---
title: "Hacker Smacker — App Overview"
url: https://marlvel.ai/intel-report/news/hacker-smacker
category: News
developer: NewsBlur, Inc.
platforms: ios
rating: N/A (0 ratings)
pricing: free
report_level: overview
generated: 2026-05-05
last_verified: "2026-05-05T12:57:33.500Z"
---

<!-- SECTION: Key Insight -->
> **Key Insight:** Hacker Smacker improves the signal-to-noise ratio on Hacker News by crowdsourcing comment moderation through a personal friend-and-foe tagging system.

<!-- SECTION: Quick Facts -->
| Metric | Value |
|--------|-------|
| Category | News |
| Rating | N/A ★ (0) |
| Pricing | free |
| Platforms | iOS |
| Latest Version (iOS) | 2.0 |
| Developer | NewsBlur, Inc. |

<!-- SECTION: Summary -->
## What is Hacker Smacker?

Hacker Smacker is a browser-based utility for Hacker News that allows users to curate their reading experience by tagging authors as friends or foes. By leveraging a social network of user-defined tags, it enables readers to quickly identify and prioritize high-quality comments while filtering out unwanted content.

<!-- SECTION: Key Features -->
## Key Features

- **Author Tagging**: Users can categorize authors as friends or foes using a three-orb interface next to each name.
- **Social Tag Sharing**: The app aggregates tagging data from friends who also use the tool to highlight their preferred and blocked commenters.
- **Thread Filtering**: Visual indicators allow users to scan long comment threads and focus on content from trusted authors.

<!-- SECTION: Target Audience -->
## Who is it for?

Frequent users of news.ycombinator.com looking to optimize their time spent reading comment threads.

<!-- SECTION: Links -->
## Links

- [App Store](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hacker-smacker/id1480749725?mt=12&uo=4)
- [Full Intelligence Report](https://marlvel.ai/intel-report/news/hacker-smacker)

---
*This is an overview report. Sentiment analysis, competitive landscape, and SWOT analysis are available in the [full intelligence report](https://marlvel.ai/intel-report/news/hacker-smacker).*
*Generated by [Marlvel.ai](https://marlvel.ai) — Independent app intelligence.*