News Explorer vs Minimal RSS Reader
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
News Explorer
This app aggregates news from various sources including RSS, Reddit, and podcasts. It offers robust synchronization across Apple devices, smart filtering, and automatic reader view for full article text. Users can also add notes, tags, and comments to articles.
- iCloud sync across Apple devices
- Smart filters for news customization
- Automatic Reader View for full articles
- Read and add article comments
- Create rich text notes for articles
- Customizable feed settings and prefilters
- Article inspector for metadata and tags
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News Explorer is a full-featured yet easy-to-use RSS, JSON, Atom, Reddit, YouTube, Podcast, Bluesky and Mastodon news reader with iCloud synchronization between Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Full iCloud Sync • News Explorer syncs your feeds, filters, folders, articles including statuses, notes and tags, across all your Apple devices. • Synchronization is based on iCloud, so there is no need to login or to sign up into any other service, it just works out of the box. Smart Filters • Filter your news according your own conditions and preferences, easily accessible from the feeds list. • Filters customizations are synced across all your devices. Automatic Reader View • Use automatic Reader view to download and read the full text version of truncated articles from supported sources. • News Explorer makes use of multiple parsers to offer the best Reader view results. Article Comments • Read article comments from other readers directly in the app. • Works with RSS feeds that has comment feeds per article, YouTube feeds, Reddit feeds and Hacker News feeds. • Also works with most feeds from websites that use Open Web comments. Article Notes • Create rich text notes, directly in the context of the article. • Notes are synced via iCloud together with the related article. Feed Settings • All aspects of a feed like title, source link or icon, can be adjusted in the Feed settings dialog. • Disable the feed temporarily or permanently. • Override app settings for syncing, downloading comments and reading articles. Feed Prefilters • Prevent the app from downloading articles you don’t want to see or read. • Prefilters are synced via iCloud, and can be easily configured on feed level in the Feed settings dialog. Article Inspector • Inspect metadata, tags, media, notes and comments of articles in the Inspector panel. • View and add custom tags in the Metadata panel. • Browse and download media, including podcasts, in the Media panel. Article Tags • Article categories of RSS articles are displayed in the Inspector panel as tags. • Can be extended with your own tags. • Custom tags are easily recognizable, and are synced via iCloud. • Tags can be used as conditions in filters. Local Account • Add feeds to News Explorer that only exists on your device by activating the Local account option. • The local account option can be used in addition to or instead of syncing with iCloud. Reading Features • Mark items as favorite for later reading. • Navigate with one click to the original content. • Full keyboard navigation. • Full text search in the List and Timeline view. • Mark as read while scrolling option. • Image viewer to browse through all images of articles or feeds. • Built-in sharing to Instapaper, Raindrop and Readwise. • Share news items via Email, Messages and other services. Configuration Features • Countless settings to tweak layout, fonts, behaviors and more. • Import and export feeds via OPML. • Add new feeds via the Search new feeds or Add feed dialogs. • Organize your feeds by assigning them to folders. • Multiple themes, tint colors and app icons. System Features • Create automations with News Explorer actions in the Shortcuts app. • Option to index articles with Spotlight. • Local notifications for feeds selected in the Feeds Manager. • Widgets with adjustable sources and fonts. Multi Platform You only need to buy two apps to cover all Apple platforms: • News Explorer for Mac is available on the Mac App Store. • News Explorer for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Apple TV is a universal purchase app, available on the App Store of the mentioned devices. On visionOS you can use the iPadOS edition of News Explorer. Support • News Explorer has an extensive help page on https://betamagic.nl/support/newsexplorer/help.html. • If you still have questions or need support, email us at support@betamagic.nl. If you like News Explorer then feel free to leave a review or a rating in the App Store, it helps us a lot!
Minimal RSS Reader
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Stay on top of the web, your way — without the cloud. Minimal RSS Reader is a clean, distraction-free RSS reader built entirely on-device. No accounts. No subscriptions. No syncing to someone else's server. Just your feeds, your articles, and your reading flow. YOUR FEEDS, ORGANIZED • Add any RSS feed and group them into color-coded categories. • Collapse categories in the sidebar, hide feeds that have gone quiet, and keep your reading list exactly as tidy as you want it. • Made for Reading • Every article opens in a distraction-free Reader Mode first. No ads, no clutter, just the words. • Adjust the text size to your liking, then jump to the in-app browser or open in Safari • when you want the full experience. FIND WHAT MATTERS • Browse All Articles, or focus on Fresh (the last hour), your Bookmarks, or Recently Read. • Search across your entire feed library in seconds. • Import, Export, and Stay in Control • Already using another reader? Import your feeds instantly with OPML. And when you want to move on, export everything just as easily. CUSTOMIZABLE TO YOU • Light, dark, or system appearance • Card or list view • Auto-refresh from every 5 to 120 minutes • Auto-mark articles as read after a set number of days • Unread badge and new article notifications PRIVACY FIRST • Everything stays on your device. No account required.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Minimal RSS Reader at every 4 days against News Explorer's every 3 weeks. Minimal RSS Reader also leads on price ($0.99 vs $4.99). News Explorer's advantage is device support (4 vs 2) and iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.0). On ads, in-app purchases and chart position there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
News Explorer costs $4.99 and Minimal RSS Reader $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
News Explorer ships an update every 3 weeks, Minimal RSS Reader every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | News Explorer | Minimal RSS Reader |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | $0.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.7 (640 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 79.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 640 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Best chart rank | #18 — better | #25 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 49 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Ron Elemans | Michiel Devliegere |
Bugs and requests
News Explorer
Reported bugs
4 issues- Issues with iCloud sync reliability
- Freezing and crashes on certain devices
- Inconsistent behavior when marking articles as read
- Rendering problems with some websites in Reader mode
Requested features
8 requests- Ability to add custom RSS feeds
- Improved support for newsletters
- Option to translate articles
- Bionic reading mode
- Annotation and highlighting tools
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- Tagging and advanced organization features
- Text-to-speech playback
- Improved Apple Watch app experience
Minimal RSS Reader
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
News Explorer
No in-app purchases
Minimal RSS Reader
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is News Explorer free?
Is Minimal RSS Reader free?
Do News Explorer or Minimal RSS Reader have ads?
Which is updated more often, News Explorer or Minimal RSS Reader?
Which is more popular, News Explorer or Minimal RSS Reader?
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