
Show HN: Boreal – A New iOS Client for Hacker News - jchomali
https://medium.com/@boreal/introducing-boreal-5fc6066d86db?source=most-recommended-published_user
======
gingerlime
Looks really clean and nice. Great stuff.

How do you plan to monetize it? It says "in app purchases" but couldn't spot
any paid-for options.

A few small comments:

* The login option is slightly confusing, because it has a big Boreal on top. Am I logging in / creating an account for Boreal or HN ?

* On the announcement blog post you have a typo "So, what do you l[o]ose trying it?", and I think you should anyway say "What do you have to lose by trying it?" (I'm not a native English speaker though).

* I wish there was a way to jump straight into the comments. It's not uncommon for me (and I believe others) to start off by reading the comments, and only then the article.

~~~
jchomali
Thanks for your feedback! We already implemented a new way for navigating into
comments in the next version. The next version will be a big update with a ton
of new features and is coming next week!

~~~
acheron
I still can't figure out how to get to comments at all. What am I missing?

~~~
jchomali
Open a post and touch the button located at the top right corner. It will open
the possible actions, there is one which says "comments"

~~~
acheron
Ah I see, I had to have it in "open in Boreal browser" I guess -- originally
had it in Safari, then in the in-app viewer, and didn't see that available.
Ok.

Is there a way to up/downvote comments?

I've been looking for a new iOS HN app, and I do like the design of this,
might just need some getting used to and a couple of minor additions. Great
job!

~~~
jchomali
Upvoting and downvoting comments are coming in a future version.

------
bnejad
My take:

* App performance / design is phenomenal. Great job.

* Show comments/point counts on the stories in the list views

You have an interesting monetization model... Personally, I would get rid of
all the tiers and just have your default free + 3.99 full unlock. I don't
imagine many people reading hackernews will fall in between and want to pay
money while still seeing ads. Your pricing is fine though I think for the full
version.

~~~
nestorp
Thanks Ben! Really appreciate it :)

We are currently thinking about how to improve the experience getting into
comments, on the 1.1 version (coming in a few days) we will add a quick access
to comments, directly from the feed.

------
Matt3o12_
The app looks great and you guys really have a thing for good designs. I tried
out your other app "Stocky" and wanted to give you s quick feedback. It
probably has the best welcome screen I've ever seen. The download size with
one MB is also really impressive (the HN app has 20, for the record). Here are
a few things about the stocky app though:

\- the dollar sign is not visisble for the apple stock. \- the +x.xx% is not
aligned nicely (bit.ly/1IXTayl)

Back to the HN App. Could you add a way to customize the font size for the
comments? The font is really small and I haven't figured out a way to change
it. Also, I'd like to see a "content-based-view" as it is implemented in this
app [https://appsto.re/us/7uRIQ.i](https://appsto.re/us/7uRIQ.i) you should
also allow use, if you add this function, to have the content-focused view as
the default one.

Otherwise, great job you too!

------
jchomali
Hey guys! I am Juan Chomali, This is the new client I have been working on
with Nestor Palao for the last months. I hope you like it and if you have any
feedback please let us know at @getBoreal in twitter or drop as some lines at
contact@getboreal.com. Have a great day!

~~~
marvel_boy
Newbie here. Downloaded your app. I like a lot the design and layout.

~~~
nrpalao
Thanks Marvel! Really appreciated your love, those comments encourage us to
continue working :)

------
nestorp
THAAAANK YOU GUYS! Really appreciate all your kindly words and feedback. We
are working hard to improve as much as we can the experience using Boreal, new
update coming in a few days with all what your requested: upvotes number from
the main feed, quick access to comments from the main feed, quick upvoting for
posts from the main feed, switch to auto-delete posts viewed and only show
them in the "Viewed" tab, collapse comments, LogIn improvements, commenting
and posting bug corrected, and much more things coming.

Btw, if you want and you think Boreal deserves it, support us by buying our
"Black Hat Hacker Plan" that lets you read unlimited news (simply go to
Settings > Store > Boreal Store).

Enjoy! :)

------
jamescostian
This app is great! I love the design, I just have a few little problems:

\- Comments don't appear to be nested beyond the first level \- Clicking on
the sign up page brought me to HN's site, but it didn't bring me to their sign
up page \- In the comments view, the back button at the top left appeared to
be informative text instead of a back button to me... What if you added an
arrow before the text ("<") like Apple does in many of their apps (e.g. the
settings app)

But I love the way the app looks overall and I'm glad I've found an awesome HN
reader app!

Oh and P.S. the app gave me an error when trying to post this - "There was an
error while trying tu publish your comment. Please try again."

~~~
jchomali
Thanks for that. I will take a look on commenting and include the back button
icon too.

------
lobster_johnson
Looks pretty good! Initial complaints:

\- Text is way too small. Needs to be configurable.

\- Not sure I like this font as a body text font, either. Can you make this an
option?

\- To get from the article view to the comments requires two clicks. Should
only be one click.

\- Byline text is hard to read, needs more contrast.

