

Show HN: My iPad Hacker News Client, Hacker News Paper - sammcd
http://hackernewspaper.com/

======
raganwald
It is truly unfortunate that this app so closely resembles Giles’ work. In
hindsight, everything seems obvious: “Hacker News... As a Newspaper.” Yet
nobody did it before Giles, and now somebody else has done it after Giles.

It reminds me of the talk about how obvious the iPhone UI is, such that Google
wasn’t copying iPhone but just proceeding along “obvious” lines. Yet, it seems
that they were busy proceeding along the obvious line of imitating Blackberry
until the iPhone became a hit, then they were proceeding along the obvious
line of imitating an iPhone.

The author of this work seems to be saying that he did this entirely
independently. I am prepared to accept his word for that, which is why I use
the word “unfortunate.” There are so many truly new and novel things to
invent, it is a great shame that two smart people put work into inventing the
same thing instead of giving birth to two different ideas.

~~~
iamgoat
Considering Hacker News is a developer heavy crowd, I'm surprised a second and
third version hasn't come up. I've wanted to develop the same thing myself
just to learn how to build an iPad app. And I'm sure my other ideas for
creating different views of Hacker News are nothing special.

It's all about execution. I've seen the other one before and considering the
basic style of it (newspaper page with multiple articles layout), it wasn't
pretty enough to make me want to install. I really like the look of this app
and look forward to trying it out.

Also, kudos for him getting the domain. I figured it would have been taken
already.

------
bluekeybox
Thanks, just downloaded! My 2 cents:

0\. Nice minimalism.

1\. The main body typeface is needlessly hard to read (words have weird
kerning with some letters sticking together a lot). I strongly think that the
body font should be as readable as possible, simply since it is going to be
read a lot! Pick the most readable font out there (or maybe the second most
readable).

2\. The "Return" button is hard to tap when holding the iPad in both hands.
iBooks solves this problem by having the entire left edge tappable; not sure
what would work best in this app.

3\. Are you familiar with the Flipboard for iPad? (you probably are). I think
it is beyond awesome. All magazine/web mobile apps should learn from that app.

4\. That every article pops out from the bottom edge of the screen
(UIModalTransitionStyleCoverVertical ?) gets annoying after a while. The
animation where the whole screen whizzes by from the bottom up every time you
tap is more tolerable on a smaller screen like the iPhone. I would rather
prefer an animation with a "zoom" effect with the article expanding from its
location in the grid to the entire screen; or maybe something else you can
think of.

5\. It is annoying that comments have to be shown in a browser window which
takes a while to load.

~~~
sammcd
This list is one of the first list that seems to really coincide with the
things that bother me about the app.

I do like the idea of making the left side tappable, and I really do want to
change my animation and hope to get time to fix that soon.

Just so you know when viewing a story you can tap the headline to go back.
This feature was mostly added for myself, I hope to get a designer to design
me something that communicates returning to the front page better than my
current methods.

I can tell you've done some iOS work cause you can see some of the shortcuts I
took to ship this on time. I hope to fix these soon :)

------
peteforde
Congrats on the launch. Unfortunately you've chosen to name your app the same
thing Giles very similar app from 2009 is named.

I truly believe that the onus is on you to Google the name you want to use
before you launch. Heck, just to make sure there isn't competition - much less
something with the same name. That isn't good for either of you.

Perhaps you should strongly consider changing the name of your application.

------
derwildemomo
first of all, great work. I really like the the presentation, something
different. I've got a few issues with the app though:

\- It's hard to flip pages, I opened articles often when I tried to flip one.
Seems the gesture recognition needs some refinement

\- I don't like the font and the header. I think it looks a bit cheap. At
least the font in the sub-headline could look nicer.

\- Get rid of those standard rounded rect-buttons in the article view. Doesn't
need too much effort to style them a bit, and it makes a huge difference.

Thanks for this app, well spent money :-)

~~~
sammcd
Thanks a lot for your feedback!

The gestures, better fonts, and buttons are three things that are already high
on my list to fix, but its really good to hear it from someone else. Be
looking for an update shortly.

------
sidwyn
Thanks for the code. Gave it a spin but found the fonts a little too jarring,
especially the main font. There needs to be more contrast too. I know you're
trying to imitate an actual newspaper, but perhaps play a little more with the
hues of gray? Right now it all seems a blur to me.

~~~
sammcd
Thanks for the feedback.

In the next version I will definitely try to do something to make it look a
little cleaner.

------
sammcd
Thanks a lot for checking out my app. Here are a few promo codes for anyone
interested.

