Hacker News client for macOS
The most recommended of 11 hacker news clients
Fast, simple native reader for browsing Hacker News that feels uncluttered, though critics say it looks much like the web version with little UI improvement.
Fast, simple native reader for browsing Hacker News that feels uncluttered, though critics say it looks much like the web version with little UI improvement.
31 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 26
- criticize it
- 5
- approval share
- 84%
Recommended in 1 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 26 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 5.2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 1 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Native feel and quick performance
“Very native feel and it's quick too.”
Comment from 20 Feb 2026 in “Show HN: A native macOS client for Hacker News, built with SwiftUI” “The UX feels very smooth too”
Comment from 20 Feb 2026 in “Show HN: A native macOS client for Hacker News, built with SwiftUI” Simple, decluttered, useful for browsing
“I enjoy it for browsing, switching between articles.”
Comment from 20 Feb 2026 in “Show HN: A native macOS client for Hacker News, built with SwiftUI” “The app is simple, useful and feels de-cluttered.”
Comment from 21 Feb 2026 in “Show HN: A native macOS client for Hacker News, built with SwiftUI” “This is really good and I can definitely see myself using it instead of visiting the website.”
Comment from 20 Feb 2026 in “Show HN: A native macOS client for Hacker News, built with SwiftUI” Compact SwiftUI code, useful to study
“The 2k lines of Swift for a fully functional native app is impressive”
Comment from 21 Feb 2026 in “Show HN: A native macOS client for Hacker News, built with SwiftUI” “Definitely super helpful to see how it's done.”
Comment from 20 Feb 2026 in “Show HN: A native macOS client for Hacker News, built with SwiftUI” Praise for the launch
“Sounds really cool! I'd love to check it out.”
Comment from 20 Feb 2026 in “Show HN: A native macOS client for Hacker News, built with SwiftUI” “Can’t wait to see what you come up with.”
Comment from 20 Feb 2026 in “Show HN: A native macOS client for Hacker News, built with SwiftUI” “This is really really nice! Great work!”
Comment from 20 Feb 2026 in “Show HN: A native macOS client for Hacker News, built with SwiftUI” - Comment from 20 Feb 2026 in “Show HN: A native macOS client for Hacker News, built with SwiftUI”
- Comment from 20 Feb 2026 in “Show HN: A native macOS client for Hacker News, built with SwiftUI”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Looks like web version, little improved
“It looks exactly like the web version, without any improvements over the abysmal HN threading.”
Comment from 20 Feb 2026 in “Show HN: A native macOS client for Hacker News, built with SwiftUI” “i thought there would be at least some kind of an improvement in UI but its like a step back”
Comment from 20 Feb 2026 in “Show HN: A native macOS client for Hacker News, built with SwiftUI”
Other hacker news clients people recommend
The four most recommended other hacker news clients, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hacker News client for macOSThis page | 26 | 5 | 84% | 1 | — | — |
| hcker.news | 18 | 4 | 82% | 10 | — | Approved |
| hckrnews.com | 18 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| The Front Page | 16 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | Approved |
| Hacker News, without AI | 16 | 6 | 73% | 5 | — | Approved |
What people said
29 of the 41 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I can't update (Hacker News menu > Check for updates…) without MacOS 15.”
“it makes the people who opt into updates more like testers on a "nightly" release cycle”
“getting a new sparkle update dialog everytime is getting very annoying”
“85mb is electron territory...”
“The app is simple, useful and feels de-cluttered.”
“This feature is very useful :)”
“Your HN newsreader app tries to improve the broken wheel.”
“The 2k lines of Swift for a fully functional native app is impressive”
“left arrow to open the comments is debatable, but i kind of like it”
“I enjoy it for browsing, switching between articles.”
“Can’t wait to see what you come up with.”
“Sounds really cool! I'd love to check it out.”
“Definitely super helpful to see how it's done.”
“I think this is a cool project”
“It looks exactly like the web version, without any improvements over the abysmal HN threading.”
“i thought there would be at least some kind of an improvement in UI but its like a step back”
“Thank you for the MIT license, I’ll be able to add my own.”
“The UX feels very smooth too”
“Congratulations on getting this out!”
“thinking it'd navigate me to the comments”
“This is really good and I can definitely see myself using it instead of visiting the website.”
“Very nice. Commenting from it right now.”
“This is really really nice! Great work!”
“Great! I was just looking for a replacement for”
“if you have high res monitor the fonts are too small”
“Very native feel and it's quick too.”
“tried it, already miss the `threads` tab”
“This is a good start, but I think a better approach would be to piggyback off of ublock origin's lists.”
“I can't even do the default `CMD + +` to zoom in.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.