I think the quality / substance of the content here, both the links shared and the discussions, essentially makes the issues with design or features nearly irrelevant. There's nothing else out there like HN.
It's the same reason Craigslist continues to do what it does, despite it hardly changing a decade after people were already shocked it was still doing so well.
Reddit is also in the same boat. It's all about the content.
When using HN on desktop, I regularly get annoyed trying to aim and upvote, making sure I don't accidentally downvote. I never use HN on mobile because it's so terrible (there are of course mobile shells for HN out there). Ultimately I end up not caring all that much about the negatives, they minimally detract.
It's the same reason Craigslist continues to do what it does, despite it hardly changing a decade after people were already shocked it was still doing so well.
Reddit is also in the same boat. It's all about the content.
When using HN on desktop, I regularly get annoyed trying to aim and upvote, making sure I don't accidentally downvote. I never use HN on mobile because it's so terrible (there are of course mobile shells for HN out there). Ultimately I end up not caring all that much about the negatives, they minimally detract.