulse ships an update every 3 weeks, Neboskhyl every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 8 level
Hacker Pulse versus Neboskhyl: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHacker PulseNeboskhyl
PriceFreeFree
Rating—4.9 (25 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—25 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetization—Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size10 MB25 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperS. Smart Rabbit LLCArtem Kutukov

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Hacker Pulse

One-time4
  • Small Tip$1.99
  • Hacker Pulse Premium$4.99
  • Tip$4.99
Show 1 more
  • Generous Tip$9.99
4 purchases

Neboskhyl

Subscriptions2
  • Neboskhyl+ monthly7 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Neboskhyl+ monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
One-time2
  • Neboskhyl+ forever$5.99
  • Neboskhyl+ forever$9.99

Questions

Is Hacker Pulse free?
Hacker Pulse is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Neboskhyl free?
Neboskhyl is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Hacker Pulse or Neboskhyl have ads?
Neither Hacker Pulse nor Neboskhyl shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Hacker Pulse or Neboskhyl?
Hacker Pulse ships an update every 3 weeks, and Neboskhyl every 3 days. Most recently, Hacker Pulse was updated on November 6, 2026 and Neboskhyl on November 8, 2026.

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