Why are you not using the website? It works really well on mobile and loads almost instantly. I’ve never seen a reason to use app for HN.

I only ever use private browsing and don’t want to have to log in every time I want to upvote someone.

The content is saved unless I explicitly reload or navigate away from the content. So I can close the app and come back to exactly where I was rather than the browser that will not save that state and then try to reload even if I don’t have an internet connection.

Navigation is easier in the app, because every action is clicking anywhere on the post and selecting an action from a large pop up menu. Except for collapsing/expanding which is also easier because you click the post header not just a tiny dash.

Automatic dark/light mode.

Etc. Etc. The app I use isn’t perfect but it’s preferable for lots of reasons to visiting the site directly.

I also only use private browsing mode, but the login annoyance is not enough to make me use an app. Most apps in fact track like crazy (potentially even third-party apps for sites like HN), and the whole point of private browsing is to not be tracked.

Instead I just lurk most of the time since I'm too lazy to log in, which means I'm not really contributing with votes. Maybe what we need to do is reduce the friction in logging in. I've always turned off the browser's password saving features and use my own password manager; maybe I should reconsider that policy.

[edit] Nevermind, apparently Firefox can't remember passwords when in permanent private browsing mode. So much for that idea :/

My only issue with the website is the little minimize "-" sign on comments is too small and difficult to reliably hit without zooming in. However as you say everything else works much more smoothly than any of the apps I've tried

It works fine, but the font is teeny tiny.

I can reliably zoom in the text here on my Pinephone. No left/right scrolling is ever required.

Which on are you using? There are many.

I use this. It is very good imo -https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=io.github.hidr...

I'm using one called Hacker News (YC) from Dharmesh Patel. I thought that was the official app.

> "The mobile app"

Which mobile app do you mean? HN has no app. But there are many third-party ones.

This is actually leading to some unanticipated problems. I wrote about this yesterday: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24335289.

I use Materialistic. A HN app I found on Fdroid, and I'm very happy

Didnt know there was an app. THe website renders fine for me on mobile.