Show HN: New Android app, paid and open source from the start | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: New Android app, paid and open source from the start

play.google.com

16 pointsmparramon12 comments

It would be great if the title said anything at all about what the app does.

Those screenshots look both ugly and hard to read. The colors and font really don't work well.

I checked the MetaFilter website and it looks somewhat better, although I still don't like the colors.

This is the MVP. Really minimum, in this case.

The repo contains the bin folder, which has the .apk checked in. https://github.com/mparramont/metafilter-for-android/blob/ma...

You can install for free as fast as paid. Is the point to pay out of goodwill, or should a little more hassle be introduced?

Didn't think about that, thanks! I'll consider removing it from there.

Please (please) add some padding to the text. Edge to edge in this case really doesn't work.

Other feedback: I know you say what's coming next in development. Maybe add some text about what is already there, so users aren't disappointed.

Both good ideas, added to my todo list, thanks.

Actually, someone just added refresh button functionality and some padding through a Pull Request :D It'll be up on the Play Store ASAP.

I fixed some other stuff (like the icon) while fixing the padding. I don't know if you'll have any use for it now that that pull request has been made but maybe you'll find something in this useful:

https://github.com/mparramont/metafilter-for-android/pull/2

This is a new idea.

How exactly will this work? I mean opening the code and keeping the app paid. Will accepted pull requests get a cut of the money?

How long before someone takes this code and builds another reader for metafilter?

There are quite a few examples of open source but paid applications. One that comes to mind is Gina Trapani's Todo.txt app that someone forked, cleaned up and put on the Google play store. She went into that quite a bit on her podcast: http://5by5.tv/inbeta/47. If your app is open source, don't be surprised if that happens. Such scenarios are part of the value you are claiming.

Update for however is still reading: today I got the first two paying users :D Thanks a lot for your support! (PRs, suggestions and comments).

Reply on news.ycombinator.com