# An Otter RSS Reader — user reviews > 110 indexed App Store user reviews of An Otter RSS Reader by Josh Holtz, rated 4.10/5 from 73 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/an-otter-rss-reader/id1529696614/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/an-otter-rss-reader/id1529696614.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 46 · 4★ 9 · 3★ 6 · 2★ 5 · 1★ 7 ## What do users think of An Otter RSS Reader? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 👍 Elegant and convenient - 👍 Great app - 👍 Cute RSS reader in every way - 👍 Works Great, syncs on all iOS Devices - 👍 More than an 'okay minimalistic app' - 👍 An absolute pleasure to use - 👍 Perfectly simple RSS app - 👍 Hands down the best Rss reader - 👍 Better than ok - 👍 Well designed and dang cute - 👍 Pretty much perfect! - 👍 Simple, Straightforward, Exactly what I needed - 👍 Clean, simple to use, with integration and extras included - 👍 Best looking RSS reader - 👍 Proof free does not mean inferior - 👍 Good and Clean - 👍 Perfect - 👍 Clean, sharp, functional & perfect **Cons** - 🐛 It does not work - 🐛 Abandoned app - 🐛 Bug list view dark mode - 🐛 Only shows a couple of entries - 🐛 Missing keyboard shortcuts - 🐛 Doesn't work properly - 🐛 Buggy - 🐛 Inconsistent function - 🐛 Crashes - 🐛 Trouble persisting feeds - 🐛 sync doesn't work - 🐛 Abandoned Gem app - 🐛 Only loads 5 articles - 🐛 Good App, but Naggy - 🐛 Font Size too small for my elderly eyes - 🐛 Glitchy/Buggy - 🐛 Frustrated - 🐛 Broken by iOS 16 - 🐛 Doesn't work - 🐛 Crashes when I try to import the feeds from the opml file. - 🐛 Useless - 🐛 Crashes **Commonly reported bugs** - It does not work - Articles flicker in and out of existence and about 30 of them don't show at all - The list views are messed up with many black spaces where a feed item should appear but is completely black - Reader mode seems to not work - Articles show up in duplicated often, articles had been marked as read will show up again as unread - Feeds disappear after closing the app - Feeds don't refresh - Crashes when importing OPML files - Crashing when importing opml files - Crashes when trying to import an OPML file **Most requested features** - Encripted iCloud backups would be welcome - 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 - Needs swipe gestures example swipe right mark read/unread swipe left add to favorite - 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 - 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 - MiniFlux Sync would be nice - Offline reading? - Dark mode option - Advanced analytics dashboard ## Newest reviews (11 of 110) ### 4/5 — Great app - but feeds keep disappearing *2026-07-09, version 1.3.0* I believe it to be a bug, unfortunately I can’t use it anymore. Using the latest mac os tahoe - I hope this app gets updated, the app is really great! ### 2/5 — Only loads 5 articles *2023-12-15, version 1.3.1* Really like the app and the design but it only loads the first 5 articles ### 2/5 — Doesn‘t work properly *2023-11-18, version 1.3.1* 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. ### 2/5 — Only shows a couple of entries *2023-06-05, version 1.3.1* 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. ### 2/5 — Missing keyboard shortcuts *2023-05-11, version 1.3.0* Cmd N should always be add feed, Cmd Shift N - add folder. ### 3/5 — Version 1.3.0: OK reader app how to make it better *2023-03-14, version 1.3.0* 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.” ### 2/5 — Clean and looks nice but only shows a few items *2023-01-21, version 1.3.1* iOS 16.2 For some reason I’m only seeing 6 or 7 entries per feed as you then get lots of empty entries. They are clickable but the items are blank. ### 2/5 — Its bugged *2022-11-29, version 1.3.1* Theres a bug, where if you scroll down your feed, articels dissapear and are invisible, pls fix. Apart from that its a good app. ### 3/5 — Buggy *2022-10-22, version 1.3.1* Unfortunately I am not able to see half of my feed because it renders as black rectangles ### 3/5 — Broken by iOS 16 *2022-09-24, version 1.3.1* It worked perfectly for me until I upgraded to iOS 16. Now the list of stories has blank slots in it. You can tap those blank spots and get to the articles that are supposed to be listed but obviously this is not ideal. I don’t know if it’s the fault of Apple or if Jason is using some funky custom list control that was marginal and just broke. I really appreciate the work Jason has put into the app. ### 1/5 — Inconsistent function *2022-08-15, version 1.3.1* The ability to subscribe to a feed from Safari is very inconsistent. I love this app but it only seems to work when it feels like it. Please fix that. :) - Update: it keep completely dumping my feeds now. To the point I've lost a lot of feeds for no reason. I'll save them, go to another app, come back and they're gone. ALSO, I notice a parallel between when I leave this app and have this issue and keyboard malfunctions. Something is going goofy. Still like the app but it's unstable so I'll have to use something else for now. Which is sad. This is the closest thing to Google Reader I've seen since they shut that down. 😭 ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — It does not work *2026-03-26, version 1.3.0* You can add feeds and even export them. But that data will not persist. You know fsync() is a thing write? ### 1/5 — Abandoned app *2024-01-28* 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. ### 1/5 — Bug list view dark mode *2023-10-20, version 1.3.1* 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! ### 1/5 — Good App, but Naggy *2023-07-05, version 1.3.0* This is actually a good app, but any app that nags for a review automatically gets a 1-star from me. ### 1/5 — Not bad for an early release (updated) *2023-03-11, version 1.3.1* 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. ### 1/5 — OK. Now what? *2023-02-27, version 1.3.0* 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?! ### 1/5 — Buggy *2023-02-26, version 1.3.1* There is a bug when you scroll down the articles disappear. Unusable right now ### 1/5 — simply fails *2022-10-30, version 1.3.0* no way to refresh initial feeds. ### 1/5 — IOS 16 *2022-10-02, version 1.3.1* The app does not work properly since ios 16. Unfortunately the programmer does not respond to my email. ### 1/5 — Doesn’t work *2022-09-23, version 1.3.1* It seemed great importing my opml file and making its first pass when I bought it. That was the only time it worked. Nothing refreshes, nothing updates since. After a week I give up. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Elegant and convenient *2025-07-05, version 1.3.0* Advanced users recommend me using RSS then I tried and it is lightweight. I love it ### 5/5 — Great app *2024-05-30* 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! ### 5/5 — Abandoned Gem app *2024-05-21, version 1.3.1* 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. ### 5/5 — good *2024-02-29, version 1.3.0* free and defind by self, nice! ### 5/5 — Cute RSS reader in every way *2024-01-25* 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! ### 5/5 — Works Great, syncs on all iOS Devices *2023-09-06, version 1.3.0* Love this app. Use it on Macbook, Mac Mini, iPad and iPhone. Lists stay synced and I'm super happy with it. Thank you! ### 5/5 — More than an 'okay minimalistic app' *2023-07-14, version 1.3.1* Really clean design best RSS reader I've ever used ### 5/5 — An absolute pleasure to use *2023-04-08, version 1.3.1* 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. ### 5/5 — Perfectly simple rss app *2022-08-08, version 1.3.1* Could not recommend enough. Wish there more apps out there with this kind of functional but aesthetic approach ### 5/5 — You Otter try this guy *2022-05-15, version 1.3.0* It's exceedlingly simple. If you are just trying to read your news, saved reddit posts (what I use it for), or your journal articles without being to fussy or fancy. This is the app for you. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-25.*