~~~
jchomali
Thanks for your feedback. We are including some of this in our next version.
So stay tuned!

~~~
lobster_johnson
Cool. Forgot one: Collapsing of comments. The client you need to beat, really,
is MiniHack [1].

[1] [https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/minihack-for-hacker-news-
sim...](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/minihack-for-hacker-news-
simple/id631108846?mt=8)

~~~
nestorp
Sure! Thanks for your feedback btw.

In the next version (1.1) coming in about a week we will include:

-Clear upvotes and comments number from the main feed -Quick access to comments from the main feed -Quick upvoting for posts from the main feed -Switch to auto-delete posts viewed and only show them in the "Viewed" tab -Collapse comments -LogIn improvements -Commenting and posting bug corrected -Follow users to receive push notifications when they post something

------
madetech
The app looks great, though have a few comments:

* It doesn't _feel_ like HackersNews. I think you should follow some of the elements from the web app (Orange colour, HN logo etc)

* I wasn't comfortable providing login credentials. How are you handling login / storing my details?

* I'd like to see more posts per page. Feels harder to scan read the posts than on the current HN site

* Filter in top right looks like a location / near me icon. Didn't expect it to display filter options

* How do I see my profile? I'm logged in, but no indication that I am

* Having to click on comments to see 'no comments' feels odd

* The number of upvotes / comments per post is important, feels very buried (couldn't find upvotes)

~~~
nestorp
Hey, thanks for your attention and feedback :)

In the next version (1.1) coming in about a week we are going to include:
-Clear upvotes and comments number from the main feed -Quick access to
comments from the main feed -Quick upvoting for posts from the main feed
-Switch to auto-delete posts viewed and only show them in the "Viewed" tab
-Collapse comments -LogIn improvements -Commenting and posting bug corrected
-Follow users to receive push notifications when they post something

Version 1.2 (some more weeks): -Dynamic text: adjust text size as you want
-Different fonts: we will add in addition to the current Avenir, Open Sans,
Proxima Nova and Helvetica Neue

Stay tuned for more updates! As we said, Boreal is a client build from users
FOR users.

------
Polyphonie
I'm enjoying the app immensely.

Are you guys planning at implementing dark/night mode at some point? One of
the thing that makes MiniHack (the other iOS HN client) a joy to use
especially later on in the day is that the screen automagically turn dark
according to the display brightness. May I suggest that instead of going with
black background, use the grey similar to the one in Reeder:

[http://i.imgur.com/NvbDpHY.png](http://i.imgur.com/NvbDpHY.png)

And another thing- I can't seem to be able to post my comment from within the
app. If this comment is posted it's because I've published it via the website:

~~~
nestorp
Thanks mate! Really appreciate your words :)

We will be adding some features in the next updates, for example tomorrow the
v.1.1 will be out with a quick access to comments and upvotes from the main
feed and a feature that lets you follow users in order to track their
activity.

For the v.1.2 (out in one or two weeks) we are planning to add night mode (as
you said), 1password integrations, collapse comments and some other fixers,
you, users, requested. We are here to build together the best experience.

Btw, currently to access comments, until the new update, you have to open a
post, and in the NavBar (at the right side) you have a icon that opens our
actions menu > comments > reply and post new comments

------
kposehn
So. I immediately upgraded to the Black Hat plan (no ads forever) and would
say you are charging way too little or should not use in app purchase.

We HN users are a dedicated base of people. While you need data to decide
this, I think you will find that most people will pay more than $3.99 for no
ads. I think most of us are happy to pay for a quality product.

Outside that, I really hope that this will become my go-to for hacker news :)

Caveat: for some reason I cannot post a comment from the client but the error
is not verbose. It also says "tu " instead of "to". Just a note.

~~~
jchomali
We are trying to solve this issue. Thanks for your feedback!

------
nestorp
Hooray guys!

We've just sent our 1.1 version with a big update that includes a bug fixes
and some great improvements like a quicker access to comments and the number
of votes from the main feed, the ability to upvote and downvote comments.
Also, we added a feature you will love, with Boreal, now, you can follow users
in order to track their usage and receive a push notification each time they
post something.

We want to continue improving the app so if you have any feedback please let
us know in @GetBoreal or in contact@getboreal.com.

Enjoy! -the Boreal team <3

------
Lumus
Hey Guys,

Very much a newbie here (first comment in fact!) and am trying to break into
iOS App development myself so it's nice to see you guys doing well!

Love the app, great design. My only "gripe" if you can call it that is how
slow some of the animations are. For example the view sliding up from the
bottom after tapping the action button is smooth but (to me at least) feels
like it's lagging somewhat.

Either way looking forward to the next update!

~~~
jchomali
Thanks for your feedback. We are going to make the animations a bit faster.

------
garbad
Very nice!

I for one welcome the lack of HN colours, although the orange might look nice
as a secondary/accent colour used sparingly. The grey is lovely.

