iPhone RSS apps have come a long way in recent months – there are now some very strong choices available if you need a good RSS reader that syncs with Google Reader …
There used to be little or no choice when looking for a good iPhone RSS reader application, if you were a user who needed sync with Google Reader. For a long time, the Google Reader web app was head and shoulders above the rest in this area.
I’ve kept up with a number of native iPhone RSS apps over recent months though, and I’m happy to say that by now there are a lot of good options out there – even if you require full two-way sync with GReader. So I thought this might be a good time to give a brief rundown of 6 good iPhone RSS apps that provide full sync with GReader.
This is not meant to be a comprehensive look at all the RSS reader apps for the iPhone – it is just a look at six of them that I believe are well worth a look if you need an app in this category.
I started out on this post drafting notes and putting together a table to compare some common, key features amongst the apps – but as I went along I found that most of them had check marks in most of the boxes. So it seemed better to drop the table and just note in the text where an app lacks a common feature, or where an app really excels in its implementation of a key feature.
Here are just a few examples of those common, key features that you should be able to expect and demand in an iPhone RSS app (assuming you need / use these yourself):
- A good inline browser
- Ability to star items and share items – and two-way sync of these items.
- Some level of offline reading capability
- Sharing (of news items) via email, Twitter, and Instapaper, Read it Later, and similar methods.
Please note that all eight of these apps are quite strong in a number of areas, so on some of them my comments are restricted to only the things that stand out about them, whether they are a missing feature here and there, or a very notable strong point.
And here are the 6 iPhone good RSS apps:
FeedsPrice: $3.99
Description:
Nice UI and strong feature set. Shows only feeds that contain unread items (which I like) but does not provide a setting to toggle this on and off, which is a better implementation. The list of feed items is drab – showing the article title only, rather than title plus small excerpt of the beginning of the article. Takes longer to sync at startup and be ready to go (showing all feeds etc)
MobileRSSPrice: $2.99
Description
One of the newer RSS apps around. Very nice UI, and a good feature set. Offers an All Items type view for whole folders. Uses icon buttons for sharing and starring – which makes it very easy to see that status at a glance.
Uses Tweetie’s pull down to refresh method – nice.
Let’s you choose whether to show all feeds or just those with new items.
Shows folders for tags – which I do not like, as it makes the view way too busy. This should be something that can be toggled off.
Syncs nicely while letting you carry on browsing.
Price: $0.99
Description
Not the greatest looking interface, but very stable and has a strong and lengthy set of features and options.
Very slow on sync – shows you status while syncing, which is nice – but it does not allow you to do anything else while it’s syncing.
Inline browser not as nice as others.
BylinePrice: $3.99
Description
Good offline mode, very stable, relatively fast sync.
The UI is quite plain, not as attractive as others in my opinion.
Shows folders rather than list of subscriptions in main view and there’s no ability to view a single feed at a time, they just get title-bar style labels within one big folder. I much prefer being able to expand and collapse out the view of individual feeds.
Price: Free (with ads) and $4.99 for Premium, ad-free version
Description
This one was my favorite for a while. It has a simple UI that feels comfortable to work with, and syncs very quickly while allowing you to carry on interacting with it as it goes. It has a few missing features that are big ones for me though – the ability to share items or see your shared items within the app and the ability to only see feeds that contain unread items are two of the biggest misses for me.
NewsstandPrice: $4.99
Description
My current go-to app, and has been for some weeks.
Nicest interface of all contenders. Clean, easy to navigate, items list within individual feeds well done and shows a bit of article body content below title.
Excellent inline browser.
Also offers an interesting coverflow-ish landscape view.
Fast syncing – and lets you continue reading and using the app as it syncs.
Lets you choose to view only feeds with unread items
Final Thoughts
As with many app categories, the best app for you, just as for me, comes down largely to personal preferences – a little feature here or there that is a must-have for me, and a ‘meh’ for another user. Any of these six apps should do a fine job for you as an iPhone RSS reader, and keep you happily syncing away with Google Reader.
