Comparison

OpenWire RSS Reader vs Riff

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

Head to head
About

OpenWire RSS Reader

This app allows you to subscribe to RSS and Atom feeds from various sources and read them in a clean, chronological interface. It offers organization by category and a home screen widget for quick access to headlines. It is designed for privacy with no tracking or profiling.

Highlights
  • Subscribe to RSS and Atom feeds
  • Organized by category
  • Home screen widget
  • Chronological timelines
  • Private by design
  • Lightweight and battery-friendly
Features
Read full description

OpenWire is a modern RSS reader built for people who want to follow the web on their own terms. Subscribe to RSS and Atom feeds from news sites, blogs, and newsletters, and read them in a clean, distraction-free interface — no algorithms deciding what you see. Why OpenWire? - Follow any RSS or Atom feed - Organized by category: Top, Tech, Health, Science, Politics, and more - Home screen widget keeps headlines within reach - Chronological timelines — no engagement tricks - Fast, lightweight, and battery-friendly - Private by design — no tracking or profiling Free to download. Bring your own feeds or start with our curated defaults. Your feeds. Your pace. Your attention.

About

Riff

This news reader presents articles one by one, allowing you to quickly read or skip them. It offers AI-powered summaries on demand and an optional listening feature. Your reading experience is private, with no account, ads, or tracking.

Highlights
  • Card-based article browsing
  • AI-powered article summaries
  • Offline article access
  • Customizable source playlists
  • Article listening feature
  • Home and lock screen widgets
Features
Read full description

One card, one second: you read it or you skip it. Riff is an RSS and news reader with no account, no ads and no tracking, with an AI summary on request. Keeping up with the news shouldn’t mean opening twenty links and stacking tabs. Riff shows you the stories from your sources one at a time, full screen: the headline, the picture, the gist. Interested? Read it right here. Not? Swipe. YOUR SOURCES, YOUR PACE • More than 1,000 sources in French and English, switched on in one tap • Paste the address of a site or an RSS feed to add your own • Import your subscriptions from another RSS reader with an OPML file: folders become categories • Playlists: your categories grouped under the name you like, up to 10 • For You: a feed composed on your iPhone from your reading, with “fewer stories like this” one tap away • Subject: tap it to find the articles that talk about the same subject, in your sources and beyond The article’s text shows in the app when the publisher makes it freely available. If it is for subscribers only, Riff shows the excerpt and the link: it never gets around a paywall. AN AI SUMMARY, ONE TAP AWAY Tap the Riff logo: Apple Intelligence writes a short summary above the article, on your iPhone. Nothing is summarized unless you ask, and the text you read stays the publisher’s. It needs a device that supports Apple Intelligence (iPhone 15 Pro or later), with Apple Intelligence turned on in Settings. Without it, everything else works. LISTEN (experimental) Riff reads the article aloud, in French or English, with the voices of your device: the text is sent nowhere. Controls on the lock screen, with headphones and in the car. You need an enhanced or premium voice installed in Settings. ON IPHONE DUO Opened and in landscape, the list of articles and the article sit side by side. Swipe from one article to the next, and your watchlist opens on the left. Closed or in split screen, the buttons and the action bar stand down the side. WATCHLIST AND WIDGETS • Keep an article in one tap, with its text and its summary: it opens even offline • Widgets in three sizes on the home screen, and on the lock screen with the number of articles left to read NO ACCOUNT, NO ADS, NO TRACKING Riff has no account and no server: your device fetches articles directly from the publishers. Your sources, settings and reading history stay on your iPhone and, unless you turn sync off, in your private iCloud. Export the sources you added yourself (OPML) to open them in another RSS reader. Riff is free, with no subscription and no in-app purchase. Articles belong to their publishers: Riff sends you to the source and is not affiliated with any of them. Apple Intelligence is a trademark of Apple Inc. Privacy: https://riff.watch/en/privacy/ Riff terms: https://riff.watch/en/terms/

Screenshots

OpenWire RSS Reader4 screens
Riff4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Riff at none against OpenWire RSS Reader's shown. Riff also leads on update cadence (daily vs weekly). OpenWire RSS Reader's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, rating, ratings volume and in-app purchases 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. OpenWire RSS Reader sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and Riff sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for OpenWire RSS Reader against 5.0 for Riff. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 2 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

OpenWire RSS Reader ships an update weekly, Riff daily. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
OpenWire RSS Reader versus Riff: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOpenWire RSS ReaderRiff
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings22
Update frequencyWeeklyDaily — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size12 MB16 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperFour Corners Development GroupArnaud Lewis

Customer experience

OpenWire RSS Reader

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Riff

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

OpenWire RSS Reader

One-time3
  • Starter$0.99
  • Plus$1.99
  • Unlimited$4.99
2 purchases

Riff

Subscriptions2
  • Riff, monthly14 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Riff, yearly14 Days trial$17.991 Year

Questions

Is OpenWire RSS Reader free?
OpenWire RSS Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Riff free?
Riff is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, OpenWire RSS Reader or Riff?
OpenWire RSS Reader and Riff are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 2 ratings respectively.
Do OpenWire RSS Reader or Riff have ads?
OpenWire RSS Reader shows ads; Riff does not.
Which is updated more often, OpenWire RSS Reader or Riff?
OpenWire RSS Reader ships an update weekly, and Riff daily. Most recently, OpenWire RSS Reader was updated on October 24, 2026 and Riff on October 31, 2026.

Other comparisons