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Feedle: Blog Search with RSS Feeds
Back in the days of yore, there were search engine services that 1) searched the blogosphere, and 2) let you subscribe to your searches via RSS. Each search query had its own feed.
These services were great because you could get articles from outside the feeds you’ve subscribed to. Let’s say you like cats — you could have a search feed on
catsand hear about cats from all quarters of the web.It was a great idea! And super-useful. But these services all went away.
Until now — we’ve just learned about a new one called feedle.
To get a feed: go there, run a search, then click the orange RSS icon near the upper-right side of the page, then copy the RSS feed URL that appears on the left side of the screen to get something like https://feedle.world/rss/?query=cats, then add it to your RSS reader (NetNewsWire or otherwise).
Nice, right?
(The service appears to be new and ramping up. We’d bet that their index of sites to search is still growing.)
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On his blog, Brent writes about life after Twitter.
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A few people have asked how to follow Twitter feeds in NetNewsWire. Here’s the help page. (This particular page is for the Mac app, but it’s the same process for iOS.)
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And… another reader app — maybe the last we’ll hear about today, and maybe not — is Readwise Reader, which bills itself as an “app for power readers.”
Power readers are our favorite people. :)
Looks like it’s in private beta right now, but you can ask to get on their beta train.
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Another new and interesting feed reader we’ve just learned about is FeedLand, which has a social component for sharing and discovering feeds.
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You Can Follow Us On Mastodon
Thanks to Micro.blog’s Mastodon integration, you can now follow us there @NetNewsWire@micro.blog.
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Just learned about a reader app called Matter — looks like it could be good. Not sure if it does RSS or not, but it looks like it does.
(Reminder: our goal is to get people using RSS. Doesn’t have to be NetNewsWire!)
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On Following Twitter Feeds with NetNewsWire
In NetNewsWire 6 we added the ability to follow Twitter in NetNewsWire. It’s an RSS reader, not a full-blown Twitter client, but it does allow you to follow timelines, mentions, and searches.
We have no intention of removing this feature, despite Twitter’s troubles and poor prognosis. It’s more important than ever, we believe, since it helps people find their off-ramp from Twitter.
You may not want to engage with Twitter — maybe you’ve even deleted their apps from your iPhone, iPad, and Mac — but you might still want to or need to follow mentions, for instance. Totally understandable.
In our case, we have a search feed for NetNewsWire and we follow mentions. Though we’re happiest when people use other ways to get support, they do ask us for help on Twitter, and we can’t ignore that.
And we know we’re not the only people who, as much as we don’t like it, still need to pay some attention to Twitter.
PS We’re definitely not the only RSS reader with this feature. If you’re already using, or even just looking at, another RSS reader, and you need this feature, check to see if this feature is there. Good chance it is.
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NetNewsWire 6.1 for iOS: Themes
NetNewsWire 6.1 includes a new article themes feature. To pick a theme, go to the settings screen (via the gear icon at the bottom left of the Feeds screen) and scroll down to the Articles section.
You can also create your own themes — you can make the article view look exactly how you want it to.
Get the update or download it from the App Store.
NetNewsWire 6.1 also fixes some syncing bugs and crashing bugs, and it polishes a bunch of small things here and there. It’s just better. 🐣🐥
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NetNewsWire 6.1 for Mac: New Article Themes Feature
Last week we released NetNewsWire 6.1 for Mac with a big new feature: themes for articles.
This is one of those features from NetNewsWire of Yore that we’re bringing back — it’s pretty fun, which is reason enough, but for some people it’s also an accessibility issue, and that’s a compelling reason. It’s an accessibility issue because a person can create or customize a theme with the fonts, sizes, colors, and layout that makes reading easiest for them.
To get more of an idea of what these themes are, check out Hans Schülein’s unofficial NetNewsWire Themes Directory, which shows the built-in themes plus some themes built by NetNewsWire users.
If you already use NetNewsWire, just do a Check for Updates. Or you can download NetNewsWire 6.1 and give it a go. (It’s free and open source — there’s no trial period or commitment or anything. Just use it if you like it.)
Other changes since NetNewsWire 6.0.3
- Copy URLs using repaired, rather than raw, feed links
- Restore article scroll position on relaunching app
- Added Copy Article URL and Copy External URL commands to the Edit menu
- Fixed a bug where using cmd-Q wouldn’t always quit the app as quickly as one might prefer
- Disallow creation of iCloud account in the app if iCloud and iCloud Drive aren’t both enabled
- Fixed bug showing quote tweets that only included an image
- Added a hidden pref to suppress downloading/syncing on start:
defaults write com.ranchero.NetNewsWire-Evergreen DevroeSuppressSyncOnLaunch -bool true - Video autoplay is now disallowed
- Article view now supports RTL layout
- Fixed a few font and sizing issues
iOS Note
We’re working on NetNewsWire 6.1 for iOS, which will also include the themes feature. It’s in TestFlight now, and we have a few bugs still to fix. Once it’s released you’ll be able to use themes in iOS, which is a feature even NetNewsWire of Yore never had. 🐣🐥
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False Alarm, No Syncing Issue
We apologize for the blog post earlier today about a syncing issue.
