Gander
Dev tools
file viewer
SHOW HN2026
How HN took it
13 positive, 15 neutral or asking, 0 mixed, 1 critical, out of 29 comments about the project. Thread score +0.38.
Idea: 4 for, 0 againstPrivacy: 1 for, 1 againstDesign: 2 for, 0 againstExecution: 1 for, 0 againstPerformance: 1 for, 0 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
Fast and responsive, especially PDFs
From 1 comment
The app is pleasingly very responsive. I don't think I've used anything else on Android that lets me open and close PDFs rapidly without getting bogged down. Nice!
array4277 on HN
Offline, privacy-respecting design
From 2 comments
Great. You built an excellent tool to solve a real-world problem: being able to open files on the fly without granting internet access and without having to install 400 MB…
chesscoachx on HNThis is all very true, unfortunately. Google designed Android as a an OS for internet appliances. They're not interested in local-only apps working on local files. But I think…
andyjohnson0 on HN
Markdown preview and wrapped plain text
From 1 comment
Two things I really like: 1. Markdown loads as preview 2. Plain text files wrap instead of scrolling to the right Good job and thank you for sharing
collabs on HN
Objections
Requires JDK 17 and Android 14 build limits for some users
From 1 comment
This is super cool. > Requirements: JDK 17+ and the Android SDK (platform 35). Bummer. I am stuck with Android 14 for the moment.
est on HN
Office rendering is approximate, not faithful
From 1 comment
pptx by a mile. A slide is absolutely positioned shapes with a whole layout inheritance thing going on so the JS renderer ends up reimplementing a whole layout engine, and it…
mokshablr on HN
Requests
Publish to F-Droid or Google Play
From 3 comments
Tried it and I love it. Good work! Have you considered hosting it on F-Droid?
dheerajvs on HNCould you publish to a store? Either/or Google Play or F-Droid
nextaccountic on HNUseful application. I hope the author will upload it to the store and pass Google verification
maxzhdev on HN
Support ODT and ODS formats
From 1 comment
Can you add odt, ods, etc support? I use libreoffice viewer but it would be nice to reduce the number of apps on my device.
sgc on HN
Dark mode for document content
From 1 comment
Thanks for sharing. Could it be possible to add optional force-dark mode for documents as well? The feature list mentioned dark mode, but that's for app's own UI. The really…
atmanactive on HN
Support for RTF and legacy DOC
From 2 comments
Can this open .rtf files? I know it's old, but I still receive them from time to time.
celsoazevedo on HNWell done! > A tiny, open source, fully offline file viewer for Android that opens PDF, Word, Perhaps correct Word to DOCX. Word is not just DOCX and DOCX is not just Word. This…
chrisjj on HN
Questions
How the no-internet guarantee holds on Android
From 2 comments
This is interesting. I thought granting internet access to apps is not avoidable on Android. When an app does not request internet, is it really guaranteed that it cannot talk to…
TekMol on HNThis is a great idea - but doesn't Android inject network permission into all apks? It did in the past.
noja on HN
How file access works without storage permissions
From 1 comment
How does this work? I was under the impression that newer android sdk versions required permissions to access the filesystem... if you're using an older sdk, I can't really…
nubinetwork on HN
Accessibility with screen readers
From 1 comment
Great work! A tool like this is sorely needed. How is accessibility? Do PDFs work with screenreaders for example?
freedomben on HN
Alternatives named
LibreOffice viewer
From 1 comment
Can you add odt, ods, etc support? I use libreoffice viewer but it would be nice to reduce the number of apps on my device.
sgc on HN
Little File Explorer
From 1 comment
Seems nice, will check it out. I liked this one as well: "Little File Explorer – File Manager for Android 1.0 and above" 28.dec.2023 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38789958
HelloUsername on HN