PetalFeed vs CMRSS
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side β with what reviewers say about each.
PetalFeed
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An RSS reader built for VoiceOver from day one. Follow blogs, Reddit, Mastodon, Bluesky and YouTube in one place, then listen to it all like a personal news broadcast. No ads, no tracking, no subscription. Every screen is fully labeled for VoiceOver, every swipe has a named custom action, related details are grouped so you hear them in one stop, and all text scales with Dynamic Type. Follow everything you read: - RSS and Atom feeds from any blog or news site - Subreddits, just by name - Your Mastodon and Bluesky timelines - YouTube channels, with videos that play right inside the app - A Discover tab of hand-picked feeds, subreddits and channels by topic Listen hands-free. Have any article, or a whole queue of them, read aloud in any voice installed on your device. Control playback from the Lock Screen, Control Center or the mini player that follows you through the app. The Hive turns your headlines into a short podcast-style show, written by Apple Intelligence and read aloud by distinct voices. Hawk Eye gives you a digest of the topics in your unread articles. Summaries give you the gist of any article in a few sentences. All of it runs privately on your device. Stay organized your way: - Petals are your feeds, Flowers are your folders - Smart Flowers fill themselves using rules you set - Bees filter out keywords, spoilers and topics you would rather skip - Similar articles are grouped, so one story is one stop - Rapid Review lets you triage a busy feed one card at a time - Full-text extraction gives you the whole article without the clutter Bring your library with you. Sync feeds, folders and read state two ways with Feedbin, Inoreader, FreshRSS or Miniflux, or import and export OPML anytime. Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets show your unread counts and latest headlines. Siri and Shortcuts can open an article, read your unread articles aloud, play The Hive, build a Hawk Eye digest or mark everything read. PetalFeed works on iPhone, iPad and Mac. Free 14-day trial, then one-time purchase. Free forever, even after the trial: - Reading RSS and Atom feeds - OPML import and export - Up to 10 Petals - Text-to-speech read aloud - Every accessibility feature PetalFeed Lifetime is a single purchase with no renewals. It unlocks: - Unlimited Petals - Sync with Feedbin, Inoreader, FreshRSS and Miniflux - The Hive, Hawk Eye and summaries - Bees and Smart Flowers - Widgets, Siri and Shortcuts - Refresh as often as every 5 minutes Already bought PetalFeed? You keep everything automatically. Enjoying it? An optional tip jar lets you say thanks. Private by design. Your feeds, articles and reading history stay on your device. All AI runs on the device: no servers, no PetalFeed account, no tracking, no ads. Sync happens only with a service you choose to connect, and your sign-in details stay in the device Keychain. AI features require an Apple Intelligenceβcapable device.
CMRSS
This news reader offers a streamlined way to consume content across all Apple devices. It features on-device AI for article summarization and robust organization tools, ensuring a private and efficient reading experience.
- iCloud sync across Apple devices
- On-device AI article summarization
- Tabbed reading with built-in browser
- Organize feeds into folders
- Follow YouTube, Reddit, X, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook
- Smart Folders with custom rules
- Widgets for desktop and Home Screen
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CMRSS β A native RSS reader for Mac, iPhone, and iPad CMRSS is a fast, beautifully native RSS reader that keeps up with everything you follow β and helps you read it in less time. One app, every Apple device, perfectly in sync. Everything, everywhere β automatically Your feeds, folders, and read/unread state sync seamlessly through iCloud. Set things up once and pick up exactly where you left off, whether you're on your Mac, iPhone, or iPad. Read smarter with on-device AI Get a clear one- or two-sentence summary of any article, generated privately on your device with Apple Intelligence. Skim your feeds, catch what matters, and dive in only when you want to. Nothing is sent to a server. Built for focused reading β’ Tabbed reading with a built-in browser β open full articles without leaving the app, and your open tabs follow you to your other devices β’ Unread-first workflow β jump straight to what's new, or browse everything β’ Organize feeds into folders that stay in sync everywhere β’ Tune your layout: title line count, summaries on or off Follow more than blogs β’ Paste a YouTube channel or a subreddit β CMRSS finds the feed for you β’ Follow X, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook pages, and entire websites through the optional RSS.app integration (RSS.app account required) β’ Import and export OPML to bring your subscriptions with you β or take them anywhere Smart Folders β’ Folders that fill themselves β collect articles by title, content, feed, age, or read state β’ Combine rules into nested any/all groups for precise filters β’ Unread counts and iCloud sync, just like regular folders Widgets for your desktop and Home Screen β’ An unread ring for a glanceable count, or latest-articles widgets in two sizes β’ Show everything or pick a single feed; tap to jump straight to the article Never miss what you care about β’ Smart background refresh on your schedule (every 5, 15, 30, or 60 minutes) β’ Flexible notifications: a single sync summary, one per feed, or one per article β’ Mark important feeds for per-article alerts β’ An app-icon badge that always shows your unread count Power features β’ Dispatch Actions β send any article to your other apps through Shortcuts, with keyboard slots β1ββ5 β’ Spotlight search β find your articles right from the desktop or Home Screen β’ Curated suggestions to get you started fast β’ Automatic cleanup β choose how long to keep articles to control storage Private by design Sync runs through your own iCloud account, and AI summaries are generated entirely on-device. No third-party servers. No tracking. Your reading is yours. Free to try, one purchase to own Every feature is free with up to 5 feeds. A single one-time purchase unlocks unlimited feeds β no subscription, yours forever. Download CMRSS and make your feeds feel effortless again. Note: AI article summaries require a device that supports Apple Intelligence.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: PetalFeed at none against CMRSS's 1. On price, update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. CMRSS sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. PetalFeed asks for nothing beyond the download.
PetalFeed ships an update every 2 weeks, CMRSS every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | PetalFeed | CMRSS |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Positive reviews | β | 100.0% of reviews |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 6 days β better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No β better | Yes |
| Monetization | β | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 26.1 | 26.0 β better |
| Further details β not scored | ||
| Size | 10 MB | 20 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Doxie Media LLC | Charlie Monroe Software, s.r.o. |
In-app purchases
PetalFeed
No in-app purchases
CMRSS
- CMRSS Pro$9.99








