In a world of endless algorithmic newsfeeds seeking for attention, Reeder was a jewel allowing me to control my news consumption. Unfortunately this update misses the point entirely by removing the one thing that made Reeder unique: being able to reach the end of the feed!
This updates is incomprehensible to me: it has all the ingredients to be a fantastic app yet fails spectacularly!
The new UI is gorgeous, the ability to centralize RSS, social feeds, podcasts and bookmarks is all I’ve wanted for many years, but not being able to mark items/feeds as read defeats the entire purpose of the app!
Please give people an option to decide whether they want an infinite feed or a “classical” feed. I wouldn’t have to stay on Reeder Classic and would happily pay the yearly subscription.
Aside from this, I wish there would be more customization options, notably for the article list layout + reading XP. I hope previous settings like image previews, display favicons, text preview will come back in future updates.
It would also be great to allow importing read-later items from Reeder 4 into Reeder 5, and provide a global setting to set the preferred mode of reading (eg. reader mode for all feeds, vs. going one by one).
The problem with the new version is there is no default full article mode like Reeder 5 had and you still can’t adjust the font size of an article’s preview inside the home section. They should’ve offered all the same customizable features Reeder 5 had and simply added new features. But instead they took away features. Also since this was advertized as built from scratch … I was expecting that the developer would add push notifications similar to what NetNewsWire has but nope. The developer seems to determined not to offer that option. In closing this app not worth a yearly subscription and it won’t be until it offers everything Reeder 5/Reeder Classic has and more and yet that includes offering push notifications.
I was ready to hate this reimagining of Reeder when I first installed it. Then I actually used it and I really appreciate what the developer is going for. It’s a sleeker, less compartmentalized experience than previous iterations of the app.
I do think the developer could have done more to set expectations so users wouldn’t have such a polarized response. I also wish the app had launched with more of the customization options that we’re used to. The fact that there are no typography settings beyond font size is a proper oversight.
But I do like this new app. I’ve already subscribed. A buck a month or ten bucks a year is very reasonable. I also like that it syncs via iCloud instead of expecting us to sign up for some lame third-party service. Once you set it up, it’s seamless across iOS, iPadOS and macOS. No logins, no fuss.
It feels like the future. But yeah, better typographic options please.
I really wanted to like this app! I’ve used Reeder since the very first version and use it everyday. I would gladly pay a monthly subscription to support the developer. But this app just doesn’t work for me. I use Feedbin and have a carefully curated feed list, folders, and starred items that goes back a decade. And I love unread and starred counts! I don’t read my feeds in order. I dip in to particular folders organized by topic, quickly glance at articles, and star the ones I want to read later. This app just doesn’t work like that. So unless this app add support for these features, I’ll stick with Classic for as long as it continues to work (or a better app comes along).
I have always liked the idea of an RSS feed, but always found the interface of even the most highly regarded apps to feel kind of clunky. This new Reeder app takes all of the articles and other types of content I want to follow and displays it in a feed that looks and feel like a social network. I love it.
I’ve been using Reeder for years. It took a while to get used to this new app, especially the lack of read/unread indicators. But, honestly, it’s like a breath of fresh air! Editing this review because the developer has added font size and line height adjustments for the reading view. Very happy this has been added (along with other improvements)! Looks like the developer is listening and rolling out changes based on feedback. Great support!
I write this with nothing but love for this developer. I have bought and used daily every version of Reeder that has ever existed.
The opinionated experiments in this new version are thoughtfully implemented, well designed, and well built. But I just deleted the app. This new approach completely breaks 15 years of workflow and muscle memory for me. I will continue using Reeder Classic for as long as it works, and I would even pay good money for a major update to the Reeder Classic approach.
But this just isn’t working for me.
When I heard about the changes to the app, I wasn’t sure, but after giving it an honest shot, I’m sold. I love not worrying about if a post is unread or read, the social style feed works so well. The syncing it rock solid and pretty fast, what’s there just works and works well.
There are feature missing though that keep me from giving it 5 stars. Thankfully most of the missing features are on the coming soon list. Once I have text options and keyboard shortcuts, this becomes a 5 star review.
Like some of the other reviewers, I really wanted to like the new Reeder. And I think it’s almost there. I LOVE the ability to have many other feeds collected, however I really need the ability to remove them from my queue, I don’t care about unread counts. If we had that ability this would be a 4 star app, if we had more customization options; 5 stars. Hoping for these improvements.
Let’s get one thing out of the way: the subscription model is fine. Let’s reward great developers with a real living and with enough revenue to continue building great things.
This new Reeder is not a great thing. It’s half-baked and solves problems that don’t exist while creating new ones. Take a step back and look at what Reeder was (and Reeder Classic continues to be): a beautiful, smart, simple way to organize and consume news in almost any form.
Now this Reeder rolls along, and … just chucks that out the window. If you use something other than Apple products sometimes, too bad. The new Reeder forces your backend to be Apple-only, so no more common newsfeed with your other devices. If you’ve spent years curating a newsfeed with a service you trust (or self-host), too bad. Everything goes into Reeder now and you’re going to lose all your organization. If you like to scroll your content to see what you want to read, too bad. Reeder’s read state is tied to scrolling now, so no more perusing.
This is, collectively, a baffling miss from a developer who made (and continues to support) one of the finest, most user-friendly pieces of software I’ve had the pleasure of using.
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