An Otter RSS Reader User Reviews

What users say

Top reviews

It does not work

You can add feeds and even export them. But that data will not persist. You know fsync() is a thing write?

Elegant and convenient

Advanced users recommend me using RSS then I tried and it is lightweight. I love it

Great app

Simple and easy to use. Encripted iCloud backups would be welcome, but it's not a requirement. It's just great the way it is!

Abandoned Gem app

It’s been my favorite app I used to use for years. But it’s been long abandoned for 2 years now since last update. Sad to see you go bud.

good

free and defind by self, nice!

Abandoned app

Unfortunately the app was abandoned. Since two years ago the app doesn’t receive any update. Besides that, the app are bugged not getting all the news from the source. It’s sad to see an app like forgotten.

Cute RSS reader in every way

First, otter. Win. Second, it's just really small - a fraction of the size of many other RSS readers, but it's still got a lot of functionality.

The macOS application is a Catalyst port with some rough edges around things like settings, but you wouldn't really know that when using the main application window for day-to-day tasks and I understand that the dev probably doesn't want to spend too much time on a comparative minority platform vs iOS.

All in all, this is great. Small and fast (despite the Catalyst underpinnings) with decent RSS support and a few little bells and whistles that are all I need. Can't argue with the donationware price, either!
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Only loads 5 articles

Really like the app and the design but it only loads the first 5 articles

Doesn‘t work properly

Sadly doesn‘t work for me. The article list is very glitched. Articles flicker in and out of existence and about 30 of them don‘t show at all.

It‘s a shame because I really like the app otherwise. It has a nice and simple interface and supports all the features that I want.

The glitches happen on my ipad and my iphone.
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Bug list view dark mode

The app is fantastic really, but the list views are messed up with many black spaces where a feed item should appear but is completely black. iOS17, dark mode, multiple feed sources organized in folders.
At the same time the reader mode seems to not work.
Without the bugs it would be a solid 5 stars!
Neat and clean, exactly what an rss reader is supposed to be!
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Works Great, syncs on all iOS Devices

Love this app. Use it on Macbook, Mac Mini, iPad and iPhone. Lists stay synced and I'm super happy with it. Thank you!

More than an 'okay minimalistic app'

Really clean design best RSS reader I've ever used

Good App, but Naggy

This is actually a good app, but any app that nags for a review automatically gets a 1-star from me.

Only shows a couple of entries

Like another review states as well : it only shows a small number of entries before the list goes blank. This is on ios16.5. It's a shame because it looks to be a brilliant little reader. I hope this issue gets addressed soon.

Missing keyboard shortcuts

Cmd N should always be add feed, Cmd Shift N - add folder.

An absolute pleasure to use

It works so well. Simple, clean, free & doesn’t bother me with adverts or suggested upgrades or anything like that. I open it, it does what I want it to well and then I close it when I’m done.

Version 1.3.0: OK reader app how to make it better

NOTE: This review is about the free version.

PROS:
It’s a very simple app, without all the bloated features (like Smart Folders) that I’ve seen in other RSS readers.

Support for dark mode, which is easier on the eyes.

Regular updates to squash bugs and improve the app.

HOW TO MAKE IT BETTER:
Add a search-bar to find articles.

When clicking on a feed/article to read it, you have to click on the text - that can be difficult if the feed/article has short text. Make it so that you just have to click in the box that the feed/article is in.

The “Settings” option is buried within the Feeds tab - put it in the Otter RSS menu.

The “Import Feeds…” and “Export Feeds…” options are buried within Settings - put them in the File menu, and put them in the Help menu.

File-New opens up a new window - it should open up the option to add a feed instead. The option to open a new window should be in the Window menu.

Add the option to open links in the browser, instead of in the app.

Change “Mark/Unmark as Favorite” to “Star/Unstar” - this makes more sense with the Star icon.

Add a “Refresh feeds” button, or add a “Refresh feeds” option to the File menu.

CONCLUSION:
An OK RSS app, with plenty of room for improvement.

If you liked this review, please mark it as “helpful.”
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Not bad for an early release (updated)

Original review below is over 2 years old and it's been over a year since an update. An abandoned app can't be anything more than 1 star.

Already after one update many of the request I and others have been added as well as comlaints being addressed. Updating to 5 stars. Check app update history for what's been addressed. The reader mode is nicest I've seen so far. You can create folders and move your feeds into them, you can import opml from other apps which maintains folder hierarchy if that app supports folders. What it needs. Mark articles read on scrolling past them Option to hide read articles by default instead of manually hiding all the time. When clicking on a top level folder it expands the folder clicking the arrow should expand the folder. There is no way to view all stories in a top folder. For example I have a tech folder and have to go to every single sub folder and read the stories I should be able to just click the tech folder and see the stories in that folder. Needs swipe gestures example swipe right mark read/unread swipe left add to favorite. When viewing stories there is about a quarter inch of empty space on the left and right making appear almost window boxed. The story headlines should go the width of the screen to see more words in the title. Need to add an option to sort by oldest and newest first. If in reader mode hitting the safari button should open in the in app browser instead of leaving the app. If we want to leave the app from that screen the safari button should open in your default browser. Under notifications there should be an option to show badge count with unread articles. Should be an option to see favicons to the left of the headline to quickly see at a glance which site posted the story as well as an option to enable images if there is one in the story. Either a small image to the right of the headline or a large image below the headline. All in all it's a really good start it's just not ready to be my main RSS app for now I'm sticking with Reeder and NetNewsWire. I am going to keep Otter installed and look forward to future updates.
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OK. Now what?

No guide, insructions, in app. Website menu bar nonfunctional.
Looks like it might be interesting. but unless I know how to use it, so what?!

Buggy

There is a bug when you scroll down the articles disappear. Unusable right now