I'll keep using the app and look forward to the update coming shortly.

Well done.

PS. There's a typo on the error posting modal dialogue box - says "tu" rather
than "to". (There was an error trying _tu_ publish your comment....)

I've been getting this error a lot, so I went to the web site to post this.

------
iCHAIT
Nice work guys. I really like the UI. Till now I was using -
[https://itunes.apple.com/in/app/hacker-news-
yc/id713733435?m...](https://itunes.apple.com/in/app/hacker-news-
yc/id713733435?mt=8) for using Hacker News on my iPhone.

This too is a great application for using HN, however its design is more
orthodox.

Great Work :)

~~~
davidcollantes
Have you tried MiniHack? I think it will provide a better comparison.

~~~
pstadler
I agree, MiniHack is the cleary the top iOS client for HN.

------
jchomali
Thanks for all your feedback. We just released a new version that includes a
lot of improvements and some new features that I am sure you will love.

\+ Tap and hold a post to upvote.

\+ Dynamic text support.

\+ Follow users to receive a notification when they submit a story.

\+ Access to comments from the feed.

\+ Swipe comments to vote.

\+ UI improvements.

\+ Bug fixes.

------
thameera
This is great! It's rather suprising why an all-round HN app app isn't
available in the App Store.

What does the up arrow in the top right of comments section supposed to do?

P.S. I also got the same error as jamescostian when trying to comment from the
app.

~~~
jchomali
The button is to uproot the post. In the next version we will add a button to
uproot directly from the feed

~~~
jchomali
upvote _

------
harisamin
Nicely done. Earlier this year I launched a Mac HN client because i wanted a
better desktop client experience
[http://mackernews.com](http://mackernews.com) Will check out your app :)

~~~
fabmilo
I was interested in something like that. How is going the app? can you share
some insight ?

~~~
harisamin
its going ok, not flying off the shelves but seems to be working well and ppl
that have bought it seem to like it :)

------
graffitici
Good design! And great work!

I wish I could see the number of votes a post got on the main screen though..
I like the filtering, but sometimes I just want to look at the numbers and
decide for myself

~~~
jchomali
Thanks for the feedback, we are including that in the next version.

------
tolas
Why does the bottom share button not bring up the full share menu? Also, for
share by email please auto populate the subject line. Other than that it looks
pretty good so far.

~~~
nestorp
Sure, thanks for your feedback, we will add this in the next update (1.1
coming in about a week)

------
thomasfl
Is there a collection of all the different HN clients out there? A HN example
seems to have become as common as a hello world example among javascript
frontend libs.

------
unknownzero
iOS 8 only if that matters to anyone. I had apparently never updated this
iphone ( not my main phone ) and never noticed until now, so thanks for the
reminder Juan!

~~~
bnejad
You didn't notice you were a full iOS version behind? :D

~~~
nestorp
Hahaha, now, you have a (hope big) reason to upgrade your iPhone's OS version
:)

------
ssgelm
This looks really nice. It'd be cool if you added the 1Password extension to
make it easier to log into HN!

~~~
nestorp
Thanks! Sure, we will include 1Password support for login into the next
version coming in about a week :)

------
nw83
Is there any way to mark articles as read so that they don't occupy the screen
any more?

~~~
nestorp
No, but each article you read automatically is archived in "Viewed" section
for an easy access.

Btw, thanks by your feedback. We will add a switch in the 1.1 version (coming
in a few days) to auto-delete the viewed posts from your main feed and archive
them in your viewed tab only :)

~~~
nw83
That'd be great! Looking forward to it.

------
tbrock
I really like minihack as an iOS HN client. It's very polished.

------
nvartolomei
Looks like the Login does not work, or only for me?

~~~
nestorp
Yeah, bug reported, some users are experiencing problems with it. We've just
fixed this and will be corrected in the next update coming in a few hours
(hopefully no more than one day)

------
luisivan
This is really cool, I love its design!

~~~
nestorp
Thanks bro! As always working hard to provide the best experience and details

------
Apocryphon
Why "Boreal"?

~~~
nestorp
why not? The decision was taken in relation to our colour palette and the look
and feel of the login (there is a beautiful video transition of Ibiza by
night)

------
trialstartup
Simple and Nice

~~~
nestorp
Thanks man!!

------
dang
We met Juan when he came through SF a few weeks ago and showed us this app.
It's impressive! For a couple of high-school students, it's damned impressive.

Users flagged this story, presumably because some of the comments look
suspiciously like astroturfing. I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt and
override that in this case, but guys, you need to realize that you can't
promote your stuff on HN that way. Astroturfing accounts get banned, and
usually we'll ban the submitters' accounts and the site as well. Even if we
don't do that, HN users—who have a nose for this sort of thing and really
don't like it—will react negatively to your post, and that's definitely the
opposite of what you want.

I have a feeling it was just your friends trying to give you a boost, which is
very nice of them, but please tell them that HN is the sort of place where
that doesn't go over well. Instead, learn to let your fine work speak for
itself.

