Polar
Productivity
reading and annotation
SHOW HN2018
382points
69comments
#46of 2,155 in 2018
Top 3%of 2018 by points
How HN took it
MixedNo clear lean
14 positive, 16 neutral or asking, 4 mixed, 8 critical, out of 42 comments about the project. Thread score +0.10.
Idea: 10 for, 2 againstExecution: 1 for, 5 againstDesign: 1 for, 0 againstPrivacy: 0 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Annotation support and Anki integration are useful
From 3 comments
I was soo looking for a tool like this. I considered Zotero which is much too research-focussed for me. I really appreciate the annotation support and Anki integration! Thank you…
arunaugustine on HNWow, looks great, polished. Annotations are a wonderful extension. I've been using iBooks for pdf collecting, but this should blow that out of the water, with the cross-platform…
mrkstu on HNSpeaking as a technical writer, this look like it could have a lot of applications for me. The annotations are wonderful. An IDE for books and web content is a great concept that…
Sgt_Apone on HN
Polished, free and open source with offline-first design
From 3 comments
Wow, looks great, polished. Annotations are a wonderful extension. I've been using iBooks for pdf collecting, but this should blow that out of the water, with the cross-platform…
mrkstu on HNI really like where this is going, it seems a bit rough around the edges right now (which is totally fine!) but functional enough to be useful. Really happy it's free, open…
clvcooke on HNThis looks great! Been hoping for something like this for a while that is especially: free, open source, office first!
nyxtom on HN
Objections
Electron app feels heavy and rough around the edges
From 2 comments
I was hoping and looking for ePub support, and it's listed in the long term section of the roadmap. That's the main feature I'd want. This looks really nice (though I'm not a fan…
wtmt on HNI really like where this is going, it seems a bit rough around the edges right now (which is totally fine!) but functional enough to be useful. Really happy it's free, open…
clvcooke on HN
Missing ePub support
From 2 comments
I was hoping and looking for ePub support, and it's listed in the long term section of the roadmap. That's the main feature I'd want. This looks really nice (though I'm not a fan…
wtmt on HNThis is neat, but to me it looks more conceptually like "personal ebook reader you can sync across machines (and can also import web pages)" than "offline browser". Edit:…
crooked-v on HN
Linux snap package crashes; deb works
From 3 comments
Unfortunately, the snap dies with this error for me on Ubuntu: https://www.pastery.net/vfyfyj/
StavrosK on HNYes. The debs work on Ubuntu. REALLY sorry about the snap packages. They are apparently broken due to a bug in Ubuntu's snap but I don't have a work around. Could you try to…
burtonator on HNUnfortunately it seems to already be installed, so I don't know what else I could install :/ Almost all the entries in apt that have canberra in the name are already installed.…
StavrosK on HN
Requests
ePub support
From 2 comments
I was hoping and looking for ePub support, and it's listed in the long term section of the roadmap. That's the main feature I'd want. This looks really nice (though I'm not a fan…
wtmt on HNThis is neat, but to me it looks more conceptually like "personal ebook reader you can sync across machines (and can also import web pages)" than "offline browser". Edit:…
crooked-v on HN
Mobile app for iOS and Android
From 3 comments
I was hoping and looking for ePub support, and it's listed in the long term section of the roadmap. That's the main feature I'd want. This looks really nice (though I'm not a fan…
wtmt on HNI'm also really interested in a mobile app. Currently I am using Pocket, but something like this (especially synced) would be golden. Pocket is just too unpredictable in it's web…
raihansaputra on HNWould use if it supported Android.
georgewsinger on HN
Chrome extension for saving pages
From 3 comments
I really like where this is going, it seems a bit rough around the edges right now (which is totally fine!) but functional enough to be useful. Really happy it's free, open…
clvcooke on HNWaiting forward for the Chrome extension. I'd rather not have another app open all the time / or open it each time I want to add a bookmark. Meanwhile, I'd find helpful a…
pax on HN"Send tab/link to Polar" Firefox and chrome extensions could be useful.
vezycash on HN
Video annotation support
From 2 comments
I _cannot_ wait to start playing around with this. It really does seem to tick off all the boxes I've been looking for. Do you have any plans / strategy / tips for handling…
noahdesu on HNSomething like this would be great for video, and I've been watching a lot of talks in video form lately. Generally, though, I'm watching talks on iOS devices... bouncing between…
dangoor on HN
Questions
Does it support OCR
From 1 comment
Are there plans for OCR?
antoineMoPa on HN
How does it handle multiple clients syncing the same library
From 1 comment
Very nice. What happens when two clients open the same document library at the same time? Do they only overwrite content if you add comments etc? We created a web based multiuser…
bjelkeman-again on HN
Alternatives named
Zotero
From 2 comments
I was soo looking for a tool like this. I considered Zotero which is much too research-focussed for me. I really appreciate the annotation support and Anki integration! Thank you…
arunaugustine on HNLoving the idea, will definitely battle test it. Idea: consider linking it up with fx. Zotero, so you don't need to maintain two document repositories.
ilprincipe on HN
Pocket
From 2 comments
I've already got dedicated eBook readers and article stashers (Pocket, usually), but I can see an excellent use for this: Gamefaqs walkthrough companion. Right now if I want to…
AdmiralAsshat on HNThis looks great, I'd love to have a local backup of saved documents. Currently I'm using pocket which I love because it's so easy to share a document from any of my different…
bkberry352 on HN
Wallabag
From 1 comment
https://wallabag.org covers your complaints with pocket and also has an API.
snthd on HN
iBooks
From 1 comment
Wow, looks great, polished. Annotations are a wonderful extension. I've been using iBooks for pdf collecting, but this should blow that out of the water, with the cross-platform…
mrkstu on HN