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alasano | 3 years ago

Not sure to be honest, but it feels like if HN never goes through a redesign, we'll still be enjoying it in 2050.

discuss

Not a full redesign, but there are quite a few UX issues that really need to be addressed. These 2 stand out most for me:

- mobile issues: text too small, up/down vote not usable

- post text almost unreadable, it should not be lighter than comment text

ramraj07|3 years ago

What phone are you using? It’s perfectly workable on my phone, and a breeze compared to the cancer that is crappy sites and apps like Reddit.

jason-phillips|3 years ago

> text too small

I am acutely nearsighted so I can still read 2mm tall characters unaided and am well past the point when most humans require corrective lenses for reading.

It's sort of a super power right about now.

So it depends. I dislike large text on my phone. old.reddit.com works just fine for me as well.

Ekaros|3 years ago

Text size is perfect for reading, even on my small hi-res device. I do agree with the UI elements though.

Post text is pretty bad, sometimes even on my PC...

tintedfireglass|3 years ago

For mobile I use GLIDER for Hacker news. It a pretty good experience :)

busymom0|3 years ago

On iOS, you can set the text size to be larger using the Aa button in safari.

If you are looking for an app, I am the developer of HACK which is available on both iOS/MacOS/iPadOS and Android:

https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/hack-for-hacker-news-developer...

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pranapps.h...

lgvld|3 years ago

Probably not so useful for mobile, but have a look at Refined HN extension: https://github.com/plibither8/refined-hacker-news

I discovered it a few days ago. It seems to include a "override CSS" box in the menu, allowing anyone to customize the look of HN.

layer8|3 years ago

While I agree that the UX on mobile could be better, it might actually be beneficial to comment quality that HN encourages desktop use.

getcrunk|3 years ago

The first issue, I'd have to disagree. I think it's perfectly usable. Second issue, it doesn't bother me but fair point

orlp|3 years ago

I miss two things: inline `typewriter font` and

- bulleted/ordered

- lists without making each entry its own paragraph.

chrononaut|3 years ago

The lack of a redesign I think is a big part why the community remains (if it ain't broken, don't fix it!), plus HN's heavy moderation -- towards these very guidelines.

kingcharles|3 years ago

Does it really have heavy moderation, though? I always feel that the team here has a rather light touch.

remram|3 years ago

HN is somehow the most mobile-friendly social network I use, and I'm not sure how that works. The prev/next/parent links are genius.

mulmen|3 years ago

Well, HN isn’t a social network. It is a forum.

It’s not directly monetized so the design is meant to serve the user. In contrast social media design principles are about controlling user behavior to maximize revenue. This means HN is fast, simple, and information dense. Those are desirable properties on any device.

Wowfunhappy|3 years ago

Those links are great, I just wish there was a way to get back after clicking parent.

In long threads, it's easy to loose track of which parent a given comment is replying to. So I'll click `parent`, which gives me the context I need. But then I have no way to get back to the reply I was reading previously.