Please let me know in the comments about apps I’ve missed and which are your favorite iPhone RSS apps.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
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I love Newsstand. The interface is beautiful. Functionality with ReadItLater and Twitter is fantastic. Great app
Yup – that's pretty much my thoughts on it as well.
Hey Patrick,
What I want in an RSS reader is a clean interface, fast 2 way synching and something that shows all unread posts. I now have over 2000 in NetNewsWire Desktop. Byline only shows the newest 200.
Hey Alicia – I hate that when apps chop off new items at 200/400 etc. as well. Not sure that any of them show absolutely all though when you get up into the thousands of unread items. Newsstand an NetNewsWire come close I believe. Most of these mentioned do pretty fast sync – Doppler and Byline are among the slower ones in my usage, and Newsstand and NetNewsWire are the fastest.
Yeah, NetNewsWire was PERFECT until their move to Google reader (nothing to do with Google just their app changed) – guess I will keep on looking…
And have you tried Newsstand yet?
Which one are you using right now? I'm on NewsNetStand but the fact you can't share items and mark them as unread are really annoying.
I didn't notice you are using the last one. Sorry for the mistake, you can delete the comments if you want
Try Newsie. Great interface, awesome favorites implementation, currently my go-to app. Only downside is it takes awhile to mark all feeds as read.
I did give Newsie a try. Didn't like it much – not fond of its different treatment of some of the standard things – like talking about your Inbox in an RSS app. That's not a term I associate with RSS at all. Some may love its different approach in a few areas – it just sort of turned me off.
Reeder has a gorgeous interface, is really fast and is now my favourite google rss client.
Don't forget Reeder. Definitely my favourite, I've tried all of the ones listed in the post and none of them hold a candle to Reeder. Reeder syncs fast, lets you browse while syncing, has a great interface, and robust sharing options.
You should try Reeder. For my use case (lots of feeds) the best one out there. It may not have as many features as some of the other ones listed here yet, but it's very fast. Give it a try.
I did look at Reeder guys – did not find it as nice to work with as others. As for the lost of feeds use case, how many do we consider lots? I have around 220.
Maybe you tried it before 1.2 came out? Improved a lot.
I don't have 220 feeds as you, but with my ca. 100 feeds and 1500 unread items Reeder works best for me. Ah well, as long as everyone can now find a RSS reader that works for them
Cool – glad you've found a good solution as well – that's a lot of information to manage and having a good iPhone app to work with is a big help.
Damn, I was going to write the exact same post this next week. I guess I will just link to your post since you did a good job at sorting out the best RSS readers.
I personally use Byline. I really like it because it's fast and I love the offline mode. I tried NetNewsWire but I found it too plain. NewsStand is too much, if that makes sense.
Hey world traveler – hope your trip's going well and you're having a blast. That's funny that you were planning a post on the same topic. I think I know what you mean by too much – that was my initial impression of Newsstand, but I've grown to like it a whole lot.
Has anyone tried my6sense?
Yes, as a web app and a native app.
Patrick, I've been using "RSS Flash g" for some time now. I would say it is one of the best readers out there, in its current version. Features: 2 way sync, offline browsing, pull down to refresh, shake to toggle full screen, configurable swipe actions, folder/feed view selection, Facebook/Twitter/Instapaper integration, etc. One negative.. It seems to have a large memory footprint, which might impact the jailbreakers who rely on Backgrounder (on 2G or 3G – I'm sure such is non-existent with the better hardware in the 3GS). I don't think I've seen it reviewed before, which is shame because it is a relatively slick app. It's kept me from using Greader in Safari; Greader is great, but I mostly prefer to not use web apps. If you have an opportunity you should check it out.
http://ebisu-soft.com/rss-flash-g/
Thanks Michael – I may give that one a look.
Do any of these support grabbing the subscriptions from an opml file or url?
Grabbing by URL should be supported by all I imagine. From an opml is definitely supported by Feeds and Newsstand, possibly by some of the others also.
Did you try out Reeder, and if you have is it any good? Because I've seen it mentioned in other sites.
Yes I have tried Reeder. It's a capable app but I don't like it as much as the apps mentioned here. Your mileage may vary of course.
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