News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

How do you browse Hacker News?

Hey everyone,

I'm curious about how you all browse Hacker News. Do you use the website, mobile app, or a desktop client? If you use a desktop client, which one do you prefer and why?

( 52 comments | 3 points | on HN )
Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by theGeatZhopa on Tuesday March 14, 2023 @01:25PM (#35155054)
I faved the "new" URL and keep refreshing the site in one if the 50+ tabs on my mobile browser, whenever I feel bored.

No app, no client, no whatsever. That's one news site among lots others and not worth setting up a read-flow around.

if one's so into news, Bloomberg terminal 24k/y, msy be a proper client. But not for me.

Why the question?

Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by slater on Tuesday March 14, 2023 @01:07PM (#35154714)
Website.

Also, there's a way to make polls on HN:

https://news.ycombinator.com/newpoll

Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by ranabuzdar on Tuesday March 14, 2023 @01:48PM (#35155454)
Hacker News is a community-driven platform for discussing technology-related topics, startup news, and entrepreneurship. To browse and engage with the community, you can visit the Hacker News website, where you'll find a list of articles, discussion threads, and user comments.

You can filter the content by category, such as top stories, new stories, jobs, and ask HN. Additionally, you can participate in discussions by upvoting or downvoting stories and comments, replying to comments, and sharing your own thoughts and opinions on various topics.

Hacker News also has a mobile app that you can download from the App Store or Google Play. The app allows you to browse and engage with the community on the go.

You can also follow Hacker News on social media platforms like Twitter or Reddit to stay up-to-date with the latest news and discussions. However, keep in mind that discussions on Hacker News can be technical and highly opinionated, so it's important to keep an open mind and be respectful when engaging with the community.

Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by legrande on Tuesday March 14, 2023 @01:55PM (#35155583)
I don't use any third party HN clients made by other people, for privacy reasons. All those clients are neat, but you don't know what they're doing in the background unless you start firing up debuggers. The HN site itself is enough and last time I checked there's no trackers and it even works with JS disabled. I use a mix of my phone and my desktop PC. (Phone for casual surfing of /newest and my desktop for commenting and submitting posts).
Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by mattwest on Tuesday March 14, 2023 @01:59PM (#35155652)
Desktop: bookmark

Phone: URL shortcut icon on home screen

Both are fine. I can't imagine an app would provide much more value, especially with the privacy cost.

Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by brudgers on Tuesday March 14, 2023 @02:03PM (#35155757)
Too much.

Sometimes.

Good luck.

(sent from my iPhone)

Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by hollerith on Tuesday March 14, 2023 @02:46PM (#35156542)
I don't like how the home page at http://news.ycombinator.com/ sorts by a combination of score and time-since-posting because that means that I end up scanning each entry (story title) over and over.

In contrast, if they were sorted strictly by time-since-posting, I would probably quickly be able to tell once my scan of the list reached the part of the list I had already seen.

Someone else (many years ago) had the same thought as what I wrote above, motivating him to create http://hckrnews.com/, which is mainly what I use to find stories to read. (I also use https://hn.algolia.com/?query=%s&sort=byDate to find stories to read.)

Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by CRConrad on Wednesday March 15, 2023 @09:52AM (#35168346)
> if they were sorted strictly by time-since-posting

Isn't that exactly what you get on the “New” page?

https://news.ycombinator.com/newest

Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by hollerith on Wednesday March 15, 2023 @05:55PM (#35175269)
That page shows all stories whereas hckrnews.com shows only stories that are or were on HN's front page.
Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by CRConrad on Thursday March 16, 2023 @04:41PM (#35188213)
Ah. But... If you don't want to trust the front page's ordering of items, then why trust its choice of which to include? Seems a bit weird to me. Or, well, at least arbitrary.
Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by hollerith on Thursday March 16, 2023 @06:41PM (#35189911)
It has nothing to do with trust.
Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by CRConrad on Friday March 17, 2023 @06:17AM (#35195164)
OK, so let's use another word: If you're satisfied with letting HN's front-page algorithm select which posts you even get to see, then why not with the much smaller matter of ordering? (But of course it does: You being OK with an algorithm doing something for you is just another way of saying you trust the algo to do it for you.)

Anyway, trivial problem: The post IDs in the URLs are monotonally increasing over time. Just sort by ID and the lowest is the oldest, the highest the newest.

Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by hollerith on Friday March 17, 2023 @04:33PM (#35202541)
>why not with the much smaller matter of ordering?

