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Apr 12, 2001
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With Google's move to shut down its popular RSS service Google Reader, users and developers have been considering alternatives to keep on top of the latest news updates from their favorite sources.

NetNewsWire has long been one of the most popular RSS readers for Apple users, having a long-standing presence on the Mac before expanding to the iPhone and iPad, but development on the software had stagnated in recent years. Hope for a revival of NetNewsWire came in mid-2011 when the project was acquired by Black Pixel, but there has been relatively little news since that time.

netnewswire_mac.jpg
Black Pixel's Daniel Pasco now shares word that the firm is indeed moving forward with plans to revive NetNewsWire, having already completely rewritten the iOS apps and now moving forward with plans for syncing across Mac, iPhone, and iPad apps now that Google Reader is no longer an option.
As far as sync is concerned, we knew we would likely need an alternative to Google Reader as early as last year. At the time, the option that seemed to make the most sense was to embrace iCloud and Core Data as the new sync solution of choice. We spent a considerable amount of time on this effort, but iCloud and Core Data syncing had issues that we simply could not resolve.

iCloud hasn't worked out for us and Google's announcement solidified and accelerated our plans. We love NetNewsWire and its users and we are working hard to provide an update on par with the quality of work you've seen from us in Kaleidoscope 2.
Pasco has not committed to a timeline for relaunch of NetNewsWire, but will continue to provide updates as development proceeds.

Article Link: Black Pixel to Revive 'NetNewsWire' With Cross-Device Syncing
 

StarDal

macrumors member
Jul 1, 2009
45
83
Good news there's an alternative in the works.. and since I already use NetNewsWire, even better.

I wonder what's wrong with using iCloud as I have a number of apps that sync via iCloud without any issues.. that at least I've seen.
 

furi0usbee

macrumors 68000
Jul 11, 2008
1,790
1,381
I have apps that sync using iCloud and Dropbox with no issues. Some much more complex than RSS. For an RSS reader, I can't imagine what more data you need to store on iCloud other than the actual RSS feed locations and last sync, etc. The RSS app would control when those feeds are updated, etc. All my RSS app really needs to do is to pull the feeds I have stored in iCloud, and keep track of what feeds I add/remove.
 

bankshot

macrumors 65816
Jan 23, 2003
1,367
416
Southern California
Heh. I read this article in NetNewsWire. Works well enough for me as is, not sure what I'd want to see in a new version. Maybe the ability to play embedded videos right in the reader. I don't read RSS feeds on the go - once or twice a day at home is plenty - so sync doesn't really interest me. Can't think of anything else.
 

fruitpunch.ben

macrumors 6502a
Sep 16, 2008
599
174
Surrey, BC
I use Reeder, and according to their twitter the Google Reader shutdown won't affect them. But how does that work? Don't they use Reader as their backend (hence the name?!).
Anyway if they're speaking the truth, I'll just keep using Reeder, which I love anyway
 

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,073
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California
I use Reeder, and according to their twitter the Google Reader shutdown won't affect them. But how does that work? Don't they use Reader as their backend (hence the name?!).
Anyway if they're speaking the truth, I'll just keep using Reeder, which I love anyway

The Reeder dev. is going to have to come up with some kind of new sync solution to replace Google Reader. Maybe Feedly will let devs use their new Normandy sync API.
 

albusseverus

macrumors 6502a
Nov 28, 2007
744
154
I was a bit stunned when Apple dropped RSS from Mail/Safari. Not the best solution(s), but at least some acknowledgement of the importance of RSS. I hope it wasn't a concession to Twitter and Facebook, in exchange for system level integration.

It does appear that RSS as 'a standard' needs to be cleaned up a bit. Probably the main value added by Google Reader was making up for gaps in the 'standard', fixing mangled feeds, and much more.

RSS should include syncing or at least some standard for collecting and managing a user's feeds… These feeds go to Flipboard, these feeds to NetNewsWire, etc. It would be great if all apps could access/manipulate this master list.

I know, put it in iTunes. That's Apple's all purpose subscription tool, isn't it?
Joking! :eek:
 

Darvon Olestra

macrumors newbie
Oct 26, 2012
9
1
That's fine, but it won't sync without Google Reader.

That makes no sense to me. Sync with what? Vienna is an RSS reader that uses OPML.

Google Reader syncing is an option in Vienna, not a requirement. To put it another way, Google Reader's existence is not required. Vienna is not merely a front-end for Google Reader.

You just import your subscriptions (from Google Takeout or any other OPML source). Goodbye Google Reader.
 

chrfr

macrumors G5
Jul 11, 2009
13,492
6,981
That makes no sense to me. Sync with what? Vienna is an RSS reader that uses OPML.
I view my Google Reader account on a variety of devices, both Mac and iOS, using 3rd party clients. If each one has its own database of feeds, I'm seeing a lot of redundant feeds every time I open my RSS reader on each device. That's what Google Reader's syncing does for me.
 
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