I thought I was done with feeds readers for iPhone. I switched from Netnewswire to Byline, from Byline to Newsstand, from Newsstand to Reeder, and I’m currently using Silvio Rizzi’s elegant and minimal app as my only one RSS reader. So, I thought I was done with this kind of apps, as Reeder was (still is) the best and aggregator I’ve tried so far. Then, an icon showed up on Ember app’s image stream: it was wooden, with a newspaper delivering a..rss icon. It was beautiful, and the title was “Newsprint“.
I started searching for this new app, I was later invited to the beta testing and here I am now, giving you a sneak preview of this new RSS app for iPhone.
As the website says “Newsprint is a professional grade feeds reader, it gives you the simplicity that you love in iPhone apps, while not forgetting about power users“. Interesting. I have a working RC build of the app right here on my iPhone, so I can give you a brief preview of what you should expect from this new application.
Newsprint is based on Google Reader, pretty much like every other app nowadays. The app is fast, though it’s not the final release yet; the developers have done a great job in optimizing the sync process for the iPhone, with many options for saving bandwith and thus making the process even faster.
Another cool thing about Newsprint (there are many actually, I just can’t spoil everything yet) is the swipe on feed to reveal additional options save share and save to. Similar to Tweetie 2, but thinner and with a different style overall. If this is becoming a standard and, most of all, it works – I’m happy with it.
Newsprint is a very rich application, built for people (power users) who want to do a lot of things with a feeds reader and require a lot of customization to optimize the reading experience on a mobile device. Also, there will be some cool options for people who are new to RSS feeds.
Newsprint will hopefully be submitted to Apple in matter of a few weeks, as soon as the latest glitches and bugs will be fixed. Be sure to follow @newsprintapp on Twitter to stay updated.
I’m looking forward to it.
#1
That's what Jen said 6 months ago:
Does this app have a badge counter?
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#2
That's what Ramy said 6 months ago:
Wow, that app looks great. I never found a really *great* RSS app for iPhone that syncs with my Google Reader, but definitely looking forward to trying that one. Thanks Frederico!
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#3
That's what Matias Singers said 6 months ago:
This application sounds and looks awesome.
Can’t wait for it to be available – definitely doing a review on it on my site.
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#4
That's what apporacle said 6 months ago:
@Jan
Yes it has an option to turn on a badge counter
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#5
That's what Richard Bukovansky said 6 months ago:
Is it better than MobileRSS from Nibiru Tech? So far doesn’t seem so…
BTW Is it able to download pages automatically for off-line reading?
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#6
That's what apporacle said 6 months ago:
@Richard
It´s always hard to compare to other products, they have have their own advantages. I think this app has every function a power user would expect with and interface that makes it really pleasant to use. On the other hand you can´t really call me unbiased
Yes you can cache articles
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#7
That's what Tommy said 6 months ago:
So far I haven’t had a problem with using Google’s web app for Reader, but this looks pretty awesome!
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apporacle Reply:
February 7th, 2010
@Tommy, thanks a lot
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#8
That's what Richard Bukovansky said 6 months ago:
Apporacle: Well, that’s something that MobileRSS already has for very a long time… You should check it…
Tommy: Go with MobileRSS from NibiruTech and you won’t be disappointed. That app has everything and you don’t need to wait for release of this app…
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#9
That's what apporacle said 6 months ago:
@Richard I have bought MobileRSS some time ago so I know how it works.
Most readers have the same basic functionality and all cars have 4 wheels but they handle very differently.
I am a bit puzzled with your efforts to prove that MobileRSS is superior when you haven´t even tried Newsprint…
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Richard Bukovansky Reply:
February 7th, 2010
@apporacle, Well give me access to beta/RC of Newsprint and will tell you…
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Federico Viticci Reply:
February 7th, 2010
@Richard Bukovansky, Admit it: it was all an excuse to get into the beta.
By the way, MobileRSS it’s nothing compared to Reeder and this one. Trust me.
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Rohit Reply:
February 8th, 2010
@Federico Viticci,
I second that. MobileRSS’s interface seems ‘very busy’. On the other hand, Reeder, well, it’s the best RSS reader for iPhone that I’ve come across. Power and beauty.
As for Richard, by reading his previous comments, I was getting a feeling that he was somehow related to the MobileRSS app (developer, friend of developer, designer etc). But then he expressed his desire for the RC version and that is what he wanted in the first place. But, I must say, good try! Hope you get one!
As for this Newsprint app, it’s seems good, specially the swipe-on-feed feature. But, from the screenshots, I see that there are no 1-5 lines previews of the articles. That is something I really cannot live without. Because there are many articles with headlines that mean something else and the article something else. Hopefully, the developer adds this feature (at least as a user-set option). Also, I do not like that the ‘Show All’ and ‘Mark All Read’ buttons are coloured. [May be I am too addicted to Reeder's UI] lol!
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#10
That's what divid said 6 months ago:
"I switched from Netnewswire to Byline, from Byline to Newsstand, from Newsstand to Reeder, and I’m currently using Silvio Rizzi’s elegant and minimal app as my only one RSS reader."
I followed the exact same sequence of RSS readers till I wound up with Reeder as the best app.
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#11
That's what Brad said 6 months ago:
UI looks a little cluttered to me actually. And no folders for feeds?
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