Comparison

Flux News Reader vs RSS Reader

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

Head to head
About

Flux News Reader

Features
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Flux News is a native IOS/MacOS client for your self-hosted Miniflux server. Built from the ground up for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, it brings the focus and polish of a great reading app to the open RSS ecosystem you already control. Connect once with a Miniflux API key and your feeds, folders, stars, and read state stay in sync across every device โ€” no third-party cloud, no account to create, no telemetry. *** This app is not affiliated with the MiniFlux developer READING, REIMAGINED โ€ข Clean, distraction-free article view with optional full-content fetch โ€ข Newspaper layout for browsing, swipe layout for focused reading โ€ข Choose from a curated set of system and serif fonts โ€” including New York, Georgia, Charter, Iowan, Palatino, and Baskerville โ€ข Light, dark, and warm Solarized themes that respect your typography โ€ข Inline YouTube embeds tap straight into the in-app browser ON-DEVICE AI SUMMARIES โ€ข On supported hardware, generate a quick bullet-point summary of any article using Apple Intelligence. Long reads are handled with a chunked map reduce pass, so even feature-length pieces summarize cleanly. โ€ข Nothing leaves your device. LISTEN, DON'T JUST READ โ€ข Read any article aloud with the system's high-quality voices. Pick your preferred voice in Settings and pause, resume, or stop from the article toolbar. BUILT FOR EACH PLATFORM โ€ข iPhone: swipe between articles, pull to refresh, tap to share โ€ข iPad: side-by-side split view, full keyboard support โ€ข Mac: native menu bar, full keyboard shortcuts (โ†/โ†’ to navigate, M to toggle read, B to bookmark, F to fetch full content, O to open in browser), resizable windows YOUR FEEDS, YOUR SERVER โ€ข Flux News is a client for Miniflux, a self-hosted RSS reader you run yourself or pay a small monthly fee for at miniflux.app. Bring your own server URL and API token, and you're done. PRIVACY BY DESIGN โ€ข No analytics, no tracking, no ads โ€ข No accounts beyond your own Miniflux server โ€ข Article summaries run on-device โ€” text never leaves your phone, tablet, or Mac โ€ข Open-source feed protocols โ€” no lock-in REQUIREMENTS โ€ข A Miniflux server (self-hosted or miniflux.app subscription) โ€ข iOS 17 / iPadOS 17 / macOS 14 or later โ€ข On-device AI summaries require iOS 26 / macOS 26 on an Apple Intelligence-capable device

About

RSS Reader

Features
Read full description

One calm feed reader for every RSS and Atom source you care about. Paste a link and Tidings pulls in the blogs, news sites and podcasts you follow, so the whole open web lands in a single, quiet timeline instead of scattered across a dozen apps and inboxes. No algorithm decides what you see. You choose the sources, group them into your own categories, and read them in order โ€” full articles, picture posts and podcast episodes side by side, in a distraction-free reader that strips away the clutter of the original page and respects Dark Mode. WHAT YOU GET - Follow any RSS or Atom feed just by pasting its URL โ€” blogs, magazines, newsrooms and creators - One timeline that merges articles, picture posts and podcast episodes from every source you follow - A clean reader view with proper typography, images and links โ€” no clutter, no popups - A built-in podcast player with variable speed (0.8x to 2x), skip, scrub and lock-screen controls - Star posts to save them for later, plus Unread and Starred smart lists so nothing slips past - Fetched posts stay readable offline, and a three-pane iPad layout with swipe-to-star and swipe-to-read PERFECT FOR - News readers who want headlines from their own trusted sites, not an algorithm's feed - Podcast listeners who'd rather subscribe by feed than hunt through a directory - Writers and researchers tracking blogs and publications in one place - Anyone escaping social scrolling who wants to choose their own sources WHY NOT JUST USE A BROWSER? Bookmarks go stale and you have to check every site by hand. Here each source refreshes on its own, unread counts tell you what's new, and articles and episodes sit side by side in one timeline you actually finish. PRIVACY Your feeds, categories and starred posts stay on your device. No account to create, no ads, no reading history sold, no tracking of what you open. FULL ACCESS Tidings unlocks with a single membership that opens unlimited feeds, the full reader, offline reading and the podcast player. Choose the plan that fits: a Weekly or Yearly auto-renewing subscription, or a one-time Lifetime purchase. Payment is charged to your Apple ID; subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the period ends, and you can manage or cancel anytime in App Store settings. Add your first feed today and bring the whole open web into one calm place. Terms of Use (EULA): https://web-levi.web.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://web-levi.web.app/privacy-policy Questions? tphuc.work@gmail.com

Screenshots

Flux News Reader3 screens
RSS Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Flux News Reader at none against RSS Reader's 3. On price, update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. RSS Reader sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per 7 days. Flux News Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Flux News Reader ships an update monthly, RSS Reader every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference ยท 5 level
Flux News Reader versus RSS Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFlux News ReaderRSS Reader
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 3 weeks โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo โ€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac โ€” betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size6 MB8 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperAlexander BrownPhuc Pham

In-app purchases

None

Flux News Reader

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

RSS Reader

Subscriptions2
  • RSS Reader Weekly$3.997 Days
  • Premium Yearly$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Pro$39.99

Questions

Is Flux News Reader free?
Flux News Reader is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is RSS Reader free?
RSS Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Flux News Reader or RSS Reader have ads?
Neither Flux News Reader nor RSS Reader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Flux News Reader or RSS Reader?
Flux News Reader ships an update monthly, and RSS Reader every 3 weeks. Most recently, Flux News Reader was updated on October 12, 2026 and RSS Reader on October 6, 2026.

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