Show HN: A Hacker News Reader App with Tabs(play.google.com)
play.google.com
Show HN: A Hacker News Reader App with Tabs
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=me.aswinmohan.hacknews
141 comments
It looks really great! Do you have plans to add commenting, or upvoting? Also, I just checked out your website from the about page, you should put up a simple "coming soon" page or something
https://hacknews.launchaco.com/
Had an old one lying around
Had an old one lying around
Oh, sorry I was unclear. In the app you have a link to aswinmohan.me which is a namecheap/parkingcrew landing page.
That's a great idea. App looks awesome, I'll be paying to the premium version.
I think that's a great idea. dark themes are used a LOT on phones, so having the free version ad-free and functional but without a dark theme makes it an amazing demo.
Make sure to do a write-up at some point on how it worked out ;)
Make sure to do a write-up at some point on how it worked out ;)
I disagree. You should get paid for your work - either through ads or an in app purchase to remove the ads. If someone is not willing to pay you money or look at ads, they aren't your customer.
Developers - especially mobile developers - have to stop devaluing themselves.
Developers - especially mobile developers - have to stop devaluing themselves.
Honestly this idea that you can still pump out fairly simple add-supported/paid apps as a path to paying your bills is crazy unless you are making the next flappy bird.
By making it open source you could have a much easier time getting interviews at companies that will gladly pay a salary that far exceeds what you could make on one non-unicorn app.
By making it open source you could have a much easier time getting interviews at companies that will gladly pay a salary that far exceeds what you could make on one non-unicorn app.
I would have a private Git repo on VSTS (free), put a link to the app on my resume and let them know that I would be more than willing to go through both my code and my project plan.
It doesn't have to pay all of your bills but if at least made some beer money, it's better than nothing. Part of being a developer should be learning how to monetize.
It doesn't have to pay all of your bills but if at least made some beer money, it's better than nothing. Part of being a developer should be learning how to monetize.
It's not that OP shouldn't be making money, it's that ads would be the wrong way to make money.
The HN crowd is not going to put up with huge ad banners when there are plenty of HN reader apps without them.
So they should pay for the ad free version. I'm sure most people on HN can afford it.
There already are several non-advertisement clients though. You can't charge to get a feature another client already has unless your other features are worth that cost
If he is writing the app so he can learn and just be a corporate drone (no judgement, I'm a proud corporate drone) then give it away for free. If he wants to learn how to be an entrepreneur, he should do an assessment of what's out there and find a competitive advantage that would make people willing to pay some money.
It is not devaluing to refuse to run ads. In fact I would say it is quite devaluing feeling forced to run ads and is empowering to choose not to.
"Empowerment" has never paid a bill.
Yes it has. Its ridiculous to suggest that someone who has recently felt empowered will be unable to turn that energy into employment or income. Empowerement definitely pays bills, it does it all the time for people. Empowerement is often the first real tangible step someone has to getting an income.
Just wanted to let you guys know that the ad free version is almost ready
I'm stuck on removing thr native dependecies, so we can remove the unwanted permissions.
Thanks for all the Support, Love and the eye opening comments.
I'm stuck on removing thr native dependecies, so we can remove the unwanted permissions.
Thanks for all the Support, Love and the eye opening comments.
Who says ads are universally hated? I like ads. I like seeing products I might be interested in and I like buying things.
Edit: Who’s down voting this and why?
Edit: Who’s down voting this and why?
I agree and disagree...
I like podcast ads. Even for products and services that I don't care for, I find many of the products and business ideas interesting.
I also like the ads in my podcast player - Overcast - the ads are usually for other podcasts in the same category of podcasts that I'm listening to.
I don't like most ads in games and mobile apps. They are poorly targeted, intrusive, and take up too much screen real estate. I'll uninstall an ad based app that doesn't give you the option of doing an in app purchase to remove the ads.
If an app isn't worth the $2 - $3 to remove the ads, it's probably a useless app to me anyway and gets deleted relatively quickly.
I like podcast ads. Even for products and services that I don't care for, I find many of the products and business ideas interesting.
I also like the ads in my podcast player - Overcast - the ads are usually for other podcasts in the same category of podcasts that I'm listening to.