I explained already, but am happy to explain again, adding a little background information. I need to keep to an absolute minimum the amount of time I spend looking for interesting things to read on the internet. (Why? Well, I have learned the hard way that I need to minimize the amount of time I spend doing things that are pleasurable and effortless and absolutely safe (not in the least dangerous).)

hckrnews.com differs from the standard HN home page in that it gives me an easy way to tell when there are no headlines I haven't read already. (Specifically, after reading 1 or 2 headlines I've already read, I know I've seen all the headlines below those 1 or 2 headlines, too, because the order never changes.)

I have a hard rule that when I've already read all the headlines, I am not allowed to read them again. (Instead I have to wait for new headlines to appear.) If I used the standard HN home page, the rule would never fire because there is always a possibility that there's a brand-new headline I have not seen somewhere on the home page.

The order hckrnews.com or news.ycombinator.com chooses to sort the headlines is immaterial to me. (I don't even know the criteria on which hckrnews.com's choice is based.) What matters is that the order does not constantly change.

Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by CRConrad on Saturday March 18, 2023 @10:03PM (#35215253)
Ah, I see.

Then I'd recommend you use HN's “new” page instead. It gives you that exact advantage you seek, of knowing that when you recognise a headline (perhaps by it showing up as “followed” in your browser), then you've seen the ones after (i.e. chronologically before) it, and it gives you the chance to see the ones that didn't make the front page.

Now sure, the HN algo really isn't all that bad; if you do this, you'll get to scan past a lot of dross. But every once in a while, there's a pearl in amongst the muck, some quirky bit of stuff that speaks to you, even though it didn't to almost all of the readership whose input the algorithm is based on.

That's what I do (when I'm at my most compulsive).

Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by yesenadam on Thursday March 16, 2023 @06:54AM (#35180329)
Or you could press hide once you've seen a story.

I sometimes use hckrnews.com, but not for that reason - it's good for catching up on what's been on the front page if I haven't been here lately.

Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by hollerith on Thursday March 16, 2023 @10:09PM (#35191987)
I hadn't considered that.
Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by seymon on Tuesday March 14, 2023 @03:50PM (#35157335)
Materialistic Android App. Unfortunately it is not anymore in the Google Play Store. It's the best hackernews android app in my opinion. What android app do you use?
Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by skrblr on Tuesday March 14, 2023 @03:58PM (#35157450)
Materialistic became buggy for me in terms of UI elements arbitrarily switching to different themes (pixel 5a). I switched to Harmonic and have been very happy with it.
Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by RealCodingOtaku on Tuesday March 14, 2023 @04:03PM (#35157551)
You can find it in F-Droid[1], it still has the old version though. And it is not in active development.

[1] https://f-droid.org/en/packages/io.github.hidroh.materialist...

Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by DANmode on Tuesday March 14, 2023 @05:27PM (#35159029)
If the F-Droid version is the old version, the new one must be incredible!
Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by fraXis on Tuesday March 14, 2023 @03:57PM (#35157435)
I use a combination of the following:

Browser:

1) news.ycombinator.com 2) daemonology.net/hn-daily 3) hckrnews.com 4) hn.premii.com 5) hn.algolia.com

iOS:

HACK for Hacker News Reader

RSS:

hnrss.github.io

Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by tipsytoad on Tuesday March 14, 2023 @04:06PM (#35157612)
Harmonic on android. Best by far from what I can find
Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by spikyllama on Tuesday March 14, 2023 @05:29PM (#35159058)
Harmonic is an excellent app.
Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by artogahr on Tuesday March 14, 2023 @06:42PM (#35160193)
Commenting this +1 from Harmonic on Android, it's fantastic.
Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by jonas-w on Tuesday March 14, 2023 @09:25PM (#35162420)
+1, tried many other apps, but nothing beats harmonic. Only downside is, that it makes hackernews too addicting.
Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by Snacklive on Friday March 17, 2023 @08:33AM (#35196244)
+1 To this, harmonic is my primary way to browse HN. Great app
Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by nexus7556 on Tuesday March 14, 2023 @04:29PM (#35157973)
HACK for iOS is the best client I’ve found on iOS. https://apps.apple.com/app/id1464477788

On desktop I use the website but install HNES extension to help with some of the formatting.

Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by d4rkp4ttern on Tuesday March 14, 2023 @09:07PM (#35162258)
Indeed this is the best and only way I browse HN. It’s a far better experience than the desktop HN page.
Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by slyall on Tuesday March 14, 2023 @05:10PM (#35158708)
I follow the twitter feed, rarely click on anything but see topics go by and semi-remember them for later (or I sometimes open up the site right-away).

2-3 times a day I go to the site on a desktop browser. Scroll through the first 2-3 pages (logged in, standard view) and open a tab for the story and discussion. Work though these gradually.

