Comparison

tiny Reader RSS vs Heartfeed RSS Reader

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

Head to head
About

tiny Reader RSS

This is a lightweight, unofficial RSS reader designed for Tiny Tiny RSS (TTRSS). It requires a TTRSS server with an activated API and user account to function.

Highlights
  • Lightweight RSS reader
  • Unofficial TTRSS client
  • Requires TTRSS server
  • API integration
Features
Read full description

tiny Reader is an unofficial lightweight RSS reader for Tiny Tiny RSS (TTRSS). It requires a Tiny Tiny RSS server with an account and an activated API. ** Please contact support for help and feature request. **

About

Heartfeed RSS Reader

This app offers an efficient, no-nonsense way to read news from RSS, Atom, and JSON feeds without requiring account setup or server reliance. It features a compact grid view, background feed refreshing, and seamless syncing across iOS devices via iCloud.

Highlights
  • Compact grid view for feeds
  • Internal browser with content blocker support
  • Automatic iCloud sync for feeds and read status
  • Quick pick list for selecting news items
  • Background feed refresh and caching
  • Bookmark management with iCloud sync
  • Night mode theme
Features
Read full description

Do you want to read your news using RSS/Atom/JSON feeds in the most efficient, no-nonsense way, and with no requirement to setup an app-specific user account or relying on a server? If you do, Heartfeed might be the app for you. Features: - A compact grid view for your feeds, making it easy to check all of them at once - When reading news in the internal browser, full support of your configured content blockers, saved passwords, etc. - Automatic synching of subscribed feeds and read status between iOS devices (requires an iCloud account) - Quick pick list: Easily select which news items from different feeds you want to read - Background refresh of feeds: Some feeds refresh often and you then risk missing news in case the app is not used frequently. Background refresh, together with caching of the last 50 news items in each feed, prevents this from happening - Bookmarks, including reading them from either inside Heartfeed or from any iOS or macOS browser (requires an iCloud account) - Night mode theme - Subscribing to feeds from the current Heartfeed top list, from files, or directly from the web - Full support for split views and multi-tasking on iPads - No tracking of usage or personal data; optionally, you can anonymously share which feeds you subscribe to for improving the builtin top list of recommended feeds The app is 100% free and without ads. If you want to tip me somethings as thanks for the app, you can do so within the settings. I hope you'll enjoy using Heartfeed!

Screenshots

tiny Reader RSS4 screens
Heartfeed RSS Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Heartfeed RSS Reader at 4.8 against tiny Reader RSS's 4.1. Heartfeed RSS Reader also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and review sentiment (89% vs 79%). On price, ratings volume, ads 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. tiny Reader RSS sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and Heartfeed RSS Reader sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Heartfeed RSS Reader holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 31 and 90 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 79% of tiny Reader RSS's written reviews are positive against 89% of Heartfeed RSS Reader's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

tiny Reader RSS ships an update every 4 months, Heartfeed RSS Reader every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
tiny Reader RSS versus Heartfeed RSS Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parametertiny Reader RSSHeartfeed RSS Reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (31 ratings)4.8 (90 ratings) — better
Positive reviews78.5% of reviews89.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3190 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB14 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperPascal PLUCHONOzymandias

Customer experience

tiny Reader RSS

All ratings31 ratings
Positive80.6%
Neutral9.7%
Negative9.7%
Written reviews107 reviews
Positive78.5%
Neutral8.4%
Negative13.1%

Heartfeed RSS Reader

All ratings90 ratings
Positive93.3%
Neutral2.2%
Negative4.4%
Written reviews93 reviews
Positive89.2%
Neutral5.4%
Negative5.4%

User reviews

tiny Reader RSS

From 31 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fast and efficient
  • 👍 Simple and easy to use
  • ✨ Clean and attractive design
  • 🆓 Free and ad-free
  • ✅ Works well with tt-rss

Room to improve

  • ❌ Small font size
  • ⚠️ Issues with self-signed SSL certificates
  • 📉 Low contrast in dark theme
  • 🚫 No OTP support
  • 🐛 Crashes on certain actions

Heartfeed RSS Reader

From 90 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎯 Perfect Pulse replacement with grid/tile layout
  • 👍 Simple, intuitive, and streamlined interface
  • ⚡ Fast and efficient news consumption
  • 🔄 Reliable syncing across devices
  • 📱 Clean, uncluttered design without bloat

