RedHN is a Reddit-style extension for Hacker News.
I have been a heavy Reddit user for years, and it shaped what comfortable reading feels like to me.
I also love reading Hacker News. The quality of the links, the density of the comments, and the way technical discussions can turn into surprisingly deep threads keep me coming back. But especially on mobile, the default interface has always bothered me. It is fast and durable, but it can make long reading sessions feel more effortful than they need to be.
RedHN started from that tension. I did not want to replace Hacker News, and I did not want to make a general "modern HN" redesign. I wanted a specific thing: Hacker News content with a reading flow that feels much closer to Reddit.
A Different Kind of HN Redesign
There have already been good attempts to improve the Hacker News experience. Projects like Modern for HN, Orange Juice, and Refined HN address many real UX issues and do thoughtful work in their own directions.
RedHN has a different goal. It is not a neutral cleanup or a thin visual polish layer. It asks a more opinionated question: what would Hacker News feel like if its reading experience borrowed more from Reddit?
That question drove the main decisions. Stories should feel easier to scan. Comment threads should be easier to follow. Common actions should be close to the content. Mobile should feel like a first-class reading surface, not just a smaller version of the desktop page.
At the same time, RedHN still needs to make sense as Hacker News. HN has its own culture and expectations, and not every Reddit pattern belongs there. I tried to borrow the comfort without turning the site into something that forgets what it is.
Opinionated, but Still Hacker News
One important boundary is that Hacker News stays intact underneath. Voting, replying, favoriting, hiding, logging in, and submitting still go through HN. Links remain HN links. RedHN is a reading and interaction layer, not a separate service, and settings and reading state stay local.
That makes RedHN more opinionated than a lightweight polish layer. It changes the rhythm of using Hacker News, and long-time HN readers may need a moment to find their footing. Some people may simply not like the Reddit influence, and that is fair. Taste is part of the product decision here.
The project is not perfect, and some decisions may change. But the direction is intentional: RedHN is for people who like Hacker News and want a more familiar, mobile-friendly, Reddit-like way to read it.
If that sounds useful, you can read more on the RedHN project page or check out the source code and README. Feature requests, bug reports, and contributions are very welcome.