I don't like most ads in games and mobile apps. They are poorly targeted, intrusive, and take up too much screen real estate. I'll uninstall an ad based app that doesn't give you the option of doing an in app purchase to remove the ads.
If an app isn't worth the $2 - $3 to remove the ads, it's probably a useless app to me anyway and gets deleted relatively quickly.
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I think it's a great idea!
I'll take it as a yes.
Everything is live
Smart move.
Asking me to install Google play services on my phone, and setup a Google account, and set up a credit card for Google Play only to install an app no one can review for security issues is a non-starter.
If this was open source and available on F-Droid I would gladly throw you a $5 tip if there was an easy place to donate.
If this was open source and available on F-Droid I would gladly throw you a $5 tip if there was an easy place to donate.
Well you aren't his potential customer. If he has a choice between the set of people who use the Google Play Store and the set of people who only use open source software on F-Droid, I think he is making the better choice...
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Since you think he should use ads in the free version and he doesn't, maybe you shouldn't talk for him. Who says he won't put it on F-Droid?
According to his page you have to pay for a no ads version. Also on the Google Play page it says "contains ads". So he's speaking for himself.
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unless people are purists it should not be a problem with yalp or similar. i doubt this app requires google services. the premium may be an issue.
You are telling me all this time I could have made money with a hackernews client supported by ads?
How is this legal?
You are providing added value over the regular HN experience?
Don't mistake having a way for someone to give you money as "making money." Classic mistake.
Why wouldn't this "be legal"? Hacker News provides a publicly accessible API. Why would HN do that if they didn't want people to build functionality on top of it?
This isn't a bad start but I'm not a fan of the UI. I use https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.premii.hn which you can sort of demo at http://hn.premii.com and it has a few bugs/quirks because it isn't super actively maintained but the design is just really solid. Gestures work well (Swype left from an article to go back), colors are great (and user choosable), dark mode included, fonts customizable...
I think you have some steep competition, that's all. It's a great start to get something out there though!
I think you have some steep competition, that's all. It's a great start to get something out there though!
Hasn't been updated for 3 years
Also what I use. Definitely isn't ideal, but checks the most boxes right now.
I echo your comment. I use it and I like it just barely more than the other HN readers out there. It's the only website based APP I actually have installed, for the most part I hate dedicated apps for existing website. But, the swiftness and usability of this one make it worth using; for now.
That one looks dope. And has a load of features more.
I'll try my best ;D
I'll try my best ;D
Hey thanks for posting this, I've just switched to it from Materialistic, will see how I get on - but first impressions are very good
As I said on the other thread here, I like the desktop interface, using pinch and zoom on my mobile device. Reddit is forcing me into the mobile app, and mobile interface, I constantly have to request desktop site, and it's starting to irritate me, pushing me away!
https://ud.reddit.com
Its the only way I can stand to use reddit now. Wrote an extension for my desktop that changed any links into reddit to the ud form for me as well
Its the only way I can stand to use reddit now. Wrote an extension for my desktop that changed any links into reddit to the ud form for me as well
Care to share the extension? Ever since the 'redesign' I have had non stop "Sorry something went wrong! Try refreshing!" issues. It really is driving me away from Reddit (which in itself may be a good thing), and I'm constantly rewriting URLs to the 'old.reddit.com' format.
Unfortunately its a catch all extension that doesn't just do that; all you need to do is grab an example extension and make the script do a search for all href and conditionally replace content. I've got a mutation observer on as well but I don't know if it was ever useful
You do know you can turn off the redesign in your reddit settings, right?
You can also use Reddit's "compact" version which is their first ever mobile design. Just append ".compact" to the end of every url [1].
[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/startups/.compact
[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/startups/.compact
Thanks for the great hack dude. Makes reading much smoother
I feel the same way. The website works great on mobile, and it's super fast. My browser already has tabs as well! Why would I want to install an app?
Use "reddit is fun", app is way better than any desktop or mobile experience
Is their a decent unofficial Reddit app?
I use Red Reader:
https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.quantumbadger.redreader/
https://github.com/QuantumBadger/RedReader
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.quantumbad...
