Heartfeed RSS Reader vs ShoutPLEX Multi
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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!
ShoutPLEX Multi
This app allows users to play multiple audio streams simultaneously, with automatic volume ducking for secondary streams when primary ones become active. It supports various streaming protocols and offers robust privacy features with no ads or in-app purchases.
- Multiple audio stream playback
- Automatic volume ducking
- Supports SHOUTcast, Icecast, Broadcastify
- Stream activity indicator
- No trackers, ads, or in-app purchases
- Open source code
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ShoutPLEX lets you play multiple audio streams at a time, ideal for the police or fire scanning enthusiast on-the-go! The app will automatically "duck" the volume of apps you've set as Secondary when Primary streams become active, letting you choose what's most important for you to hear You can optionally add the credentials of your (paid) Broadcastify membership to add those as well. Channels currently modulating (producing audio) light up pink as shown in the screenshot, to indicate stream activity The app supports SHOUTcast, Icecast, and Broadcastify streaming URLs. (You'll need to find and add these yourself) We take privacy very seriously around here and as such, there are no trackers, no ads, and no in-app purchases. Finally, while your Broadcastify credentials are stored in the app's space on your phone, they are only transmitted to Broadcastify when authenticating your requests, via HTTPS. We do not, and will never, store or send those credentials anywhere else This app's code is entirely open source! Please find that info in the Settings page
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: ShoutPLEX Multi at none against Heartfeed RSS Reader's 5. ShoutPLEX Multi also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.8). Heartfeed RSS Reader's advantage is ratings volume (90 vs 1). On price, ads, monetization model 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
Both are free to download. Heartfeed RSS Reader sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. ShoutPLEX Multi asks for nothing beyond the download.
ShoutPLEX Multi 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 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
| Parameter | Heartfeed RSS Reader | ShoutPLEX Multi |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (90 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 89.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 90 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 14 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Ozymandias | Mark Mutti |
Customer experience
Heartfeed RSS Reader
ShoutPLEX Multi
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)
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- 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
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- 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
ShoutPLEX Multi
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Heartfeed RSS Reader
- Tipping the developer$0.99
- Unlimited feeds$2.99
- Tipping the developer$2.99
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- Even more tip to the developer$9.99
- Maximum tip to the developer$24.99
ShoutPLEX Multi
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Heartfeed RSS Reader free?
Is ShoutPLEX Multi free?
Which has better reviews, Heartfeed RSS Reader or ShoutPLEX Multi?
Do Heartfeed RSS Reader or ShoutPLEX Multi have ads?
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