I didn’t know that! I really wanted to know if people are interested in that type of product or not, the app is almost ready, actually I’m in beta testing step
It's okay, we all miss these guidelines from time to time but if you wanted to know if people are interested in that type of product or not before launch, you can join the monthly discussion "Ask HN: What are you working on?" [1]. If the HN community is interested in your idea, you will get a lot of feedback/questions to validate your concept.
I cannot tolerate comments like this one. I’m aware of what was the NFT shit stuff, if you check my art stuff you can find that are just wallpapers made with processing without any profit but made just because I like art in every form. Second, I actually do not have any profit idea, maybe in the future some tinder style card banner for ads, obv not now that I have just a POC.
I think you’re right. The “TikTok” phrasing was useful shorthand for the interaction model and as provocation, but it also sends the wrong signal about the goal.
Good idea. Right now I started with iOS because I wanted to experiment with the reading/saving flow and on-device features, but an accountless web preview would probably make sense, especially for HN.
Hi everyone, creator of Papel here. First off, thank you so much for the interest in my idea and for all the feedback, both the positive and the highly critical. I’m reading every single comment.
I want to step in and address a recurring theme in the negative feedback, specifically around the 'TikTok for papers' comparison. I completely admit that the tagline is intentionally provocative. However, the core idea isn't about 'just' scrolling.
The vision for Papel is to build a social network based in serendipity.
Right now, if you want a feed populated entirely by the latest arXiv papers, doing so on X or LinkedIn feels unusual. Your academic interests maybe can fight against general noise, politics, or tech drama. The goal of Papel is to create a highly specific, niche community where a recommendation engine (similar in efficiency to TikTok's or X's 'For You' algorithms) serves purely educational and scientific discovery (also implementing the Duolingo game engagement style...) .
Often, the most impactful papers you read are the ones you weren't actively searching for. I want to scale that exact feeling of walking past a random, fascinating poster at an academic conference.
I completely understand the inherent skepticism on HN regarding algorithmic feeds, but the direction where to put in my app is specific discovery, not addiction.
Thanks again for the tough love, the UX critiques, and the skepticism, it’s incredibly valuable and exactly why I launched it here. Happy to answer any specific questions!
