Review: Feeds 22
RSS readers are already a dime a dozen in the Catalog, and it's only the beginning - Palm opened the flood gates at CES 2010, allowing any and all developers to submit their wares on Palm's virtual shelves. Feeds ($4.99) by Delicious Morsel of Twee fame is a fully featured RSS reader that integrates into your Google Reader account. Feeds offers functionality that others don't such as the ability to download articles for reading when you're without connectivity, but do these features justify the rather steep asking price?
Use
Most of the RSS readers currently available to webOS are essentially native versions of Google Reader - they mirror the layout and functionality almost to the T. In this regard, Feeds is no different from the other offerings.
Navigating the program is what you would expect from a program of this caliber, and those familiar with Twee should expect the same attention to detail from Delicious Morsel when it comes to the user interface - moving between articles can be done using the side swipe gesture or dedicated on screen UI element, starring and sharing articles is done by tapping the floating buttons that appear when you're reading an article, and the overall layout is clean and intuitive.
The program is solid to the point that any other complaints are really nitpicks. I found that the fonts used in the article list in any specific feed to be a little overbearing, and that the visual quality of some of the UI elements, such as the previously mentioned floating "star" and "share" buttons could use some improving. There was some occasional laggyness experienced when scrolling, and I discovered a rather alarming "feature" that allows you to delete a feed from the program (which also deletes the feed from your Reader account) without so much as a confirmation. Once done, there's no way to reverse this from the program itself - you have to visit the Google Reader webpage and re-add the deleted feed to your subscriptions
Wrapping up
There's no question that Feeds is a solid RSS reader and that it's certainly one of the best in its class, but justifying that $5 asking price depends on your usage needs; If you frequently find yourself without data connectivity on your commute (subway rider or frequent flyer, for example), then Feeds and it's ability to cache the truncated (the portion of an article before the "break") version of the articles in the feeds you subscribe to is invaluable. Sure, Feeds offers the choice of different themes, robust notifications, poll interval settings and the like, but I honestly found those options superfluous in my every day use - I don't really need to know when each and every one of my feeds is updated, and I rarely find myself without data connectivity. All I need in a RSS Reader is something lightweight like Pivotal Lab's Scoop ($0.99) that I can hop into whenever I have a free moment or two.
22 Comments
I've had this app for quite a while and it bears mentioning that it has broken TWICE already. The first was a developer error in which they'd left the beta expiration code in the App Catalog version so when a certain date passed, the app was no longer usable for anyone who purchased it. Half a week passed before the developer updated the app. The second break was just this past week when Google updated Reader.. Feeds has now lost the ability to mark articles as "read", so they keep accumulating. The developer initially did not respond to customer emails, only to finally send out some terse replies a few days later saying essentially "we're working on it"... and it's still not fixed.
Great app, but buyer beware.
oops, N/M
EDIT : just checked the app cat, a fix has been released for Feeds (1/20/2010)
Great write-up as always, Robert! I echo your feelings on Scoop fulfilling most RSS reading needs, but for some reason I keep going back to Newsroom. I realize it is not a true Google reader, but the gorgeous interface, the ability to receive notifications about ONE feed at a time, and clever use of gestures have led me to make it my primary reader. In addition, I have found that once I sync my feeds, I no longer need a wireless connection in order to read them - including entire stories from feeds that allow it, not just truncated versions (which I can't stand).
I love Delicious Morsel for all their great work on webOS apps, but I think they're playing third fiddle in the RSS reader race.
Agree on NewsRoom, its UI is so slick!
wish it did landscape, though...
+1 on NewsRoom. The UI is just about the slickest I've seen on a WebOS app. A real pleasure to use and worth the $4.99 IMO.
Agreed, I can't fault NewsRoom.
Add another newsroom user here. I tried it because of reviews from another article here not too long ago.
It would be nice if it had some sort of list mode in addition to the beautiful card/gesture system though. Sometimes I don't really want to have to swipe through 40 articles only to see there isn't anything there that I really care about.
