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Show HN: macOS HNReader Application

87 points| mattrighetti | 4 years ago |github.com | reply

63 comments

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[+] mattrighetti|4 years ago|reply
This is a macOS Hacker News reader, lightweight and clean. I would love to hear your opinions on this!
[+] sgt|4 years ago|reply
Code should ideally be on github as source code files, not inside a binary archive.
[+] JohnBooty|4 years ago|reply
My first thought is that I can only see a handful of HN topics at a time, versus 30 via the standard web interface.

So, to me... in its current state this app would be a large downgrade.

It's "nicer" looking than the web interface, but the web interface is fine for me. I don't need it to be pretty.

For an HN app to be useful to me it would have to offer more information or features than the web interface.

[+] kergonath|4 years ago|reply
Nice! It looks good, I’ll try it for a while.
[+] codetrotter|4 years ago|reply
Looks neat. I don’t see any source code in the repository though?
[+] grishka|4 years ago|reply
Doesn't run on 10.14, requires 11.0 or newer :(
[+] aluminum96|4 years ago|reply
Is this your first Mac app? If so, how did you find the process of learning the platform?

I've been thinking of writing a native Mac app for a while, but I'm put off by the bad things I hear about the docs and general learning experience.

[+] mattrighetti|4 years ago|reply
Well not exactly the first but I’ve experimented a lot with SwiftUI and this is entirely written with that.

UI is probably the hardest part into an application, everything else is plain old style programming with algorithms, data strictures, GET requests etc.

I would suggest to look at WWDC sessions about SwiftUI for what concerns the UI part, everything else has a very active community online that will give you a lot of resources to tackle pretty much everything.

[+] sam0x17|4 years ago|reply
Note: despite the github link, it is not open source so no telling what's in the binary

edit: now it is :)

[+] mattrighetti|4 years ago|reply
Never mind, published the code repo and created a link to it in the GitHub repo
[+] salmo|4 years ago|reply
Really nice to see "native" and not electron :). Very clean looking.

One suggestion would be to do thumbnails like Octal on iOS, but that may just be a personal preference.

I'll try to remember to check back later, when you're ready to `brew`.

Also based on threads here, nice to see you're using this an an opportunity for feedback.

Well done!

[+] mattrighetti|4 years ago|reply
I love Octal and I am willing to make similar functionalities, thumbnails are coming after more important features like comments
[+] htk|4 years ago|reply
I’ve been diving into SwiftUI lately and it’s such a joy to use, gave me a renewed appreciation for UI design. It’s nice to see some real apps being done with it, proving it is possible to do so. Congrats on the app!
[+] mattrighetti|4 years ago|reply
Definitely possible if your app does not require super precise UI element placement, totally doable and gives spectacular results
[+] systemvoltage|4 years ago|reply
I think the browser HN UI is so good that it’s difficult to switch to anything else even though I appreciate the effort that goes into building something like this.
[+] Yhippa|4 years ago|reply
This looks cool! How did you find programming in Swift to be?

One small nitpick: the refresh button in light mode is a bit difficult to see due to low-contrast.

[+] beervirus|4 years ago|reply
So what does this offer beyond just using a web browser?
[+] mattrighetti|4 years ago|reply
For the moment it’s just a native HN reader, nothing more. But it’s going to get more complex hopefully
[+] ultrarunner|4 years ago|reply
Looks like dark mode, for one. I'm also personally curious if there's an effect in breaking the "what time-wasting website should I let the browser autocomplete" habit that is so easy to cultivate (is "frequently visited" a dark pattern?)
[+] KMnO4|4 years ago|reply
Awesome! You may want to give a brief description in the readme about what it is (for people not coming from this forum).
[+] mrehler|4 years ago|reply
I have the same issue with every HN app: no “past” support, or insufficient past support. That’s the way I’m mainly browsing HN.
[+] kkirsche|4 years ago|reply
What do you mean by past? Your past interactions, eg lack of ability to engage other users related to things you’ve commented on? “Past” posts? Something else?
[+] mattrighetti|4 years ago|reply
Will take that into account! Would you mind placing a feature request to the GitHub repo?
[+] njhaveri|4 years ago|reply
Neat idea! Do you plan to notarize the binary?
[+] mattrighetti|4 years ago|reply
I have never done that to be honest, if it’s not a big hassle I could try to do it
[+] shajid|4 years ago|reply
Looks great! Does this have a search button?
[+] mattrighetti|4 years ago|reply
That is going to come, I’ve just started this project