Appworthy

HACK for Hacker News YC Reader

Best Hacker News app for tech

Pranoy Chowdhury
Download on theApp Store
App Store rating4.7★1.6K ratings
PriceFreeIn-app $3.99–$19.99
Age9+Store age rating
Size30 MBiPhone download
CategoryLifestyle
DeveloperPranoy Chowdhury

What we found

Full report

Too little checked to say Store information only. We haven’t analysed this app or read its reviews yet.

Money

  • Free to download · in-app purchases $3.99–$19.99 (6 listed). The store doesn’t say how often these bill.
  • If you subscribe through the store, cancel in iPhone Settings → your name → Subscriptions. Deleting the app doesn’t cancel a subscription.

Not yet tested.

The store currently lists version 184, updated 2026-10-18.

Preview

Screenshot 1Screenshot 2Screenshot 3Screenshot 4Screenshot 5Screenshot 6Screenshot 7Screenshot 8

Store screenshots supplied by the developer.

About this app

HACK for YC's Hacker News is the most beautiful and easy way to read about the latest tech, startup and STEM news.

- No Ads. No subscriptions.

- Login or Register your Hacker News account

- PUSH NOTIFICATIONS for Hacker News replies to comment or post

- Supported on iPhone, iPad, and Mac

- Setting to block AI posts on HN.

- Comments are presented in nested threads

- Tap a comment to collapse that thread

- Swipe left or right on stories and comments to upvote and favorite

- Ability to submit new posts including drafts

- Long press a story, link or comment to share

- iPad supports split view

- On iPads, you can drag a story / comment / story's image (link) to open it in safari in split view.…

From the developer’s store description.

For developers and the curious

The full report

The evidence, sources, measurements and versions behind every label above.

Findings and evidence

Not yet tested
Not yet tested. No analysis has been published for this app. A missing label is not a clean bill of health.

What reviewers report

No review coverage

No review analysis published for this app.

Measurements

4 measured · 4 not assessed

“Not assessed” means we could not measure it. It is never a zero and never a pass.

From store data and reviews

Developer replies to reviews
Replies to fewer than 1 review in 20
Price in the store description
The store description doesn’t list prices (most don’t)
Cancelling, in the store description
The store description doesn’t say how to cancel (most don’t)
Themes reported by reviewers
Not assessed
This app's reviews have not been assessed yet
Five-star share of ratings
80–89% five-star
Arithmetic on the stores' own published rating counts. It says nothing about why the ratings fall where they do.

In the app package we scanned

No package has been scanned for this app, so nothing is published about what it ships. That is an absence of evidence, not a finding.

Sensitive permissions
Not assessed
No package has been scanned for this app
Analytics or tracking SDKs in the scanned package
Not assessed
No package has been scanned for this app
Advertising SDKs in the scanned package
Not assessed
No package has been scanned for this app
How we know

Supporting measurements: not a complete list of possible harms or positives. Measurement vocabulary 1.4 · how these are measured

Versions and dates analysed

Not yet tested

Not yet tested. No analysis has been run for this app, so there is no version or date to report.

Store update history

Each store’s release notes, as the developer wrote them. They are the developer’s words, not ours.

App Store

Version 184 · 2026-10-18
- Updated to latest iOS 27 SDK. - Fixed a bug where replying to a comment would mess up the comment tree with random comment appearing below your reply. - Fixed bugs where the "Open in HACK" safari extension, URL scheme, and app icon shortcut weren't working. - HACK is supported on Mac, iPhone, iPad. I am a small indie developer and need your help keep the lights on. I offer an ad and analytics free and beautiful app for the absolute best experience for my users. I need to run my own server for caching high quality favicons shown in the app plus for push notifications for replies to hacker news posts. If you can afford it, please support me by purchasing the one-time-only in-app-purchase…

Shortened here; the full notes are on the store listing.

Assessment record

Status
Not yet tested
App identifier
hack-for-hacker-news-yc-reader
Sources used
None recorded
Reviews read
None recorded
Package examined
No package scan
Human inspection
Not completed
How we know
Measurement vocabulary
1.4

Store facts

App Store

What the stores publish. Store ratings are the stores’ numbers, not Appworthy’s, and are never averaged across stores.

App Store

Store rating
4.66 ★ · 1,585 ratings
Version
184
Updated
18 Oct 2026
Price
Free · In-app purchases
Age rating
9+
Size
30 MB
Open in App Store
Developer
Pranoy Chowdhury
Category
Lifestyle
Listing price
Free · In-app purchases

Purchases the store lists

 What this app sells

From the store listing. Billing terms are read from each purchase’s name — the stores don’t publish them — so treat them as a strong hint, not a disclosure.

Show 6 more purchases we couldn’t categorise

These are really on sale; we just can’t tell from the name whether they recur.

Hack PremiumTerm not stated$12.99
Nice TipTerm not stated$3.99
Godzilla TipTerm not stated$19.99
Generous TipTerm not stated$9.99
Kind TipTerm not stated$6.99
Amazing TipTerm not stated$12.99

Method and limits

What this report can and cannot show

What a missing label means

Not yet tested. No analysis has been published for this app, so there is no method to describe for it yet. A missing label is not a clean bill of health: it means nothing has been read, not that nothing is wrong.

Limits of this report

  • A package scan is static. It identifies code and text in one Android build. It does not measure a live ad session, test a deletion request, or count the steps needed to cancel.
  • Reviews keep their sample. A review-only charge shows distinct reviewers, the share and the sample size, and is published only once it clears that label’s published threshold. Calibration labels are machine-drafted and not yet confirmed by a person.
  • Not assessed is a state. It is never a zero and never a pass.
  • A missing label is not a clean bill of health. It means the evidence did not support one, not that the app is problem-free.
Not yet human-reviewed. A human review gives an app hands-on, recorded measurements. None has been run for this app. Hands-on inspections are not yet open.
Review thresholds Read the methodology For developers

Request a correction

[email protected]

Write to [email protected], or use the form. Name the finding, the app version and the evidence that needs correcting. Factual corrections are free and never depend on buying anything.

Report a factual error — free Email a correction