Occasionally I open the site on my phone but find a pain to use it that way (and I'm not logged in).

Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by dpifke on Tuesday March 14, 2023 @05:23PM (#35158946)
Firefox (desktop and Android) with uBlock Origin list that hides the tee-vee news, blogspam, and off-topic garbage: https://pifke.org/hn.txt
Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by swipee on Tuesday March 14, 2023 @05:48PM (#35159370)
Desktop: Website iOS: Octal

Because everyone else links to their preferred apps: https://apps.apple.com/se/app/octal-for-hacker-news/id130888...

Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by dredmorbius on Tuesday March 14, 2023 @06:38PM (#35160136)
* * *
Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by zak-wrench on Tuesday March 14, 2023 @06:51PM (#35160341)
Through materialistic app, it's no longer on google app but can be found on f-droid
Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by precompute on Tuesday March 14, 2023 @06:52PM (#35160362)
Desktop browser with hastily written custom CSS (https://pastebin.com/CEjLKFar) and the "Dark Reader" add-on.
Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by karmakaze on Tuesday March 14, 2023 @07:55PM (#35161425)
Own web client[0]. Click the date title for yesterday.

It was handy having all the SVB stories grouped separately.

[0] https://hackerer.news/

Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by partyguy on Tuesday March 14, 2023 @08:03PM (#35161525)
Currently using the "Glider"¹ client on Android. Pretty happy with it so far.

¹ https://www.f-droid.org/en/packages/nl.viter.glider/

Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by web3-is-a-scam on Tuesday March 14, 2023 @08:04PM (#35161541)
I just use safari on my phone
Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by mutant on Tuesday March 14, 2023 @10:06PM (#35162782)
Hacki for Hacker News (Hacki is a simple noiseless Hacker News client that is just enough.) https://f-droid.org/packages/com.jiaqifeng.hacki/

I really enjoy Hacki when mobile

Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by wkat4242 on Tuesday March 14, 2023 @11:45PM (#35163577)
Web mainly.. And glider for Android.
Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by schweiber on Tuesday March 14, 2023 @11:59PM (#35163669)
I created this(https://plaihn.vercel.app/) for myself specifically for mobile viewing as I wanted something decluttered compared to all the IOS apps that I’ve used before. Not saying they’re any less but I personally wanted something very simple. I wish to create a comment section within that as well in the future.
Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by theowenyoung on Wednesday March 15, 2023 @07:13AM (#35166449)
I use https://hn.buzzing.cc/ to browser Hacker News in both Chinese and English.
Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by ThePowerOfFuet on Wednesday March 15, 2023 @08:37AM (#35167320)
I use the Glider app, which runs great on GrapheneOS.
Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by CRConrad on Wednesday March 15, 2023 @09:48AM (#35168282)
Obsessively. HTH!
Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by pongo1231 on Wednesday March 15, 2023 @11:46AM (#35170107)
Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by Aperocky on Wednesday March 15, 2023 @12:05PM (#35170434)
Try this terminal client out: https://github.com/Aperocky/hnterminal

`pip install hnterminal`

Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by gigantino on Wednesday March 15, 2023 @12:29PM (#35170783)
I use my own custom client since I couldn't find anything that satisfied me enough, and the ones that looked nice didn't work without JS. You can find it over at https://hn.gigantino.dev, while the source is at https://github.com/gigantino/hn
Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by rpastuszak on Wednesday March 15, 2023 @12:35PM (#35170868)
news.ycombinator.com with 150% zoom
Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by mdwalters on Wednesday March 15, 2023 @01:48PM (#35172067)
The website
Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by data_base on Wednesday March 15, 2023 @02:47PM (#35172913)
I use a small Firefox extension I made that displays HN in the sidebar, and offers a keyboard shortcut to toggle it.

https://github.com/datastring/firefox-hacker-news-in-sidebar

Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by adityamwagh on Wednesday March 15, 2023 @03:08PM (#35173208)
I use Octal, Free with $5.99 for paid features (commenting, etc)

Great UI, performant app and the developer is quite active in pushing updates.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/octal-for-hacker-news/id130888...

Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by kevviiinn on Wednesday March 15, 2023 @04:19PM (#35174169)
You have to pay to comment? That's absolutely nuts
Re:How do you browse Hacker News? by anonomousename on Wednesday March 15, 2023 @05:26PM (#35174957)
I assume the free version is meant to be used as a trial to evaluate the quality of the client. There is a “Share HN Link” option for each comment where you can comment on the webpage. After using it for free for a year or so, I paid because it’s one of my favorite clients on iOS.