Native Reader for Hacker News vs HackerWatch
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Native Reader for Hacker News
Explore Hacker News with advanced filtering and customizable text sizes. Share articles easily and hide unwanted stories with a swipe. Enjoy an ad-free reading experience with dark mode options.
- Filter stories by Rank, Points, or Comments
- Responsive text sizes
- Share articles to social platforms
- Swipe to hide stories
- Ad-free reading
- Dark mode
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Experience Hacker News like never before with our new app! Take full advantage of your iOS device to: * Explore the Top 100 Hacker News stories in innovative ways: filter by Rank, Points, or Comments. * Enjoy fully responsive text sizes that cater to your reading comfort. * Share the articles that resonate with you across all your favorite social platforms. * Quickly hide stories from your feed with a simple swipe to the left! * Immerse yourself in ad-free reading with built-in reader mode. * Switch to dark mode for comfortable reading day or night.
HackerWatch
Stay updated with the Hacker News community directly from your wrist. Browse top stories, read comments, and view original articles with this Apple Watch companion app. Easily share interesting content with others.
- Browse top stories
- Read comments
- View original articles
- Share content
- Apple Watch companion
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Attention Hacker News readers! Introducing HackerWatch - the ultimate Apple Watch companion for staying connected to the Hacker News community. Quickly browse top stories, read comments, and view original articles - all from your wrist! Found something share-worthy? Easily send it to your fellow tech enthusiasts. Best of all, HackerWatch is completely FREE! Download now and never miss a beat in the world of tech.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: HackerWatch at 100% against Native Reader for Hacker News's 20%. HackerWatch also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.2) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.4). Native Reader for Hacker News's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs every 7 months). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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.
HackerWatch holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 5 and 3 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 20% of Native Reader for Hacker News's written reviews are positive against 100% of HackerWatch's.
Native Reader for Hacker News ships an update every 2 days, HackerWatch every 7 months. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Native Reader for Hacker News | HackerWatch |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.2 (5 ratings) | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 20.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 5 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 days — better | Every 7 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 5 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Cristian Monterroza | Dakota Kim |
Customer experience
Native Reader for Hacker News
HackerWatch
In-app purchases
Native Reader for Hacker News
No in-app purchases
HackerWatch
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Native Reader for Hacker News free?
Is HackerWatch free?
Which has better reviews, Native Reader for Hacker News or HackerWatch?
Do Native Reader for Hacker News or HackerWatch have ads?
Which is updated more often, Native Reader for Hacker News or HackerWatch?
Other comparisons