I agree that the price is higher than others and I agree the breaks in Feeds irritated the heck out of me but I still like the app. The author could be more pro or re active when it comes to breaks by notifying us be email or SMS about problems or fixes if he has that information. Personally I got Feeds for one reason and one reason only - RSS feeds from my daughter's school for homework assignments. I found it a pain to go Google every day to find out what homework she had and relying on her to tell me was, well, inconsistent. I know you can set up this on a home page but I prefer to get notified no matter where I am and Feeds does just that - notifies me. When the app is working, it works just the way I like it. It's a personal preference thing, nothing else.
What the crap is the difference between this, News Feeds, and homebrew drPodder?
feeds is for reading. Drpodder is for listening.
TY
I purchased Scoop for $.99, and i rarely use it because www.google.com/reader is really just as good. I like the Notifications and offload modes for Feeds, but i find that it wasn't worth the extra dollars. Just stick with the free website that google offers!
Here is my review of Feeds as seen in the App Catalog:
Good app that I use every day. Two gripes: (1) Would like to be able to have notifications set only for certain feeds. Some feeds are updated too often to warrant a notification. (2) Offline mode is basically worthless. I'd rather the app always be in "offline" mode, downloading full stories when it can and allowing me to view it no matter what. Then if I star or read an article and don't have a network connection, it should update that when I do have a connection. Online/offline should be seamless, NOT manual. I'm giving it 3 stars until these are addressed.
I ended up buying Scoop last night after reading various reviews of both. What's a dollar? Anyway, I'm very happy with it so far. Just a few things I'd like:
* Ability to zoom images (so I can read comics I'm subscribed to)
* Images sometimes wind up overlapping text; hope to see a fix for that.
Seems like Feeds needs more ironing before the price is justified. My two cents.
Scoop suits my needs just fine as well, the only thing thing I don't like about it is that I'd rather have All Items appear like my subscriptions, instead of it being stuck under the arrow menu. But that's just a nitpick.
I don't get it. DSPodder through PreWare is free and it does exactly what it needs to do as a feed app. Why would I pay $4.99 for this app?
**** Disregard **** I realize that DrPodder is for listening and Feeds is for reading. Of course... I have no desire to read a full article on my phone anyway.
I agree with Audemars02.
I used to use Feeds when it was still in Beta (and free) i was expecting it to go to the .99 mark when released as many other apps were. When the final nearly $5.00 price was posted I just laughed and deleted it off of my Pre.
I tried Scoop, and it's OK. The UI is a bit ugly, and the formatting needs serious work. but for .99 I can't complain. (I should note that I have paid for precisely ONE App, and that's Scoop. That's how important having my RSS available is to me.)
In the end I've switched to just using Google Reader Mobile as it has all the features I need from Scoop and Feeds, none of the dumb stuff, and it's Free.
I would be willing to give Feeds another chance, but the price is going to have to come down to the .99 level. at $4.99 the only thing it's good for is a laugh.
with feeds you cannot mark all items read in the all items view. The option is there but it does not work. Developer acknowledged the issue but has not offered a fix. furthermore it has "broke" now twice and we have had to wait for fixes from the developer to be approved by Palm. feeds will be nice when finished but for now is more beta than a finished product...
Another free option is the Newsweek app, which has an option for adding your own RSS feeds.
It's fairly basic, but it suits my needs.
Depending on how the feed is configured, it may or may not display the whole article (my blog does, PreCentral does not), but the original is always just a tap away.
You can also change font size and have the option to save/SMS/email individual feed items.
It's worth a try. It may be all you need.
Does anyone know of a good RS reader that uses Google reader feeds but also allows me to read just certain sections by TODAYS date?
If so please PM me.
What I want is the ability to have a daily paper of sorts. I would like to read the RSS feeds of an entire folder/section but listed by date. As it is now I see all the posts in date order but all mixed up as they come in. I want section by section, feed by feed.
I.E. I would see all the feeds under a folder I created in reader called TECH. I would like to then see all of precentral.net posts for TODAY, then the next feed in the lists posts for today, then the next in order etc..
I would just like to have some better control over the feeds.
That is the one feature Google reader is missing but I use that for my main program.
BTW I purchased feeds so if they are reading this and would like to add this feature, it would be appreciated. :)
+1 for newsreader. It has replaced scoop as my main reader. However engadget app is still best for engadget and mobile site for precentral works best for it.