Comparison

lire vs Current

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

Head to head
About

lire

This app provides full-text RSS feeds, converting partial feeds into complete articles. Read content offline after initial caching. It offers standalone use or syncs with iCloud and various popular RSS services.

Highlights
  • Full-text RSS feed conversion
  • Offline reading of cached feeds
  • Standalone feed reader
  • iCloud sync
  • Sync with multiple RSS services
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Love RSS feeds? So do we!! RSS feeds are a great way to follow updates on your favorite website. However, some sites set up their feeds to only show a portion of each entry, you know, to get you to click through to their actual website. We find that really annoying, and we're sure you do too. Which is why, unlike other RSS feed readers, that either push you into a browser (in-app or otherwise), or depend on third party text parsing services and require you to be online to fetch the full text of one article at a time (which makes it no different from having to click/tap through to a website), in lire, you get your favorite RSS feeds as they should've been. You don't need to click through to any website (though, you do still have the option to, if you really wanted). It takes your favorite partial feeds, does its magic, and converts them in to full feeds, so you don't have to click/tap on those annoying 'Read more' or 'Continue reading' links. Once they're cached, you don't even need to be connected to read your full-text feeds. Use as a standalone feed reader, sync with iCloud, or, sync with any of the several services: Feedly, Feedbin, FeedHQ, The Old Reader, Inoreader, BazQux Reader, Newsblur, Feed Wrangler, FreshRSS, Miniflux, Nextcloud News, Tiny Tiny RSS.

About

Current

This app offers a peaceful way to consume RSS feeds without the pressure of unread counts or overdue articles. It prioritizes a calm, unhurried reading experience with beautiful typography and intuitive navigation. Sync with various providers or use local feeds for a personalized content stream.

Highlights
  • No unread counts or badges
  • Calm and unhurried design
  • Beautiful article presentation
  • Support for multiple sync providers
  • Full-text article extraction
  • Universal app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Current is an RSS reader built on a simple idea: your feed should never make you feel behind. There are no unread counts. No red badges. No number climbing while you sleep, silently tallying everything you haven't read. Current shows you what's new right now, and that's it. Nothing is owed. Nothing is overdue. You open it when you want to read, and whatever's there is what's there. The design is intentional. Every screen, every interaction, every animation was built to feel calm and unhurried. Articles are presented beautifully with clean typography and generous whitespace. Navigation is fluid and intuitive. The app gets out of the way and lets you focus on what matters: the writing. Current supports multiple sync providers so you can bring your existing subscriptions: - Feedbin - Inoreader - MiniFlux - FreshRSS - The Old Reader - NewsBlur - Local RSS (on-device, no account needed) Features: - Universal app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac - Beautiful article reader with smart formatting - Full-text article extraction - Light and dark themes - Background refresh - OPML import and export - Share extension - Keyboard shortcuts on iPad and Mac - iCloud sync for local feeds Current is a one-time purchase. No subscription. No ads. No tracking. Just an app you buy once and own forever. Built by an indie developer who wanted to love RSS again.

Screenshots

lire4 screens
Current4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Current at none against lire's 5. Current also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs fortnightly). lire's advantage is chart position (#2 vs #15) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 18.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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

lire costs $9.99 and Current $9.99 up front. lire sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Current asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for lire against 4.5 for Current. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 151 and 111 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 68% and 68% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

lire ships an update fortnightly, Current every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
lire versus Current: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterlireCurrent
Price$9.99$9.99
Rating4.4 (151 ratings)4.5 (111 ratings) — better
Positive reviews68.4% of reviews — better68.0% of reviews
Number of ratings151 — better111
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank#2 — better#15
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS15.6 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size160 MB46 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperKunal SoodJupiter Interactive Group LLC

Customer experience

lire

All ratings151 ratings
Positive80.1%
Neutral7.9%
Negative11.9%
Written reviews177 reviews
Positive68.4%
Neutral13.6%
Negative18.1%

Current

All ratings111 ratings
Positive85.6%
Neutral5.4%
Negative9.0%
Written reviews100 reviews
Positive68.0%
Neutral15.0%
Negative17.0%

Bugs and requests

lire

Reported bugs

7 issues
  • Crashes on launch
  • Incorrect feed display
  • Articles not opening
  • Overlapping UI elements
  • Sync errors with FreshRSS and Wallabag
Show 2 more
  • Revert to old articles after sync
  • VoiceOver issues after update

Requested features

9 requests
  • Bulk unsubscribe option
  • Ability to add multiple feeds at once
  • Custom keyword filtering
  • Highlight/annotate articles
  • Embedded video support
Show 4 more
  • Automatic article categorization
  • Sharing options
  • PDF export
  • Multilingual support

Current

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

5 purchases

lire

One-time5
  • Generous Tip$0.99
  • Massive Tip$1.99
  • Amazing Tip$4.99
Show 2 more
  • Humongous Tip$9.99
  • Stupendous Tip$19.99
None

Current

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is lire free?
lire costs $9.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Current free?
Current costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, lire or Current?
Current is rated higher. lire averages 4.4 out of 5 from 151 ratings, while Current averages 4.5 from 111 ratings.
Do lire or Current have ads?
Neither lire nor Current shows ads.
Which is updated more often, lire or Current?
lire ships an update fortnightly, and Current every 3 days. Most recently, lire was updated on September 23, 2026 and Current on September 22, 2026.
Which is more popular, lire or Current?
lire currently peaks at #2 in the App Store charts, and Current at #15. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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