Works for me, updated regularly, no relation, just a happy user.
https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.quantumbadger.redreader/
https://github.com/QuantumBadger/RedReader
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.quantumbad...
Works for me, updated regularly, no relation, just a happy user.
I've used Relay Pro for years. Tried a few others but always go back to Relay.
I think this is a very poor design:
- Nested tabs are a poor use of space, scrolling tabs would be better
- The spacing around posts is too large
- The spacing within posts is too large
- The notch extends beyond the status bar
- The captions on screenshots are cringey
- The screenshots don't show the comments page
- The icon looks weird with both a border and bounds with different corner radius
- The '.' separator is sometimes bold
- Capitalization is inconsistent ("3 Comments", "3 minutes")
- The title bar of the comments page is empty
- The navigation architecture with each tab having its own stack is weird
- Padding is different in every type of page (posts, post, about)
- Line breaks in comments are ignored
- Nested tabs are a poor use of space, scrolling tabs would be better
- The spacing around posts is too large
- The spacing within posts is too large
- The notch extends beyond the status bar
- The captions on screenshots are cringey
- The screenshots don't show the comments page
- The icon looks weird with both a border and bounds with different corner radius
- The '.' separator is sometimes bold
- Capitalization is inconsistent ("3 Comments", "3 minutes")
- The title bar of the comments page is empty
- The navigation architecture with each tab having its own stack is weird
- Padding is different in every type of page (posts, post, about)
- Line breaks in comments are ignored
Even though there are ads, respect to you for putting this out there. The grind is real.
Unfortunately, I don’t think mobile development is such a good way for independents to generate revenue, unless you happen to make a wildly viral game.
Unfortunately, I don’t think mobile development is such a good way for independents to generate revenue, unless you happen to make a wildly viral game.
Thanks
I don't want to generate revenue to live on(yet).
I just want to show that I'm not wasting time. And social media followers don't count. So this was like the only way
I don't want to generate revenue to live on(yet).
I just want to show that I'm not wasting time. And social media followers don't count. So this was like the only way
The UI needs some work as I find it barren of essential features. You have no settings screen and no ability to change the font size or the font used.
I currently use Materialistic and it's probably the best HN client I've used on either platform. It has a tablet mode, a variety of themes, including several dark themes, adjustable font sizes, offline mode, readability mode when visiting websites, blocks ads in websites, does not contain ads and best of all it's open source and free.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=io.github.hidr...
Here's the GitHub repo:
https://github.com/hidroh/materialistic
I currently use Materialistic and it's probably the best HN client I've used on either platform. It has a tablet mode, a variety of themes, including several dark themes, adjustable font sizes, offline mode, readability mode when visiting websites, blocks ads in websites, does not contain ads and best of all it's open source and free.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=io.github.hidr...
Here's the GitHub repo:
https://github.com/hidroh/materialistic
For all who are disgusted by Ads, there is an Ad Free Premium version.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=me.aswinmohan....
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=me.aswinmohan....
Why do you need access to the phone's id, phone number, and files?
Not me, Ask AdMob Native Wrapper
Sorry, I wouldn't mind a an app, but not with those sort of permissions.
I replied earlier that you should have ads because you should monetize, but that's not a good answer. If you are forced to use a binary blob that needs those permissions, it's not a good choice.
But then again, Androids permission is system is still crap...
But then again, Androids permission is system is still crap...
Yes, it is far from perfect but unless you go for a Purism phone there isn't anything better. On Android you can at least get very close to some privacy unlike in iOS.
Really? iOS's permission system is a lot better thought out when it comes to privacy.
Third party keyboards don't by default have any network permission and the keyboard automatically changes to the default keyboard for passwords.
The content blocking framework doesn't allow the content blocking app to know your web browsing habits.
You don't need phone access to stop audio from playing within your app like you do on Android.
Google's next generation messaging app doesn't even have end to end encryption.
Third party keyboards don't by default have any network permission and the keyboard automatically changes to the default keyboard for passwords.
The content blocking framework doesn't allow the content blocking app to know your web browsing habits.
You don't need phone access to stop audio from playing within your app like you do on Android.
