Clearer HN

Small, safe visual refinements that make Hacker News easier to read: clearer type, light/dark mode, and optional comment tools.

As of June 2026, Clearer HN has users in the Productivity category.

Usersno change0%
Ratingno change0%
— reviews
Reviewsno change0%
Version
1.0.0
Manifest V3

History

1 snapshots

Tracking since Jun 18, 2026.

Not enough history yet for this metric — the chart fills in as we collect more snapshots.
View as table
DateUsersRatingReviewsVersion
Jun 18, 20261.0.0
Now1.0.0

Permissions & access

Permissions
storage
Host access
None declared

Screenshots

Clearer HN screenshot 1Clearer HN screenshot 2

About

Clearer HN makes Hacker News easier to read — without changing how the site works.

Nothing moves. Same ranked list, the same upvote arrows in the same place, the same links, scores, and pagination. There's no layout overhaul and nothing to relearn — it just reads cleaner. Uninstall and you're back to plain HN instantly.

WHAT IT DOES
- A more legible feed — quieter metadata, clearer separators, and a little more breathing room between rows.
- 20 items per page — with the roomier rows, list pages cap at 20 so a page stays about as tall as default HN. Prev/Next paging updates the URL, so Back, Forward, and bookmarks behave normally, and it fetches HN's own pages behind the scenes so nothing is skipped. Toggleable.
- Better readability — higher-contrast metadata and comfortable line spacing in the comment view, without sacrificing HN's density.
- A slim, tidy header in place of HN's pipe-delimited bar, with the same links.
- Comment tools (opt-in) — collapse-all / expand-all / jump-to-next-new, an OP tag, markers for comments posted since your last visit, subtle depth guides on nested replies, and j / k / z keyboard navigation.
- Read / new-comment tracking — stories you've opened dim so your eye skips them, and stories with new comments since your last visit show a "+N" badge.
- A "Replies to me" filter on the threads page.
- Submit-page hints — live title length, Show/Ask/Tell prefix detection, and a duplicate-URL check.
- Light / dark / auto theme switcher.

Every feature can be turned off from the toolbar popup.

PRIVACY
No backend, no analytics, no tracking. Your settings and read-state are stored locally on your device. The extension requests a single permission (storage) and runs only on news.ycombinator.com.

Not affiliated with Y Combinator or Hacker News. "Hacker News" is a trademark of Y Combinator. Clearer HN is an independent, unofficial extension.

Technical

Version
1.0.0
Manifest
V3
Size
23.88KiB
Min Chrome
88
Languages
1
Featured
No

Metadata

ID
kmklgjeahockdiefpenkcgdgbbkpjaph
Developer ID
ua78681017dc8bbd02c66fefdccbf8af3
Developer Email
[email protected]
Created
Jun 17, 2026
Last Updated (Store)
Jun 17, 2026
Last Scraped
Jun 18, 2026
Website
Support URL

Data sourced from the Chrome Web Store · last verified Jun 18, 2026.