EFERTFJWWR7W

36XTN3E9MNYN

LAKJ99K6RFNY

X4ERRNY46NTE

3HLAMPWWE3X6

~~~
timeuser
Codes are all used.

~~~
sammcd
Thanks for letting me know, here are a few more:

LT3A7P3NJEX3

K47EP4FFK7PY

HLRAM3LPA7XK

HJR9N3AKN6XA

JKLPNAF7L3YN

~~~
username3
HJR9N3AKN6XA JKLPNAF7L3YN were used already.

------
pgambling
Nice work! I'm using the app right now to add this comment. I agree with all
the feedback so far, but it's still worth the money even in its current state.

~~~
sammcd
Thanks a lot!

------
FameofLight
Get real, its all about the implementation and execution, although I have not
seen the but seems like (from comments) the guy did a good job in execution
and action.

We all have ton's of ideas, techcrunch can be newspaper like, mashable can be
magazine like, its all your execution with little bit pinch of idea.

------
midnightsun
If you prefer a free (and high-quality) app, check out this one:

[http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hacker-news-reader-
technology...](http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hacker-news-reader-
technology/id463699245?ls=1&mt=8)

~~~
vtail
We seem to be having different metrics for 'high-quality'. The first
screenshot of the iPad version in the App Store is a list of 24 elements in a
small font. I think the developer is missing the point.

------
conradr
Thanks - I've used - 3HLAMPWWE3X6. I'll test and provide a review in a bit.

~~~
conradr
Really like the app.

I echo what was said before, don't like the header. I get what you're trying
to do with newspaper, though a cleaner font would work better. Look at the UK
gaurdian app in newsstand for inspiration.

I would also suggest images in the article though again it may take away from
the newspaper feel.

The flipping doesn't always work, it opens an article on the odd flip try.

I would love to see:

\- Instapaper integration \- Pull in the comments if possible - isn't that
what makes HN,Hn? \- Bookmarking \- New threads instead of just front page \-
Number of comments so far \- A very light tint of colour on the buttons, 10%
blue?

All in all great experience, with a tweaks this could be a winner!

~~~
sammcd
Thanks a lot for your feedback.

Like I've already commented its great to hear from you and see which of the
features I think are important are also important to people who have tried the
app.

~~~
audioHack
+1 for Instapaper integration.

------
ch0wda
What percentage of the profits are you giving "iamgilesbowkett" since you've
created a facsimile of his idea from 2009?

~~~
mikeash
Yes, how dare two different people both have the same idea of applying a
newspaper theme to a web site.

~~~
ch0wda
"Applying a newspaper theme" implies less than the outright copying of a name,
style, and functionality.

~~~
mikeash
While "outright copying" implies far more than what is actually present.

------
yatsyk
added to <http://hnresources.com/apps/#iphone>

~~~
sammcd
Thanks a lot!

------
Inufu
Is iOS 5 really necessary? I didn't upgrade yet because of my jailbreak, so I
can't use the app :-/

~~~
sammcd
Currently it is because of the page view controller, but I'm thinking about
dropping that in the future. I'll definitely being iOS 5 only at that point.

------
jensnikolaus
Super!

------
iamgilesbowkett
This is a blatant copy of my web app Hacker Newspaper.

[http://gilesbowkett.blogspot.com/2011/11/imitation-is-
sincer...](http://gilesbowkett.blogspot.com/2011/11/imitation-is-sincerest-
form-of-flattery.html)

~~~
lucasoman
I understand that it is frustrating to you to feel that someone may have been
inspired by some aspects of your project. However, I think it's important to
consider a few things for perspective:

1\. Your web app is close to, if not already, dead:
[http://gilesbowkett.blogspot.com/2011/03/i-may-let-hacker-
ne...](http://gilesbowkett.blogspot.com/2011/03/i-may-let-hacker-newspaper-
die.html)

2\. So what if this guy was inspired by your app? Who _doesn't_ do research
before implementing an idea?

3\. Your most persuasive evidence--the header font--appears to be the most
unpopular aspect of the app, judging by the comments, and so will probably be
changed shortly, anyway.

4\. The developer is not in direct competition with your project, as he didn't
even code it for the same platform (yes, an iPad can browse the web, but yours
was not, specifically, an iPad app).

~~~
iamgilesbowkett
Additionally, my most persuasive evidence is not my header graphic, it's just
an extremely specific example. My most persuasive evidence is that every
single aspect of his app is a direct copy of mine.

~~~
lucasoman
Well maybe you're right. Since the author openly offered his contact
information, maybe the best way to resolve the situation is to discuss the
matter with him directly and privately. I wish you both success.