Google's next generation messaging app doesn't even have end to end encryption.
Are you sure that's a valid response if the GDPR police asks you?
I'm sorry, but that's not the right response. YOU chose to incorporate this ad library into your app, so YOU have a responsibility to understand how exactly it will be using permissions it 'requires' on your users' devices, and what it will be doing with them. Anything this library might do that is malicious is ultimately your fault, since you put it in your program without understanding what it is capable of doing.
Why would I need a separate (+fremium) app for a free website that works pretty well on my mobile browser?
Personally I really like the Reddit Apps like baconreader on mobile more. I also like how I am always signed in and getting notifications when someone replies to my comment.
All HakerNews apps fail on several ways for me.
1) COMMENTING - I really don't need to sign in or do anything if all I get are links to websites and other comments I can respond to
2) Reading links - Normally it is a rough transition. Once again baconreader is my favorite app for reading sites like HackerNews and Reddit. It has it's own simple reader built in. he official Reddit app also has great tabs and opens links inside the app
3) Notifications - No notifications on direct replies always seems weird to me
All HakerNews apps fail on several ways for me.
1) COMMENTING - I really don't need to sign in or do anything if all I get are links to websites and other comments I can respond to
2) Reading links - Normally it is a rough transition. Once again baconreader is my favorite app for reading sites like HackerNews and Reddit. It has it's own simple reader built in. he official Reddit app also has great tabs and opens links inside the app
3) Notifications - No notifications on direct replies always seems weird to me
Bacon Reader is hands down the best Reddit client out there. This is one of the few exceptions when you would prefer an app.
If you’re on iOS, minihack works well except for #3. It isn’t free, but it quickly releases bug fixes whenever there are changes to the hn api, and there aren’t any ads.
Materialistic does the first 2. Comment notifications are more an hn limitation
Why drive a Bentley when a normal car would do the job?
The Bentley in this case 'requires' some ridiculous permissions (read phone/call status and ID? wtf), so the Bentley is some proprietary mess that is likely doing things it shouldn't.
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This is probably why there's no official Hacker News app for Android.
Why ads?
I don't want to touch it if it had ads. Hacker News is a community I like because its users generally promote the "Hacker Ethic" [1]. As far as I can tell this app has no infrastructure costs because it just uses the HN API. In putting ads on it, the app author is monetizing a free service they like to use. That is the opposite of the Hacker Ethic.
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_ethic
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_ethic
I'm a student from India. Here parents are really strict about Computer time. The only way I can convince them isnto show them that this thing can generate some money.
That's why I put ads, you know how hard I felt to put ads on something that you spend hours perfecting.
My previous App was tet, it has no ads, but I really need to make some revenue to show them.
You want to know what those Ads are, ther'e justification that I won't go broke if I pursue code.
That's why I put ads, you know how hard I felt to put ads on something that you spend hours perfecting.
My previous App was tet, it has no ads, but I really need to make some revenue to show them.
You want to know what those Ads are, ther'e justification that I won't go broke if I pursue code.
> You want to know what those Ads are, ther'e justification that I won't go broke if I pursue code.
That does not make any sense. Writing code to make a living is a very very popular profession in India. Your parents must be already aware of it.
Heck, even those who can barely code can get jobs in the software-services based industry who put them through bootcamps to learn to code while already paying them to learn. I know of no other country where companies pay you to offer you 3-month long software development training for no work.
I seriously don't buy that your parent needs any justification about pursuing coding as a profession.
That does not make any sense. Writing code to make a living is a very very popular profession in India. Your parents must be already aware of it.
Heck, even those who can barely code can get jobs in the software-services based industry who put them through bootcamps to learn to code while already paying them to learn. I know of no other country where companies pay you to offer you 3-month long software development training for no work.
I seriously don't buy that your parent needs any justification about pursuing coding as a profession.
Perhaps offering a one-time IAP to remove ads would satisfy all parties?
The latest trend is subscriptions; pay X a year to remove ads. And, while I hate them (cause who needs more monthly expenses?) they're fair for the developer because one-time IAP isn't sustainable on the long term compared to sustainable income. That is of course assuming there is constant improvement on the app/data. Another trend is disabling ads via sub but still having tracking. At least GDPR attempts to fix it.
