As an essential business tool for the iPad, RSS Readers are arguably one of the best ways to stay connected to the world. They allow you to see the latest news feeds from just about any source you can imagine, get updates from your favorite blogs, and generally help you keep some element of organization in a 24/7 connected world.
If you didn’t know, an RSS reader is an application that downloads feeds from websites such as news, latest blog posts, or updates. So, lets say you have about 10 websites you visit for news and then you visit another 5 or so blogs each day. That can quickly get overwhelming trying to keep up and read each one. This is where an RSS reader is an essential tool. Simply set up the RSS application to “pull the feeds” from all your websites and blogs and you will have all of the latest updates right there in one easy place to read. Sounds pretty cool huh? It is and it’s extremely easy to use.
How to use an RSS Reader
Using an RSS reader is pretty easy these days. Most of them have a place to enter a website/blog address and it will locate the feeds for you. If it does not locate the feeds, then you can go to the website in question and search for their “RSS Feed Address” and this is what you will tell your RSS Reader application to look at.
At this point you might be wondering how you will set this up on multiple devices/locations so you can go to ONE place to read all your feeds. Sure, I have an answer to that! Ever heard of Google Reader? If you have a gmail account (they are free) you can head over to the Google Reader and simply configure this as your RSS Reader. Now, if the RSS Reader app you are wanting to use supports Google Reader, then guess what? Yes, you can simply point it to your Google Reader account and like magic all your vital feeds are synced up. Now you have one place, many feeds, and a much more organized digital life!
Since this guide is about RSS Reader apps on the iPad, let’s dig in. The iPad has some pretty cool RSS Reader apps and I have personally tried several of them for this post. I liked some and others I wasn’t too crazy about. For me, I like simplicity. So to qualify for top honors the RSS Reader application must have “stick appeal”, which means I will go back and use it over and over. In doing this evaluation, I noticed that some of the readers were going for features and the “cool look” appeal. I liked them to be sure, but when it came to that “stick appeal”, they just didn’t do it for me.
The RSS Reader Comparison
Price: Free ($4.99 for Pro)
The FeeddlerRSS application is one of the first ones I put on my iPad. It’s main purpose is to connect to your Google Reader feed and it does this quite well. The app will show you all of your feeds as you have set them up in Google Reader. I have mine set up in folders for better organization, so Feeddler shows my feeds organized by my folders which was really nice to see. The actual articles you pull in are easy to read and there is a way to share each article on Facebook or you can share it via email. There was no Twitter share option. You do have the option of sorting by “Unread” or from Newest to Oldest. The feature I like the best with this app is the “Mark All As Read” option. Sometimes you just want to clear out a bunch of unreads and this will do that for you very quickly.
Things I Like:
- Clean, Easy to use interface
- Articles are fast loading and easy to read
- Easy to navigate
- Mark-as-read feature
Things I didn’t Like:
- Could not add RSS Feeds other than from Google Reader (at least not the lite version I’m using)
- No Twitter share feature
(4 out of 5 daily dogs)
Price: Free
The xFeed RSS application is one I have tried a few times. Each time I try it, I try to like it but I just can’t seem to enjoy it as much as the others. It is very linear in nature and only allows you to add feeds from websites instead of pulling in feeds from both websites and Google reader. You also have to go through a few menus before getting to the actual story. On the other hand, it is fast and easy to read.
Things I like:
- Clean, crisp design
- Fast loading menus and articles
- Large variety of built-in feeds in several categories
Things I didn’t like:
- No social media tools for sharing articles
- No Google Reader integration
- Too many menus
(3 out of 5 daily dogs)
Price: $2.99
This RSS Reader actually has been in a bit of controversy. At first praised by Steve Jobs, it got pulled from the App store shortly thereafter when the New York Times claimed that it was violating their company’s rights. Once all of the issues get worked out between the NYT and the developers, then pulse will no doubt be back. It is a purely visual RSS Reader. There is no doubt this reader is really stunning in the way it presents the news feeds. You can scroll horizontal and vertical, view the articles quickly with a tap and then you can share them to Facebook, Twitter or Email.
Things I like:
- Visually stunning way to view feeds
- Articles load fast
- Social media sharing
- Easy to navigate
Things I didn’t like:
- No way to bring in Google Reader feeds. They say you can bring in up to 20, but I tried and it did not bring in mine. It stayed blank. Perhaps a bug and will be updated.
- Great to look at, but not so easy to see all your feeds if you have a lot
- No way to mark things as “unread” for later viewing
(3 out of 5 daily dogs)
Price: $4.99
NewsRack is a great RSS reader by all accounts. It is visually pleasing, quick to load and very easy to navigate through. This reader does more, however, than just pull in feeds from your own sources or Google Reader. It actually pulls in feeds from your Twitter account, Delicious Bookmarks, and a few other sources!
Things I like:
- Clean, crisp navigation
- Easy to configure and use
- Very organized structure
- Pull in feeds from multiple sources
- Articles are fast to load
- Can share to multiple social networks
Things I didn’t like:
- No option to “mark all as read”
(5 out of 5 daily dogs)
Note: If you want to see some really great new RSS Reader apps set to come out soon, this post over at Smoking Apples is a great read.
Pulse claim that you can bring in Google reader feeds, up to 20 feeds.
Yeah, I actually tried it. I logged into the Reader and it basically just stayed blank. I am thinking an update will come soon…well, once it gets back in the App store which some have claimed it already is sneaking back in.
Would have been nice to read your reviews of BLNS and NetNewsWire as well.
Yeah – - I think what I will do is a “part 2″ of this because I realize that those two you mentioned are actually great contenders and I’m trying them out now!
Hi Ben, Thanks for Reading! Yeah, I might have to do a “Part 2″ to this because I realized there are so many other great ones….I'm trying those now.
I am using The Early edition for RSS and it is LOVELY!
Hi Lisa, Thanks for stopping by! Yeah, I saw that one and will be trying it out. I have just tried NetNewsWire and like it as well.
I used The Early Edition for a few weeks then switched to Pulse. My biggest gripe with Early Edition is that it's way too slow. It can take a few minutes to bring in your RSS content. I also didn't see Google reader support.
Pulse also has a great feature that pumps in your twitter feed. Super nice.
Stan. Thanks for stopping by! I did not see that great feature of Pulse but I am going to try it right now! I did see Pulse is supposed to allow Google reader feeds but it crashed mine!
You missing one of the better RSS readers that is MobileRSS HD, which I am going to buy as soon as they do any type of sale or price drop.
Thanks! Yeah I can tell I missed a few I should have covered. I'm preparing a second post to address thosecas well! Thanks for writing and stopping by too!
I love MobileRSS HD, my new favorite. Thanks for mentioning it.