Comparison

Heartfeed RSS Reader vs Next Level News

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Heartfeed RSS Reader

This app offers an efficient, no-nonsense way to read news from RSS, Atom, and JSON feeds without requiring account setup or server reliance. It features a compact grid view, background feed refreshing, and seamless syncing across iOS devices via iCloud.

Highlights
  • Compact grid view for feeds
  • Internal browser with content blocker support
  • Automatic iCloud sync for feeds and read status
  • Quick pick list for selecting news items
  • Background feed refresh and caching
  • Bookmark management with iCloud sync
  • Night mode theme
Features
Read full description

Do you want to read your news using RSS/Atom/JSON feeds in the most efficient, no-nonsense way, and with no requirement to setup an app-specific user account or relying on a server? If you do, Heartfeed might be the app for you. Features: - A compact grid view for your feeds, making it easy to check all of them at once - When reading news in the internal browser, full support of your configured content blockers, saved passwords, etc. - Automatic synching of subscribed feeds and read status between iOS devices (requires an iCloud account) - Quick pick list: Easily select which news items from different feeds you want to read - Background refresh of feeds: Some feeds refresh often and you then risk missing news in case the app is not used frequently. Background refresh, together with caching of the last 50 news items in each feed, prevents this from happening - Bookmarks, including reading them from either inside Heartfeed or from any iOS or macOS browser (requires an iCloud account) - Night mode theme - Subscribing to feeds from the current Heartfeed top list, from files, or directly from the web - Full support for split views and multi-tasking on iPads - No tracking of usage or personal data; optionally, you can anonymously share which feeds you subscribe to for improving the builtin top list of recommended feeds The app is 100% free and without ads. If you want to tip me somethings as thanks for the app, you can do so within the settings. I hope you'll enjoy using Heartfeed!

About

Next Level News

Consolidate your news from various sources into a single, organized feed. This reader offers advanced customization, bulk actions, offline saving options, and seamless iCloud synchronization across devices.

Highlights
  • Organize feeds into custom categories
  • Save articles as PDF, Webarchive, or .webloc
  • Multi-selection for bulk actions
  • Undo/redo functionality
  • iCloud sync across devices
  • Advanced search with bulk actions
  • Background feed updates with notifications
Features
Read full description

Gather your news in one place and organize it the way you like; Next Level News is a one of a kind news reader with modern iOS features, powerful bulk actions, undo/redo support, iCloud sync, advanced search, multi-selection support, save for offline reading, and so much more.  YOUR NEWS, YOUR WAY Customize article previews for each feed and group feeds into your own custom categories. A NEW KIND OF NEWS READER Next Level News provides advanced features you won’t find in other apps; you can apply bulk actions not just to entire feeds, but also to entire sections of content and to custom categories you create.  SAVE FOR LATER, SAVE FOREVER -Save news articles as PDF files and view them in your favorite PDF reader app or in the Files app. -Save news articles as Webarchive files and view them in Safari offline. -Save news articles and web links as Web Internet Location Files (.webloc). MULTI-SELECTION Want to act on several articles but not the entire list? Multi-selection is supported. Most news readers allow you to either act on one article at a time or the entire list. With Next Level News, select as many articles as you want. UNDO/REDO Made a mistake? Next Level News supports undo/redo (even for bulk actions). FEATURES: •Follow the news from your most trusted sources. •Group news feeds into custom categories. •Subscribe to RSS, Atom, and JSON feeds. •Customize article previews for each feed. •Apply powerful bulk actions to an entire feed, an entire custom category, and even to an entire section of content by using the context menu shown when you long press on screen. •Apply bulk actions to all articles that appear above or below a particular article. •Add articles to your Favorites or send them to the Trash. •Share articles using the iOS Share Sheet. •Save articles as PDF files. •Save articles as Webarchive files. •Save news articles and links as Web Internet Location Files (.webloc). •Print RSS articles and web pages opened within the app (printing can be initiated through the Share Sheet or by using the Command+P keyboard shortcut on an iPad with an attached keyboard). •Undo and redo is fully supported, even for bulk actions (use either a shake gesture or the standard iOS three finger tap to bring up the undo/redo menu). •Sync articles on all your iOS devices via iCloud (iCloud can be disabled in the Settings app). •Take advantage of powerful search. •Apply bulk actions to search results. •Fast select multiple articles using the standard iOS two finger drag gesture on the timeline (this allows you to apply an action only to the selected articles). •Update feeds while the app is in the background and get notifications in the Notification Center. •Import and export OPML feed lists. •Choose your preferred text size with Dynamic Type. •Supports multiple windows on iPad. •Dark Mode is fully supported. •Open the Comments page of an article directly within the app (if a Comments page is provided by the feed author). •And more! --- Next Level News Pro offers a 7 day risk free trial. Cancel anytime before the trial period ends at no cost to you. If you choose to subscribe to Next Level News payment will be charged to your iTunes account. By default your subscription automatically renews and your account is charged 24 hours before the current subscription period ends. Cancel your subscription anytime in the App Store app to disable autorenew.

