Hacker NewsPlatform Guide

Listen to Hacker News Articles as Audio

The HN front page, narrated for your commute

Hacker News surfaces the best articles across tech, science, startups, and engineering every day. But the front page moves fast and articles pile up. speakeasy lets you convert any HN-linked article into audio so you can stay current without being glued to your screen. Paste the article URL, pick a voice, and turn your commute into a tech briefing. With speakeasy, converting Hacker News content to audio is as simple as sharing a link. Our extraction engine is optimized for Hacker News's page structure, ensuring clean text extraction even from complex layouts. Once converted, your audio syncs across all your Apple devices through iCloud, ready to play whenever you are.

How it works

Step 1
Find an article on Hacker News and copy its URL
Step 2
Paste the article link into speakeasy
Step 3
Choose a voice and speed — 1.5x is great for technical content
Step 4
Listen during your commute, walk, or workout

Why Hacker News content works great as audio

Hacker News is home to some of the web's most compelling blog posts, research papers, news articles linked from hn. The platform's writers tend to produce well-structured, text-rich articles that convert beautifully to audio. Unlike heavily visual platforms, Hacker News's content is primarily text-based, which means almost nothing is lost in the audio conversion.

This makes Hacker News one of the best sources for building an audio listening library. Whether you follow specific writers or browse by topic, there's always a steady stream of new content worth converting. speakeasy's natural AI voices bring these articles to life, preserving the author's tone and pacing in a way that feels authentic.

Getting started with Hacker News audio

The fastest way to start listening to Hacker News content is through the iOS share sheet. When you find an article on Hacker News that you want to hear, tap the share button and select speakeasy. The app extracts the text, converts it to audio, and adds it to your library — all in a matter of seconds.

You can also copy and paste Hacker News URLs directly into speakeasy's input field. This works from any device, making it easy to queue articles from your desktop browser for later listening on your phone. speakeasy handles Hacker News's specific page structure and formatting, so the extracted text is clean and well-organized for audio playback.

Best practices for Hacker News listening

To get the most out of listening to Hacker News content, consider building a routine around it. Many users queue 3-5 articles in the evening and listen during their morning commute. This creates a natural habit that helps you stay current with the Hacker News writers and topics you care about.

For longer Hacker News articles (10+ minutes of audio), consider using a slightly slower playback speed to catch nuances. For news and commentary pieces, 1.3-1.5x often works well. speakeasy remembers your playback position, so you can pause mid-article and resume exactly where you left off.

Building a Hacker News audio collection

Over time, your collection of converted Hacker News articles becomes a valuable personal resource. Unlike bookmarking (where articles pile up unread), audio conversion ensures you actually consume the content. speakeasy's library keeps everything organized with titles, sources, and dates, making it easy to revisit favorites.

The iCloud sync means your entire Hacker News audio collection is available on both iPhone and Mac. Start an article on your phone during your commute, then finish it on your MacBook at your desk. For prolific Hacker News readers, this workflow can easily replace 30-60 minutes of daily screen time with productive audio content.

Why Hacker News is great for audio

Hacker News's text-rich content converts cleanly to natural-sounding audio

One-tap conversion via the iOS share sheet or URL paste

Articles sync across all your Apple devices through iCloud

Build a personal audio library of your favorite Hacker News content

Hacker News at a glance

Content types
Blog posts, research papers, news articles linked from HN
Typical length
5–20 minute reads
Popular topics
ProgrammingStartupsSystems DesignAI/MLOpen Source

Why speakeasy for Hacker News?

The HN community curates some of the best technical content on the web, but much of it is long and dense. speakeasy's neural voices handle technical writing well — including code-adjacent prose and jargon-heavy posts. Build a queue of the day's top articles and listen through them like a personalized tech podcast.

Frequently asked questions

speakeasy app icon

speakeasy

Turn reading into listening

Get
AGES
4+
Years
CATEGORY
Education
DEVELOPER
STUDIO.GOLD
LANGUAGE
EN
English
SIZE
28
MB
speakeasy home screen
Paste an article
Audio player
Supported sources
Playback speed
Local library
iPhone

Turn any article into natural-sounding audio. Paste a link, press play, and stay informed while you move.

Coming soon on Android

More platforms you can listen to