It’s only the first beta, but if you’re a fan of *Reeder*, you’re going to want to at least take a look.
Categories
Tag: rss
Last week, [Reeder 2 for Mac](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/reeder-2/id880001334?mt=12&at=10l5TL)[^fn1] was released. After a week using it, I realize just how much I missed Reeder’s fast, easy to use, interface.
[^fn1]: Affiliate Link (as is the post link.
Wow. I had no idea these options existed. I have been looking for a good way to “Mark items older than 2 weeks as Read” since FeedWrangler first started. Well done, [Mr. Reader](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mr.-reader/id412874834?mt=8&at=10l5TL). [^f1526]
[^f1526]: Affiliate Link.
In a sponsored post on *MacDrifter*, Gabe shows the power of my favorite iPad RSS reader, [Mr. Reader](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mr.-reader/id412874834?mt=8&at=10l5TL)[^f4236].
If you like what you see in Gabe’s post, I also recommend checking out Federico’s tips for [creating custom Mr. Reader actions and services](http://www.macstories.net/reviews/mr-reader-and-the-services-menu-for-ios/).
[^f4236]: Affiliate Link
Categories
Mr. Reader Updated to Version 3.0
My favorite RSS reader for iPad, Mr. Reader, has just received an iOS 7 update. This means a slick new look and background downloads. It is [available in the App Store for $3.99](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mr.-reader/id412874834?mt=8)[^f1301].
[^f1301]: Affiliate Link (as is the post link.)
Alex Knight explains how Feedly has ignored the requests of content publishers by refusing to identify the number of subscribers for a given feed:
> Feedly is an extremely popular news reader service. They claim to have 12 million users, so they are by far the biggest concern to us at the moment. Since they aren’t reporting their user agent, this makes it extremely difficult for content producers to tell if anyone is checking out what they do. We have made numerous attempts to contact Feedly via email and on Twitter (see our tweets here and here), however, they have yet to provide any promising information about if and when they will start providing this data. In September Feedly released an API, which we dutifully did all of the integration on day one with their provided sandbox access. We are now into November, and they still refuse to give us access to their production API. Meanwhile we don’t have access to anything and they make money out of your content.
That is just unacceptable for a company in the RSS space. Shame on Feedly.
Categories
Reeder 2 now available
Reeder 2[^faff] is out. As a Feed Wrangler user, I have been waiting for this.
[^faff]: Affiliate Link (as is the post link.)
A [new version of ReadKit](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/readkit/id588726889?mt=12&at=10l5TL)[^f4625], has been released with [new sharing options](http://webinhq.com/blog/brand-new-icon-sharing-and-more/). I really, really want to love this program and use it as my Mac FeedWrangler client. I never seem to never be able to get a sync to complete with it, however.
[^f4625]: Affiliate Link (as is the post link.)
Devir Kahan, writing at his *Bitquill* site about the issues [Feed Wrangler](http://feedwrangler.net) had yesterday:
> I didn’t really get worried at all that my feed reading service had just imploded, because I didn’t really think that it had. I didn’t get worried that my account was hacked or anything like that. I just knew that FeedWrangler is operated by a single person, David Smith, and was sure that, somewhere out there, said single person was dropping everything to run and do the best possible job to get FeedWrangler back up in the least amount of time possible. Indeed, the service came back within the hour.
> But I also knew, more importantly, that he was sure to be updating the FeedWrangler Twitter account with updates as to what was going on — with total, complete transparency at every step of the way. After all, especially with a one man shop, he has a real reputation to keep up. I popped open Tweetbot to check in on what the story was, saw that FeedWrangler was having some problems but should be fixed in a short time, and went on with my day. By the time I came back to Reeder later in the day, it was no longer giving me errors and things had returned to normal. The whole situation just felt so human.
I complete agree with Devir. I had absolutely no problem with what happened yesterday, and I hope David learns from the event and makes the service better. Unfortunately, [some people are not as understanding about what happened](https://alpha.app.net/maximevalette/post/8611137#8608791).
Reeder developer Silvio Rizzi tweeted a couple of updates this morning:
1. [Reeder 2 for iPad will go into beta this week.](https://twitter.com/reederapp/status/362196924079685633) He also says that he anticipates submitting the app to the App Store in August.
2. [Reeder for Mac still needs work](https://twitter.com/reederapp/status/362197176002166785), but he says there will be a public beta.
Personally, I am most looking forward to Reeder for Mac and Reeder for iPhone[^fn1]
[^fn1]: Unfortunately, I have a feeling we won’t be a getting a new version of Reeder for iPhone before, at least, the end of October.
