Hacker News Reader

Also replying to this even though I commented below (definitely relevant).

Nice, thanks. In combination with this extension (which highlights the actual unread comments) it works out great: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/imeeonmdbakdmiln...

Updates every couple of minutes - but if you move to another tab (and leave HN open) no updates will happen until you get back.

Just curious: is this out of some Chrome extension limitation or to cut down on unnecessary refreshes?

This is part of the original script, out of my control.

All the extension actually does is load the original script when you visit HN.