Screenshots

Heartfeed RSS Reader4 screens
Next Level News4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Next Level News at weekly against Heartfeed RSS Reader's every 2 months. Next Level News also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.8). Heartfeed RSS Reader's advantage is monetization model (free vs freemium) and ratings volume (90 vs 3). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Heartfeed RSS Reader sells 5 one-off in-app purchases and Next Level News sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Next Level News holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Heartfeed RSS Reader has 90 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Heartfeed RSS Reader ships an update every 2 months, Next Level News weekly. Both last shipped on September 12, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Heartfeed RSS Reader versus Next Level News: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHeartfeed RSS ReaderNext Level News
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (90 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews89.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings90 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.014.7 — better
Further details — not scored
Size14 MB52 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperOzymandiasApp Tyrant Corp

Customer experience

Heartfeed RSS Reader

All ratings90 ratings
Positive93.3%
Neutral2.2%
Negative4.4%
Written reviews91 reviews
Positive89.0%
Neutral5.5%
Negative5.5%

Next Level News

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Heartfeed RSS Reader

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • App crashes on launch
  • Crashes after adding feeds
  • Multiple crashes during normal usage
  • App fails to start after recent updates
  • iCloud syncing issues (requires troubleshooting)
Show 1 more
  • Bright reader screen conflicts with dark mode setting

Requested features

13 requests
  • Search functionality with highlighting across feeds
  • Individual mark-as-read buttons per feed
  • Thumbnail images in grid view
  • Apple Watch app support
  • Offline reading capability
Show 8 more
  • Multi-language support including RTL scripts
  • Integration with Feedly and other accounts
  • Preserve feed groups on OPML import
  • Dark mode for reader screen
  • Feed discovery page with popular feeds index
  • Ability to save/bookmark articles
  • Variable font sizes in grid view
  • Apple News+ integration

Next Level News

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Heartfeed RSS Reader

One-time5
  • Tipping the developer$0.99
  • Unlimited feeds$2.99
  • Tipping the developer$2.99
Show 2 more
  • Even more tip to the developer$9.99
  • Maximum tip to the developer$24.99
3 purchases

Next Level News

Subscriptions3
  • Weekly Plan7 Days trial$2.997 Days
  • Monthly Plan$8.991 Month
  • Next Level News Yearly$64.991 Year

Questions

Is Heartfeed RSS Reader free?
Heartfeed RSS Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Next Level News free?
Next Level News is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Heartfeed RSS Reader or Next Level News?
Next Level News is rated higher. Heartfeed RSS Reader averages 4.8 out of 5 from 90 ratings, while Next Level News averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Heartfeed RSS Reader or Next Level News have ads?
Neither Heartfeed RSS Reader nor Next Level News shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Heartfeed RSS Reader or Next Level News?
Heartfeed RSS Reader ships an update every 2 months, and Next Level News weekly. Most recently, Heartfeed RSS Reader was updated on September 12, 2026 and Next Level News on September 12, 2026.

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