Tell HN: Thank you for being fast, almost ad-free and text-only

Article summary

The author expresses gratitude for Hacker News being a fast, ad-free, and text-only platform, which they find refreshing compared to other websites like Reddit and Twitter. They appreciate the high signal-to-noise ratio and simplicity of the site. The author's only suggestion is to improve the mobile experience with larger fonts and better hit areas for expand/collapse buttons. This would make the site more accessible on smaller screens.

Main themes

• ad-free platforms
• text-only interfaces
• mobile optimization
• dark mode
• third-party apps
• website simplicity
• funding models
• user experience

What commenters say

• Some users prefer the old Reddit interface over the new one due to its simplicity and lack of bugs.
• The new Twitter interface has also been criticized for being buggy and having a poor user experience.
• Hacker News's ad-free and text-only nature is seen as a major advantage by many users.
• A dark mode feature would be a welcome addition to Hacker News, with some users already using custom CSS to achieve this.
• The use of third-party apps and extensions can help improve the user experience on websites like Reddit and Hacker News.
• Some users are concerned that Reddit may eventually remove the old interface and third-party app support, leading to a loss of functionality.
• The fact that Hacker News is funded by a VC firm allows it to remain ad-free and focused on community quality.
• There is a desire for more websites to adopt a simple, text-only approach, with some suggesting that this could be achieved through the use of RSS feeds and APIs.