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes on opening and usage
  • 💰 Paywall for unlimited feeds ($2.99)
  • 🔍 No search functionality across feeds
  • 📸 Limited thumbnail/image display options
  • 🌍 No multi-language or RTL script support

Bugs and requests

tiny Reader RSS

Reported bugs

14 issues
  • App crashes on launch (older versions)
  • Share button causes crash on iOS 14
  • Dark mode broken on iOS 13.1
  • First article of every feed is cut off on iOS 11
  • App crashes when trying to save image or copy it
Show 9 more
  • Landscape mode toggle causes clock to disappear
  • Mark all as read function only marks a part of unread items
  • Scroll is not regular, swipe occurs instead of scroll
  • Network connection lost errors frequently
  • No content in feeds after latest update
  • Badge icon, feed icon, and preview not working
  • SSL self-signed certs throw exceptions
  • Feed in subfolder crashes reader
  • App crashes on reading headlines

Requested features

33 requests
  • Option to change font size
  • Support for self-signed SSL certificates
  • OTP login configuration
  • Hide controls in landscape mode
  • Mark all articles below as read confirmation
Show 28 more
  • Option to always open articles in default browser
  • Swipe to mark as read in article list
  • Add subscriptions from within the app
  • Login with basic auth before validating from /api
  • Cache recent articles for offline reading
  • Share title + URL
  • Dark mode for older iOS versions
  • Add 'mark all above as read' feature
  • Bluetooth keyboard support/shortcuts
  • Tag support
  • Refresh function in subcategories
  • Disable unread article count badge
  • Show featured images
  • Remove preview lines, show only headlines
  • Start in 'fresh articles' view
  • Offline reading capability
  • Support for both landscape directions
  • Option to read oldest entry first
  • More sharing options (copy link, send message)
  • Add attachments/embedded media display
  • Edit feeds from within the app
  • Portrait mode on iPad
  • Mark articles as read when scrolling past them
  • Save articles to Pocket
  • Badge with unread count
  • Enable/disable mark as read on scroll
  • Always stay in 'Fresh Articles' and refresh
  • Add additional forward/back buttons for in-app browser

Heartfeed RSS Reader

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • App crashes on launch
  • Crashes after adding feeds
  • Multiple crashes during normal usage
  • App fails to start after recent updates
  • iCloud syncing issues (requires troubleshooting)
Show 1 more
  • Bright reader screen conflicts with dark mode setting

Requested features

13 requests
  • Search functionality with highlighting across feeds
  • Individual mark-as-read buttons per feed
  • Thumbnail images in grid view
  • Apple Watch app support
  • Offline reading capability
Show 8 more
  • Multi-language support including RTL scripts
  • Integration with Feedly and other accounts
  • Preserve feed groups on OPML import
  • Dark mode for reader screen
  • Feed discovery page with popular feeds index
  • Ability to save/bookmark articles
  • Variable font sizes in grid view
  • Apple News+ integration

In-app purchases

2 purchases

tiny Reader RSS

One-time2
  • Tiny tip for tiny Reader$0.99
  • Normal tip for tiny Reader$2.99
4 purchases

Heartfeed RSS Reader

One-time4
  • Tipping the developer$0.99
  • Tipping the developer$2.99
  • Even more tip to the developer$9.99
Show 1 more
  • Maximum tip to the developer$24.99

Questions

Is tiny Reader RSS free?
tiny Reader RSS is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Heartfeed RSS Reader free?
Heartfeed RSS Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, tiny Reader RSS or Heartfeed RSS Reader?
Heartfeed RSS Reader is rated higher. tiny Reader RSS averages 4.1 out of 5 from 31 ratings, while Heartfeed RSS Reader averages 4.8 from 90 ratings.
Do tiny Reader RSS or Heartfeed RSS Reader have ads?
Neither tiny Reader RSS nor Heartfeed RSS Reader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, tiny Reader RSS or Heartfeed RSS Reader?
tiny Reader RSS ships an update every 4 months, and Heartfeed RSS Reader every 2 months. Most recently, tiny Reader RSS was updated on November 1, 2026 and Heartfeed RSS Reader on November 2, 2026.

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