> I'm a student from India. Here parents are really strict about Computer time. The only way I can convince them isnto show them that this thing can generate some money.
It's kind of disappointing that you have to make money right now for them to realize that you're learning a skill that pays extremely well in the long term…
It's kind of disappointing that you have to make money right now for them to realize that you're learning a skill that pays extremely well in the long term…
To be fair, even if the app was reasonably clever, there's not a lot of places anywhere interested in hiring brand new Android engineers.
Why do they believe you would go broke pursuing code? Have you tried pointing them to some articles or statistics on the high levels of salaries software engineers make? I'm sure you know they make more than many professions, and the demand is ever rising. Seems like this should be an easy debate to win :)
I don't think you understand how different things are in the developing world. It took me 5 years and an international flight for them to the US just to make my parents understand the difference between pursuing a degree in CS and pursuing a degree in typing.
It's not that they are ignorant, it's a lack of exposure and also just tough circumstances that may make it seem unrealistic.
I totally understand the point he is making.
It's not that they are ignorant, it's a lack of exposure and also just tough circumstances that may make it seem unrealistic.
I totally understand the point he is making.
It's not necessarily easy to explain this concept to people living here in the US, unless they know someone who's made it work. The idea that a non-Doctor/Lawyer/Architect can make a decent life for themselves and provide for a family is only gradually catching on.
Wow, ok. I see what you are saying. Thank you for your perspective, it is illuminating.
You're supposed to add the ads after you establish your user base.
That makes sense to me. I only asked because I was curious about your decision process. Thanks.
Could you spend some time teaching instead?
So the "Hacker Ethic" means you should take a vow of poverty? I'm a professional developer that utilizes a lot of free and open source frameworks and languages. Should I not get paid for that either?
It's a concept from the book "Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution"
> Access to computers—and anything which might teach you something about the way the world works—should be unlimited and total. Always yield to the Hands-On Imperative!
Hacker News is a prime example of the Hacker Ethic. Wrapping Hacker News and putting ads on it is the opposite.
Building useful software and selling it is fine, but following the Hacker Ethic would mean improving open source libraries that you consume or maybe open sourcing components of your software.
Microsoft has been a prime example lately - developing .NET and many other libraries in the open these days. They are still making plenty of money but are also winning the approval of developers who like open source.
> Access to computers—and anything which might teach you something about the way the world works—should be unlimited and total. Always yield to the Hands-On Imperative!
Hacker News is a prime example of the Hacker Ethic. Wrapping Hacker News and putting ads on it is the opposite.
Building useful software and selling it is fine, but following the Hacker Ethic would mean improving open source libraries that you consume or maybe open sourcing components of your software.
Microsoft has been a prime example lately - developing .NET and many other libraries in the open these days. They are still making plenty of money but are also winning the approval of developers who like open source.
Hacker News isn't a free service out of only the goodness of ycombinator's heart. They have "advertising" in the form of publicity for thier companies once per month.
Dang has said as much.
Dang has said as much.
+100. I'm also not touching this.
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is there ads? I was going to try it, but now I think I'll skip
The page says "ads". There's nothing wrong with writing software that makes money. There's nothing wrong with putting ads in the software. There's nothing wrong with not putting in ads. It's a defensible decision either way, I was just curious and thought I'd ask, and maybe learn something.
Kind of wrong to use another site's content and make money off of that.
Tell that to Google...,
They make almost all of their money from other sites contents and providing a service to make finding the content easier.
They make almost all of their money from other sites contents and providing a service to make finding the content easier.
You and me both. I see enough ads as it is and there are HN clients just don't show ads, so not sure why I would change to use one that does. It'd have to be a really good client.
Proprietary or free?
Free with Ads
I believe when asking for "proprietary or free?" it's usually about end-user freedoms, not monetary cost. "Free" as in "free speech", not as in "free beer".
Free as in https://www.gnu.org/
Basically open-source.
Basically open-source.
I'm sold for anything that has a "mark all read and hide them" option like the HNMarkAllRead chrome extention (which I actually use on FF, even on mobile).
