Flux News Reader vs Really Simple Reader
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side β with what reviewers say about each.
Flux News Reader
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Flux News is the native Miniflux reader for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Built entirely in SwiftUI β not a cross-platform port or web wrapper β it looks and feels at home on every Apple device, and brings a fast, focused reading experience to the self-hosted RSS server you already control. Connect once with your Miniflux server address and API key. Your feeds, folders, stars, and read state stay in sync across all your devices β no third-party cloud, no account to create, no tracking. DEEP MINIFLUX INTEGRATION β’ Manage everything Miniflux offers from your iPhone, iPad, or Mac β no web interface needed β’ Edit each feed's Miniflux rules: scraper rules, rewrite rules with a built-in rule builder, URL rewrites, and block and keep filters β’ Per-feed fetch options: full-content crawler, user agent, cookies, HTTP authentication, proxy, and more β’ Add feeds with discovery, organise folders, and import or export OPML β’ Refresh feeds on the server, flush history, and save articles to your Miniflux integrations β’ Read state, stars, folders, and unread counts sync both ways through Miniflux itself A REAL MAC APP β’ Designed for macOS, not adapted from iPad: native menu bar, Settings window, resizable windows, and widgets β’ Keyboard-first reading: J/K next and previous, M read/unread, B star, O open in browser, βR refresh, βK mark all as read β’ One free download covers iPhone, iPad, and Mac FAST AND OFFLINE β’ Opens instantly to your feeds β even before syncing β’ Read everything offline; mark, star, and save without a connection and changes sync when you're back online β’ Search your articles instantly on device READING, YOUR WAY β’ Newspaper, List, and Topics layouts β’ Clean article view with optional full-content fetch β’ 10 fonts including New York, Charter, Georgia, Iowan Old Style, and Palatino β’ 7 themes including Sepia, Midnight, OLED Dark, and two high-contrast themes, with light, dark, and automatic modes β’ Inline YouTube, podcasts, and video, with AirPlay and Now Playing controls SMART, ON-DEVICE INTELLIGENCE β’ Articles are automatically tagged by topic with Apple Intelligence β browse tags just like folders β’ Bullet-point summaries of any article, even long reads β’ Everything runs on your device; article text never leaves it LISTEN TO YOUR ARTICLES β’ Read aloud with system voices, or natural ElevenLabs voices using your own key β’ Background playback with lock screen and headphone controls MADE FOR EACH DEVICE β’ iPhone: swipe between feeds, articles, and the reader; pull to refresh; home and lock screen widgets; share extension to add feeds from Safari β’ iPad: side-by-side split view with keyboard support β’ Mac: menu bar, keyboard shortcuts, and widgets PRIVATE BY DESIGN β’ No analytics, no tracking, no ads β’ Connects only to your Miniflux server β’ Send feedback from Settings (or the Help menu on Mac) β it includes app and OS versions, never your server address or API key REQUIREMENTS β’ A Miniflux server β self-hosted, or a hosted account at miniflux.app β’ iOS 17, iPadOS 17, or macOS 14 or later β’ Tagging and summaries require iOS 26 or macOS 26 on an Apple Intelligenceβcapable device Flux News is an independent app and is not affiliated with the Miniflux project.
Really Simple Reader
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A feed reader that doesn't take itself more seriously than your articles. Really Simple Reader shows you what you've subscribed to β chronological, clear, no algorithm, no banner ads, no forced sign-up. As simple as it sounds: Enter a feed URL, done. Really Simple Reader stores everything locally on your device β no account needed. No login, no email address, no cloud requirement. Everything a feed reader needs: β’ A combined timeline for all feeds β or filtered by folder β’ A clean article view with no distractions, with Safari Reader as a fallback β’ Folders to organize your sources β’ "Read Later" for articles that don't fit right now β’ Notifications for new articles (optional) β’ Import/export your feed list (OPML) β’ Automatic cleanup of old articles, fully adjustable Your data stays your data. Everything is stored locally on your device. If you want, you can optionally enable sync across multiple devices β a deliberate extra feature, never a requirement. Really Simple Reader is for anyone who wants to use RSS the way it was meant to be: a calm, reliable way to keep track of your own sources β without an app getting between you and your articles.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Flux News Reader at none against Really Simple Reader's 1. Really Simple Reader's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs monthly). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. Really Simple Reader sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Flux News Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.
Flux News Reader ships an update monthly, Really Simple Reader weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Flux News Reader | Really Simple Reader |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Weekly β better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No β better | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac β better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 18.0 |
| Further details β not scored | ||
| Size | 6 MB | 13 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Alexander Brown | Enrico Weinhold |
In-app purchases
Flux News Reader
No in-app purchases
Really Simple Reader
- Full Access$2.99
Questions
Is Flux News Reader free?
Is Really Simple Reader free?
Do Flux News Reader or Really Simple Reader have ads?
Which is updated more often, Flux News Reader or Really Simple Reader?
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