This was a false alarm due to corrupted test data — there is no syncing problem. macOS 12.3 and SQLite changes aren’t implicated in anything, because there’s no problem.
We are still planning to release NetNewsWire 6.1 for Mac pretty soon, but not today.
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False Alarm! (was NetNewsWire Syncing Issue on macOS 12.3, Fix Coming Soon)
Update 2:30 pm Pacific: the below turns out to have been a false alarm, due to an error with test data, and not a syncing problem. The below is incorrect, even the parts about macOS 12.3 and SQLite.
A change to SQLite in macOS 12.3 breaks syncing of read/unread and starred statuses. This affects all syncing accounts — it affects iCloud and online services such as Feedbin and Feedly.
We have a fix for it — a one-line fix — and we will be releasing NetNewsWire 6.1 for Mac as soon as possible (hopefully today) with that fix.
This bug does not appear in iOS at this writing. However, we will be adding this fix to the iOS version too.
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NetNewsWire 6.1b4 for Mac
Check for updates (be sure your prefs are set for test builds). Or download the latest build.
We expect this to be the last beta before shipping NetNewsWire 6.1 for Mac and starting up TestFlight betas for NetNewsWire 6.1 for iOS.
Changes since 6.1b3:
- Fixed a few font and sizing issues
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NetNewsWire 6.1b3 for Mac
Check for updates (be sure your prefs are set for test builds). Or download the latest build.
Changes since 6.1b2:
- Two new themes: Hyperlegible and NewsFax
- Change in how built-in themes work: they’re part of the app bundle and they’re not copied into the Themes folder. When a built-in theme changes in a new app release, anyone using that new version gets the changes to the built-in theme
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NetNewsWire 6.1b2 for Mac
Check for updates (be sure your prefs are set for test builds). Or download the latest build.
Changes since 6.0.3:
- Article themes. Several themes ship with the app, and you can create your own. You can change the theme in Preferences or by adding the theme switcher to the toolbar
- Copy URLs using repaired, rather than raw, feed links
- Restore article scroll position on relaunching app
- Added Copy Article URL and Copy External URL commands to the Edit menu
- Fixed a bug where using cmd-Q wouldn’t always quit the app as quickly as one might prefer
- Disallow creation of iCloud account in the app if iCloud and iCloud Drive aren’t both enabled
- Fixed bug showing quote tweets that only included an image
- Added a hidden pref to suppress downloading/syncing on start:
defaults write com.ranchero.NetNewsWire-Evergreen DevroeSuppressSyncOnLaunch -bool true - Video autoplay is now disallowed
- Article view now supports RTL layout
The big new feature coming in NetNewsWire 6.1 is article themes. That feature was a big deal in the days of NetNewsWire of Yore, and we’re psyched to be bringing it back.
The best part about article themes is that you can make your own! They’re HTML and CSS.
(The article themes feature will also be in the iOS app. We’ll have a TestFlight beta for that soon-ish, we hope.)
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On Not Being the Free Alternative
NetNewsWire is free and open source, but it’s not the free alternative to apps such as Reeder and Unread.
In other words, it’s not the job of NetNewsWire to implement every feature of for-pay RSS readers just so that there’s a free version of those features. The opposite is true — if a feature exists in another RSS reader, that’s a pretty good reason not to do that feature.
We realize that free and open source apps often do have the mission of mimicking the features of some one or several commercial apps, as if they’re Prometheus bringing features to the common computer user — but that is not our mission.
Our mission is to make the best RSS reader that we like making. We value stability, high performance, clarity, and lots of figurative air and space rather than a mélange of features.
It’s free because we want to make sure a great, free RSS reader is available to everyone with a Mac, iPhone, or iPad.
But sometimes — often, even — we’re not going to do a feature that you liked in another app. We’re picky and careful about adding features.
And we’re glad those other apps exists — because, among other things, it means those features have already been done and we don’t have to do them!
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TestFlight Reminder
Reminder — we post TestFlight betas for NetNewsWire for iOS. You can sign up here.
Our current TestFlight build fixes — we think and hope — a crash on launch that can happen on iPads in landscape orientation.
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NetNewsWire 6.0.1 for iOS
NetNewsWire 6.0.1 for iOS is now available on the App Store.