Categories
Old Reader Shuts Its Doors
This seems like good evidence to support the “pay for services you use” theory.
As I have [explained before](https://johnkiv.us/2013/06/27/picking-a-google-reader-replacement//), my post-Google Reader setup is very similar to Chris’s. Personally, I think he should give [Mr. Reader](http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=r*bqlTuiXSo&offerid=146261&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=https%253A%252F%252Fitunes.apple.com%252Fus%252Fapp%252Fmr.-reader%252Fid412874834%253Fmt%253D8%2526uo%253D4%2526partnerId%253D30)[^fn1] a shot, especially since there is no estimate of when we might see a new version of Reeder. Also, after reading his take on [ReadKit](http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=r*bqlTuiXSo&offerid=146261&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=https%253A%252F%252Fitunes.apple.com%252Fus%252Fapp%252Freadkit%252Fid588726889%253Fmt%253D12%2526uo%253D4%2526partnerId%253D30):
> As I’ve mentioned in the past, I don’t own a Mac (yet). But if I did, I’d probably be using ReadKit. It’s not only an RSS reader that supports Feed Wrangler, but it can also tie into your Instapaper queue and other services.
> Items can even be moved back-and-forth between RSS and “read later” services within the app, which is really cool to me.
I think he will be disappointed in the way ReadKit integrates with sharing services. The lack of easy sharing for Feed Wrangler items without some kind of “drag and drop” transfer, made ReadKit pretty useable for me.
[^fn1]: Affiliate Link (as are all App Store links in this post)
Categories
Dr. Drang on RSS
> The issue of feature mismatch between a feed reading app and a syncing service is the subject of this post by Brent Simmons. He makes a good argument in favor of having the app and the service tightly integrated and suggests that that might be why Black Pixel is taking so long to add syncing to NetNewsWire. I think Brent’s paternal feelings toward NNW are coloring his judgement. Although having its own customized sync service makes sense in the long run, Black Pixel should have included syncing with one or more of the commonly available services as an interim measure. By having no syncing at all in NNW 4, they’ve made their product irrelevant to the many users who read feeds on two or more devices and will not use a reader that doesn’t sync. They’re going to have to come up with something extremely compelling to get those users to pay attention again.
I completely agree. Maybe Black Pixel will beat everyone else to the Mac with an app that syncs with various RSS service. It not, however, I doubt I will ever give them a second thought.
As an aside, my favorite paragraph from Dr. Drang’s article is actually:
> Although the Google Reader site is shut down, the Google Feedfetcher process is still going strong, valiantly visiting sites and grabbing their feeds for no apparent purpose. My site logs show it visiting here hundreds of times today, faithfully doing its job like WALL•E. Will someone at Google remember to flip its switch off?
Even though Google Reader shut down yesterday, I know a lot of people are still looking for an alternative to use. This breakdown from Robert Agcaoli is especially helpful for those who are concerned about how the solutions’ Web UI works.
An updated version of Reeder is out that includes sync with [Feed Wrangler](http://feedwrangler.net). Unfortunately, this update does not support Smart Streams[^fn1].
[^fn1]: Basically, this means I might use it sometimes, but that the native Feed Wrangler iOS app will be the primary way I read RSS feeds on my iPhone until the new version of Reeder comes along
Alternatives to using *Google Takeout* to backup your Google Reader data. Mihai Parparita’s [*reader_archive* tool](http://blog.persistent.info/2013/06/getting-all-your-data-out-of-google.html) sounds like the most comprehensive method of extraction.
I agree with Marco on this:
> In the absence of major exclusive features or strong social lock-in, if you make a feed reader today, it better support multiple sync services. Conversely, if you’re making a service, it better have an API for third-party clients.
I hope Black Pixel is not seriously considering only using their backend[^fn1], it would mean a true “end of an era” for a widely used Mac app[^fn2].
[^fn1]: In fact, it would seem to me that they could end up making more money, with less headache, but just making clients for Mac and iOS that sync to various other services.
[^fn2]: I am making the assumption that people will not be content to just use Black Pixel’s ecosystem on everything.
Please remember to backup your Google Reader data before the service shuts down on Monday.
Speaking of additional articles about Google Reader replacements, Dr. Drang gives [his take on the various options](http://www.leancrew.com/all-this/2013/06/feedle-dee-dee/), including an in-depth discussion about [Feed Wrangler](http://feedwrangler.net).
Another good summary of the various Google Reader replacement options.