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Show HN: News/YC - HN Reader for iOS

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31–40 of 48 posts

Re: Show HN: News/YC - HN Reader for iOS

#31

Post by ruswick »

1. The dark theme doesn't sit well with me. Particularly, the grey on dark grey is grating.

2. The buttons on the sidebar are atrocious.

3. The header bar is much too thick.

4. The font is inordinately small. This might be an idiosyncrasy of mine, but I think a larger font would be preferable.

5. This incorporates all of the intangibles that are significant but difficult to articulate: the app doesn't feel like an app. Rather, it feels like a webpage both aesthetically and functionally. I'm not sure how to describe it, but the app doesn't feel right.

Re: Show HN: News/YC - HN Reader for iOS

#32

Post by haldean »

bennyg wrote: post #30
bx_ wrote: post #28

In China, downloaded this and it does not populate content. Just endlessly searches for it (spinning loading wheel).

Hmm, try removing from working memory (don't delete the app!) and reopening to see if that fixes it. May be having a hard time loading the site.

Since the API you're using is hosted on App Engine, it won't be accessible from China. App Engine is blocked by the Great Firewall.

Re: Show HN: News/YC - HN Reader for iOS

#33

Post by Samuel_Michon »

adinb wrote: post #26
bennyg wrote: post #2

Okay, so I originally made this app for myself cause I didn't like the UI on other HN readers. In that vein, I probably didn't add some stuff that people would like in a HN client, so I want your opinions on what to include/remove/improve in v1.1 - don't hold back. I personally couldn't stand the design on the other similar apps and I want people to enjoy reading HN on their iPhones/iPods. And yes, there's an iPad ve…

Will the iPad version be separate app or will there be a universal update? (so I know whether to buy it now or just wait)

The app is free.

Re: Show HN: News/YC - HN Reader for iOS

#34

Post by bennyg »

ruswick wrote: post #31

1. The dark theme doesn't sit well with me. Particularly, the grey on dark grey is grating. 2. The buttons on the sidebar are atrocious. 3. The header bar is much too thick. 4. The font is inordinately small. This might be an idiosyncrasy of mine, but I think a larger font would be preferable. 5. This incorporates all of the intangibles that are significant but difficult to articulate: the app doesn't feel like an ap…

I appreciate your criticism, there will be a light theme option in 1.1

Re: Show HN: News/YC - HN Reader for iOS

#35

Post by bennyg »

adinb wrote: post #26
bennyg wrote: post #2

Okay, so I originally made this app for myself cause I didn't like the UI on other HN readers. In that vein, I probably didn't add some stuff that people would like in a HN client, so I want your opinions on what to include/remove/improve in v1.1 - don't hold back. I personally couldn't stand the design on the other similar apps and I want people to enjoy reading HN on their iPhones/iPods. And yes, there's an iPad ve…

Will the iPad version be separate app or will there be a universal update? (so I know whether to buy it now or just wait)

Separate.

Re: Show HN: News/YC - HN Reader for iOS

#36

Post by ipiszy »

I like HackerNode more because:

1. It contains more columns than only "FrontPage", such as "Jobs" and "Comments"; 2. The UI seems more concise. Although there are not indent between comments, the text is much clearer.

However, neither of these apps can be used to add comments. So I can only come back to my computer and add this comment on the web page.

Re: Show HN: News/YC - HN Reader for iOS

#37

Post by bennyg »

haldean wrote: post #32
bennyg wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm, try removing from working memory (don't delete the app!) and reopening to see if that fixes it. May be having a hard time loading the site.

Since the API you're using is hosted on App Engine, it won't be accessible from China. App Engine is blocked by the Great Firewall.

Damn, thanks for the heads up.

Re: Show HN: News/YC - HN Reader for iOS

#38

Post by rimantas »

bennyg wrote: post #2

Okay, so I originally made this app for myself cause I didn't like the UI on other HN readers. In that vein, I probably didn't add some stuff that people would like in a HN client, so I want your opinions on what to include/remove/improve in v1.1 - don't hold back. I personally couldn't stand the design on the other similar apps and I want people to enjoy reading HN on their iPhones/iPods. And yes, there's an iPad ve…

  > Okay, so I originally made this app for myself cause
  > I didn't like the UI on other HN readers
I was thinking about creating HN reader myself for exactly the same reason. Tried out about 10 different readers was not satisfied with either of them (sorry, that includes this app too :( ). However there is an web app which gets UI right: http://hackerwebapp.com — and that's what I am using. And if I ever will do my own native HN reader it will basically have UI stolen from HackerWeb :)

Re: Show HN: News/YC - HN Reader for iOS

#39

Post by SoftwareMaven »

bennyg wrote: post #14
msutherl wrote: post #13

Very clean UI. Would love to see indication of what articles I've already read.

Great idea. Would adding a "hide read" feature be something anybody else is interested in?

YES! But I would strongly prefer to get the voting/commenting part working first. I come to HN to participate in the discourse, not just read web pages.

One thing I would say is it would be nice to have a "Reader"/"Instapaper" mode for articles. I haven't looked at iOS APIs in a while, so I don't know if Apple is exposing that functionality or not (my guess is no); but maybe Instapaper or one of the clones would be willing to do some kind of partnership. I would pay for that upgrade on my iPhone.

Overall, I really like this and can easily see myself pulling it out in the mgrocery line. Yeah, there are some minor nits, but I think others have covered those well enough. And I love the dark coloring, too.

Re: Show HN: News/YC - HN Reader for iOS

#40

Post by bearwithclaws »

rimantas wrote: post #38
bennyg wrote: post #2

Okay, so I originally made this app for myself cause I didn't like the UI on other HN readers. In that vein, I probably didn't add some stuff that people would like in a HN client, so I want your opinions on what to include/remove/improve in v1.1 - don't hold back. I personally couldn't stand the design on the other similar apps and I want people to enjoy reading HN on their iPhones/iPods. And yes, there's an iPad ve…

> Okay, so I originally made this app for myself cause > I didn't like the UI on other HN readers I was thinking about creating HN reader myself for exactly the same reason. Tried out about 10 different readers was not satisfied with either of them (sorry, that includes this app too :( ). However there is an web app which gets UI right: http://hackerwebapp.com — and that's what I am using. And if I ever will do my ow…

+1 for Hacker Web. Works perfectly across my iPhone/iPad/Macbook. Interesting (yet effective) way to manage long nested comments too.
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