As I’ve mentioned in several ‘coming soon’ type posts on NetNewsWire 2.0, I’ve been looking forward to seeing this new version very much – as it is the version that adds sync with Google Reader.
2.0 is out tonight. I grabbed the update as soon as I saw it, have been giving it a look and have some early first impressions to share.
The Surprising New Look
Here’s my very first impression of the big new NetNewsWire 2.0: The new icon is much snazzier than the new look and UI of the app itself. This is the snazzy new icon:
And this is the new main screen within the app:
For me, there is a pretty stark contrast between the slick, lovely new icon and the very basic, drab look of the app itself. It features that very old-school, basic cookie-cutter iPhone app interface – and, at least for me, is a bit disappointing feeling on first look.
Here’s a look at a rival native RSS app, Feeds, and its comparable main screen:
And an individual news item in NetNewsWire and then in Feeds:
The app has now split into two versions in its 2.0 incarnation – the free version is now ad-supported, and there is a new ‘Premium’ version for $1.99, with no ads but also with no additional features as far as I can see.
The ads in the free version are not too intrusive but are certainly noticeable…
Maybe muted or subtle is a better way to describe the UI. Here’s a general listing of feeds and the NYT’s individual feed page:
Here’s how subtle the marking of a starred item is. You tap on the star button down at the bottom of the screen, and a very subtle grey star appears at the top right of the item:
The settings options for the app are also very basic, with literally three items to modify via the Settings app (none within the app itself): username for Google Reader account, whether to display news items with latest at top or bottom, and InstaPaper account details.
What’s New – Apart from Google Reader Sync?
Here are some of the other new items listed on the App Store page for Version 2.0:
- Lots for performance enhancements
- Expand and collapse folders
- Save to InstaPaper, send to Twitter, or send email without leaving the application.
- New views for starred items and for latest news (published in the last 24 hours)
How’s The New Google Reader Sync?
This is definitely quite impressive so far – easily the thing that has left the best first impression. Sync seems relatively fast, especially from NetNewsWire to GReader, though less so going in the other direction.
I like that the sync also feels very solid. It has not crashed at all for me so far, lets me browse feeds while it is syncing, remains fully responsive during sync, and shows good and rapidly updated status information while syncing.
This sync is THE big new feature I’ve been so keen to see, and so far it looks good.
Some Missing Things
Some features that I’d like and expect to see, and that I do not see are:
An option to hide feeds that have no unread items
Shared items are not shown – and you cannot share an item via the app
No ‘All Items’ view.
For me, these are basic – and important – features that should really be in this version.
Overall
So that’s it for quick first night (and late night) thoughts on NetNewsWire 2.0. Mixed feelings for now. I very much want to like this app. I like the sync, and feel like maybe the very basic look will grow on me. I don’t like the missing features noted above, and I really hope NetNewsWire will prove its past reputation (for lack of updates) wrong and provide a swift update to add these missing items.
You can find both versions of NetNewsWire in the App Store now. I’m not linking it right now because I find it confusing that the free version is still showing an old 1.x version number and icon, despite the fact mine was updated to 2.0 tonight.
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That really sucks….it sounds like overall the update was a disappointment. Sorry, I know how u were anticipating it. I don't know if you've tried it, but the app Byline has been my personal favorite! It uses my feeds from google reader, and definitely has a snazzier interface than this. Also you can easily share feeds(opens up the mail app to send but does resume where you were when u restart it) and it has a pretty competant built in browser. There is also a button to launch any feed you are reading in the safari app. I've been very pleased with it's performance. Worth checking out if u haven't already.
It did feel a bit disappointing at first, and still does – but it is growing on me. I've found a couple smaller features I like, the sync seems rock solid, and the simple UI is OK to work with. You can share items to Twitter and via email or save to InstaPaper without leaving the app. Its built-in browser is OK as well, and there is an easy way to open an item in Safari.
So a number of common features are here in this version. I have tried Byline a few times in the past – could never stick with it.
I can understand. I know being able to directly "tweet" a feed is a big plus for you, and byline doesn't support that. I guess that's why there are so many variations of the same type of apps, everybody has their own set of prerequisites they need filled! Lol
Patrick, i am not a big fan of this app…i still prefer the web based version of google reader
I do too at the moment – but I've continued using NNW for my early morning browsing today, and really found it pretty good. I'm going to give this one some time – especially since I have been finding Google Reader itself unusually flaky recently.
For some reason it is syncing two feeds(that I have noticed so far) that I unsubscribed from many months ago in google reader and do not show up in the web interface … that is slightly annoying.
Oh – I've seen that in many other native RSS aoos – but not so far in NNW. That's annoying.
This is happening to me too. So annoying! Does anyone have a name for this error or how to fix it? It seems to be 3 Blogger blogs in my case.
What I want to know is, how often does the application update the feeds? There doesn't seem to be a setting for that. So, does that mean if only updates when I open it?
I guess I need to stop thinking like a BlackBerry user.
I'm not sure. You're right that there's no setting for that – but I have seen it updating at other times, not just upon opening it. I'm content with its default level on this for now I think.
Hey Patrick, I agree with your thoughts — what a disappointment. I played around with it last night as well as this morning and feel the UI has fallen short. IMO, that is the main advantage of an app like this over google reader. There is also a lack of consistency between calling them 'starred' items in google reader and 'flagged' items in NetNewsWire which is pretty confusing but I'm sure that will be fixed soon. I have found the sync between those items to be spotty at best, but maybe that is because I have been using the free version (the ads are annoying). Sync of the feeds seems pretty good. I think I will probably try Byline or Newsstand. I wish there was a comparison of the apps somewhere. I.e., NetNewsWire vs. Byline vs. Newsstand (vs. Feeds?).
I was also waiting for this to appear and am also disappointed – no sharing option and no "all items" could be a dealbreaker for me. On the plus side sending to twitter sounds great and the ability to easily star an item is good as it annoys me in google's own web app when I have to scroll back to the top of each article to star it.
Will probably download it too, though can see myself having to test out the others mentioned here too!
I've done a new, short post on this – with just a few more things I've noticed in the app, some of which we've been talking about here. I debated about just doing it as an update on this post, but figured it might be better as a new post. That post is at:
http://tinyurl.com/nvtu2c
The new netnewswire didn't work for me at all. Apart from having to reinstall it once, tapping the button to go back to a feed list, or feed would not refresh the page, getting me stuck on an item. The badge didn't work on top of that. I was deeply disappointed as I like the old version. It was simple and functioned well. I switched to newsstand now, because I just couldn't read my feeds with the new netnewswire app.
Sorry to hear it. And surprised – I've had zero issues with it thus far.
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