Changes since 6.0
- Fixed bug where BazQux-synced feeds might stop updating
- Fixed bug where words prepended with $ wouldn’t appear in Twitter feeds
- Fixed bug where newlines would be just a space in Twitter feeds
- Fixed a crashing bug in Twitter rendering
- Fixed bug where hitting b key to open in browser wouldn’t always work
- Fixed a crashing bug due to running code off the main thread that needed to be on the main thread
- Fixed bug where article unread indicator could have wrong alpha in specific circumstances
- Fixed bug using right arrow key to move focus to Article view
- Fixed bug where long press could trigger a crash
- Fixed bug where external URLs in Feedbin feeds might be lost
- Fixed bug where favicons wouldn’t be found when a home page URL has non-ASCII characters
- Fixed bug where iCloud syncing could stop prematurely when the sync database has records not in the local database
- Fixed bug where creating a new folder in iCloud and moving feeds to it wouldn’t sync correctly
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NetNewsWire 6.0.3 for Mac
Check for updates or download the latest. 🐣
Changes since 6.0.2
- Feedly: preserve custom feed names with Feedly when moving them between folders
- Fixed bug where external URLs in Feedbin feeds might be lost
- Feedly: handle API change with deleting and don’t show a spurious error
- NewsBlur: don’t fetch articles marked hidden by NewsBlur
- FreshRSS: add API endpoint URL example in setup form
- iCloud: fixed bug not retaining feeds in a folder where the folder hasn’t been synced yet
- Fixed bug where iCloud syncing could stop prematurely when the sync database has records not in the local database
- Preferences: use full-width row style in accounts and extensions panes
- Fixed a crashing bug triggered by running some UI code outside of main thread
- Fixed a crashing bug that could happen when the app tries to find a feed for a website
- Fixed a crashing bug that could happen when rendering tweets
- Twitter extension: fixed weird bug where an extra https:/ could appear in tweet text
- Changed how images are placed in Twitter articles so that you can better see who Tweeted the image
- Fixed bug where words prepended with $ wouldn’t appear in Twitter feeds
- Fixed bug where newlines would be just a space in Twitter feeds
- Fixed bug where BazQux-synced feeds might stop updating
- Fixed bug where favicons wouldn’t be found when a home page URL has non-ASCII characters
- Feeds list: smart feeds remain visible despite Hide Read Feeds setting
- Keyboard shortcuts: fixed regression where L key wouldn’t go to next unread when feed is all read
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NetNewsWire 6 for iOS: iCloud Sync, Widgets, and More
NetNewsWire 6 for iOS is now available on the App Store!
This release brings new features — iCloud sync; sync with BazQux, Inoreader, NewsBlur, The Old Reader, and FreshRSS; home screen widgets; special support for Twitter and Reddit feeds; and more.
And it fixes bugs — and it’s faster. (We love apps that go fast!)
It’s free. It’s open source. We hope you love it! 🎉
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NetNewsWire 6.0.2 for Mac: Fixes L Key, Calls Inoreader Less Often
The latest release fixes a regression with the L shortcut, and it calls Inoreader way less often (so we don’t go over the API rate limits). 🎩
Check for updates or download the latest.
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How to Help Test NetNewsWire 6 for iOS Via TestFlight
If you’d like to help test NetNewsWire, you can! You’ll need to sign up for TestFlight — please see our page on testing.
If you had already signed up for NetNewsWire 5 testing, you’ll need to sign up again. We were getting close to the maximum number of testers, so we figured the fair thing was to remove that group and start fresh.
Please also note that this really is a test version. We know it has bugs. For instance, we’ve already found that adding the Twitter extension may not work for everyone. We’re sure there are other bugs, too — they could even be crashing bugs or data loss bugs.
PS Don’t bother reporting the Twitter bug! But please do report other bugs. :)
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TestFlight Build Waiting for Review
NetNewsWire 6 for iOS is waiting for review — once it gets through, then we’ll start TestFlight builds. There will be a new public link to sign up, and we’ll announce it here.
(If you signed up via the public link for NetNewsWire 5, you’ll need to do it again. We were too close to filling up all our slots, and it seemed like the fair thing was to start fresh.)
Anyway… review will take some time, and it’s always possible there could be an issue. But, if no issue, then a TestFlight build seems likely in a few days. 🐣🐥🕶
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NetNewsWire 6.0.1 for Mac
Check for updates or download the latest build.
Changes since 6.0:
- Twitter: fixed a date parsing bug that could affect people in some locales, which would prevent Twitter feeds from working for them
- Preferences: adjusted layout of the add account sheet so that it fits on smaller monitors
- Feeds list: properly scale the smart feed icons when sidebar is set to large size in System Preferences
- Feeds list: fixed bug where newly added feed would be called Untitled past the time when the app actually knows its name
- Timeline: fixed bug where next-unread command wouldn’t wrap around when you got to the bottom of the Feeds list
- Timeline: fixed bug updating article display when an article with the same article ID appears more than once (which can happen when a person has multiple accounts)
- iCloud: won’t add feeds that aren’t parseable, which fixes an error upon trying to rename one of these feeds
- Feedbin: fixed a bug with read/unread status syncing
Note about iOS
Yes, we’re working on the iOS app. We wanted to get these quick-but-important fixes out right away, though.
We’ll announce a TestFlight beta for iOS on this blog once it’s ready.
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NetNewsWire 6.0.1b2 for Mac
Check for updates (be sure your prefs are set for test builds). Or download the latest build.
Changes since 6.0.1b1:
- Twitter: fixed a date parsing bug that could affect people in some locales, which would prevent Twitter feeds from working for them
- Feeds list: fixed bug where newly added feed would be called Untitled past the time when the app actually knows its name
- Fixed bug where next-unread command wouldn’t wrap around when you got to the bottom of the Feeds list
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