Free open source RSS Reader NetNewsWire 5 just got its release on iPhone and iPad, bringing over a handful of notable features that debuted in the redesigned Mac app, which launched last year.
As you'd expect from an RSS reader, the app collates articles from blogs and news sites that users can subscribe to using the Really Simple Syndication standard. (Here's MacRumors' RSS, for example.)
The difference with NetNewsWire is that it's specifically designed to be small, fast, and stable, while minimizing clutter and clearing a space for the simple pleasure of reading.
Like the Mac app, NetNewsWire for iOS includes the following features:
- Direct feed-downloading
- Syncing via Feedbin and Feedly
- Multiple accounts
- Dark Mode
- Reader view
- Share sheet
- Starred articles
- All Unread and Today smart feeds
- Folders
- Importing and exporting OPML feed lists
- Background refreshing
- Searching
- Hiding read articles
- Timeline customization
- Context menus
- Support for multiple windows
In addition, the iOS app includes a handy swipe left gesture to move on to the next article, and a button in the middle of the bottom toolbar that can be tapped to go to the next unread article. The iPad version also includes extensive support for keyboard shortcuts, just like the Mac app.
Like the Mac version, this is a 5.0 release, although developer Brent Simmons is pitching it as a brand-new app. That's fair enough when you consider that the first version of the iOS app was released back in 2008, after NewsGator acquired it in 2005. Simmons bought back the the NetNewsWire name and released NetNewsWire 5.0 for the Mac in August 2019.
You can download the Mac version of NetNewsWire 5.0 from the developer's website and the iOS version from the App Store. [Direct Link]
Top Rated Comments
Only thing it doesn’t do is Feedly, which means I can’t use Windows to read feeds - but it sounds like this doesn’t either on Mac yet. It uses iCloud syncing instead, which is great if you only use Apple devices.
Now I just want NetNewsWire Mac <--> iOS to supporting syncing via iCloud, or some server software that's self-hostable (why have some "you're the product" company track which feeds/articles you read, and most likely sell that data?)