Been playing with this on a Pixel C. Can't see a way to collapse threads?
Really like the tabbed interface though.
Really like the tabbed interface though.
Related: how do you consume hacker news? Using a dedicated Android or iOS app or directly opening the website in your mobile browser?
I use Firefox for HN (and all my other web content consumption) on both mobile and desktop. In that way I still get the benefit of all my synced browser features (e.g. add-ons) and avoid the edge cases where a page isn't textual and resorts to the browser anyway. The weakness of the experience - and where apps/add-ons have a niche - is reply notifications, comment tracking, etc. I would be more interested in a web-app type HN wrapper than anything native. That's not to disparage any native app designers, though! I appreciate that many people prefer that experience.
I use materialistic but have a bookmark to my comments page to regularly check if I receive replies, since there's no notification system and the profile view in materialistic is shit.
Haven't you found materialistic to have a big problem with comment collapsing and doubled comments?
Many times when I collapse a thread it will do so weirdly and a few comments will still be left visible. Many times I'll also have a single comment duplicated two or three times.
Many times when I collapse a thread it will do so weirdly and a few comments will still be left visible. Many times I'll also have a single comment duplicated two or three times.
Yeah I've run into the same issues but they're not annoying enough to leave honestly. Imo the reading experience on materialistic is so much better that I just put up with the weird duplicates/closing error.
Same here. But with a wider audience this lack of functional app would be unthinkable.
I use it in my mobile browser, mainly to try to force myself to visit other places, too. HN seems to have virtually no protection against large-scale astroturfing, and is big enough to be a target of it, so while I am skeptical of most things I read on here, I try to also just not expose myself too much to it.
And that also just because being skeptical of every piece of unsourced information isn't too great when having personal conversations. You don't have to believe every single rumor, but making people prove everything they tell you, that's just not very sociable.
And that also just because being skeptical of every piece of unsourced information isn't too great when having personal conversations. You don't have to believe every single rumor, but making people prove everything they tell you, that's just not very sociable.
Have you noticed instances on HN that seem to you to be astroturfing ?
I mean, it's impossible to say for sure that something is astroturfing, maybe it's just me having a particularly bad opinion of these companies, but for example Google and Microsoft often feel that way.
When you look at controversial topics with these two companies in them, you often see a whole load of negative comments and then one or two chains of comments that defend them, declare people being negative about it as being unreasonable and you generally have multiple accounts responding to each other, agreeing that this really isn't too bad. And of course, these comment chains have been voted to the top.
The last part doesn't have to be a result of astroturfing, HN's voting system encourages controversial comments, as more people are able to upvote than downvote comments, but yeah, that doesn't exactly make the platform as a whole a better place.
When you look at controversial topics with these two companies in them, you often see a whole load of negative comments and then one or two chains of comments that defend them, declare people being negative about it as being unreasonable and you generally have multiple accounts responding to each other, agreeing that this really isn't too bad. And of course, these comment chains have been voted to the top.
The last part doesn't have to be a result of astroturfing, HN's voting system encourages controversial comments, as more people are able to upvote than downvote comments, but yeah, that doesn't exactly make the platform as a whole a better place.
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Safari mobile. Works pretty well. I’d just wish they would support safari reader mode. But maybe that’s impossible with the comment structure
I've tried a number of apps, but I always end up coming back to the site itself.
It’s also so nice how quickly the site loads — that and the simplicity of HN’s mobile site makes for a very pleasant experience.
Same for me I’ve tried a few apps but always run into a few quirks that steered me back to the site itself. It’s essentially a pinned tab in Safari on my iPhone at this point.
Web browser.
None of the apps I've seen so far allow me to be logged in (and some I wouldn't trust), so what's the point?
None of the apps I've seen so far allow me to be logged in (and some I wouldn't trust), so what's the point?
minihack on iOS.
A read marker is missing. Just show the title a bit opaque
Looks very nice. I wish there were an iOS version.
Hopefully you have an iOS one out soon!
spicy_jew(1)
The free version will not have ads no more and the Premium version will have a beautiful dark theme.
What do you guys think ?