Octal for Hacker News

Name: Octal for Hacker News
Rating: 4.8 (2798 reviews)
Author: Daniel Wu

By: Daniel Wu

Social developer & tech news

Features & Capabilities

Discover and discuss the latest Hacker News stories with Octal. This community-powered, ad-free news reader brings fast, clean reading for tech, programming, and startup news on iPhone and iPad.

Key features include voting, submitting links, commenting, and saving favorites; deep linking; robust search; and customizable story filters (Top Stories, Ask HN, Show HN, Best, New, Jobs). It supports Dark/ True Black themes, accessibility options, 2-pane iPad layouts, and privacy-first design with no ads or tracking. Optional Octal Premium unlocks extra features via a one-time purchase.

User Growth & Download Statistics

App News & Magazines Programming Developer Tools Privacy & Security Design Accessibility Open Source Community

By:

Daniel Wu

Rating:

4.80

(2,798) 11 new ratings

Version:

5.1.0 Last updated: 2026-07-03

Version code:

887699339

Creation date:

2017-11-26

Compatible devices:

Size:

7.62MB

URLs:

Website ,Privacy policy

Full description:

Source:

Apple Apps Store

Data ingested on:

2026-07-05

Compare stats and ranking:

Ranking

# 35,845 ▼ 277

Other rankings

#16 in developer keyword 68 ▲ 1#56 in hacker keyword 22 ▲ 2#84 in hack keyword 18 ▲ 5

For Developers

Monetize with App Pass Boost with Extension Booster

Contact the developer

Chrome-Stats does not own this Apple app. Please use these information below to contact the Apple app developer.

Developed by:

Daniel Wu

Apple Apps Store

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/octal-for-hacker-news/id1308885491

Website:

https://github.com/dangwu/Octal

User Reviews

Users broadly praise Octal for Hacker News as a polished, fast, native-feeling reader with a clean design and strong developer support. The most recurrent drawbacks are reliability-related: login/session instability, intermittent connectivity and refresh problems, and errors when voting or editing content even for premium users. Despite these issues, many reviews highlight the app’s quality and express positive sentiment toward its free core experience and ongoing fixes.

Pros

Polished, fast native-feeling UI
Elegant, intuitive design and overall high usability
Respects OS font sizes and supports dark mode
Developer is responsive and provides fixes/updates
Free core HN client with optional premium for quality-of-life improvements

Cons

Session/login instability (difficulty logging in and being logged out)
Reliability/connectivity issues (no connection messages, failed/slow refreshes, loading indicators getting stuck)
Action errors when voting or editing (issues persisting even with premium)

Recent reviews

The update released around June 16, 2026 randomly crashes when viewing an article's comments. This is an annoying regression for an app which has worked flawlessly for many years.