April 5, 2026
Fast app, faster flamewar
Ask HN: Is there any interest in a native Qt/C++ Discord client?
A fast, no-bloat Discord app sparks cheers, TOS panic, and “no voice, no dice”
TLDR: A developer unveiled “kind,” a super‑fast, native Discord app with no web bloat, but voice chat isn’t ready. The comments erupted: fans cheered the speed, skeptics warned of possible bans for third‑party clients, and many said no voice means no switch—especially outside Linux, where demand is loudest.
Hacker News lit up after a solo dev teased “kind (kind is not discord),” a super‑fast, no‑bloat Discord app for Windows, Mac, and Linux. No web shell, no Electron—just instant loads, smart caching, and a long list of working bits like message rendering, markdown, and a snappy image cache. The dev bragged it feels like opening a plain text file, with 370 tests to back it up. Voice chat and paid perks like Nitro? “Later.”
Then the comments went full reality TV. One fan rolled up with receipts and offered help, flexing past Qt projects. Another slammed the brakes: “TOS alert!” Using third‑party clients could get you banned, they warned, name‑dropping past renegade apps and mourning the legend Ripcord. A jokester sniffed out “vibe coding,” dunking on the dev’s list of “grown‑up” features like rate limits and backoff. Meanwhile, the anti‑Electron crowd roared approval—“anything but the memory hog”—while a pragmatic chorus asked the hard question: no voice, why bother?
Bottom line: the thread split three ways—performance purists drooling over speed, rule‑followers fearfully clutching the Terms of Service, and power users demanding voice first. Windows folks seem meh; Linux diehards are ready yesterday. It’s a hype train with a giant TOS sign and a missing microphone bolted to the front.
Key Points
- •A native Discord client called “kind” is being built in C++ and Qt 6 for Windows, macOS, and Linux, without Electron or web wrappers.
- •The app prioritizes instant UI load; first load depends on network, while subsequent loads use a local cache validated against REST in the background.
- •Implemented features include gateway with exponential backoff/reconnect, REST with per-route rate limiting, and a SQLite-backed cache with async I/O.
- •The client supports full Discord permission resolution, comprehensive message rendering, a markdown parser, async image caching, and persistent unread/mute state, with 370 tests passing.
- •Voice and Discord Nitro features are planned for post-launch; the developer is gauging interest beyond Linux power users and potential Windows adoption.