Byline 5 vs R2SReader
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Byline 5
Access your favorite news sources and blogs, even without an internet connection. Subscribe to thousands of RSS feeds and stay updated with automatic syncing across all your devices. Enjoy a streamlined reading experience with offline access and quick navigation.
- Offline reading with cached content
- Syncs across devices and web
- Quick article navigation
- Background app refresh for syncing
- Discover new feeds and search articles
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Read the latest news from the websites that matter to you most, even when you’re offline. Simply sign in with a free Feedly account and subscribe to your favourite blogs, magazines, and news sources. Byline automatically stays in sync and brings you new content, putting thousands of RSS feeds at your fingertips. FEATURES: - Stay in sync across devices and the web via feedly.com. - Move between articles quickly with a simple swipe gesture. - Read offline with cached images and (optionally) full web pages. - Find new feeds and search for articles in the app or with Spotlight. - Sync and cache articles automatically with Background App Refresh.
R2SReader
Build a personalized news stream from your trusted sources with this lightweight RSS feed reader. It prioritizes your privacy by not requiring sign-up or unnecessary permissions, offering a simple and secure way to stay informed.
- Personalized news stream
- Trusted source aggregation
- No sign-up required
- Privacy-focused design
- Lightweight performance
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PERSONALIZED STREAM R2SReader is a lightweight RSS feed reader that helps you to build a personalized news stream from your trusted sources. SIMPLICITY No sign-up needed, you can start using it right after install. PRIVACY Privacy is our top priority. Never ask unnecessary permission and never access your information without your permission.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: R2SReader at 100% against Byline 5's 41%. R2SReader also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.3) and in-app purchases (none vs 2). Byline 5's advantage is ratings volume (73 vs 6) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.0). On price, ads and device support 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
Both are free to download. Byline 5 sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. R2SReader asks for nothing beyond the download.
R2SReader holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Byline 5 has 73 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 41% of Byline 5's written reviews are positive against 100% of R2SReader's.
Byline 5 ships an update every 5 months, R2SReader weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Byline 5 | R2SReader |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (73 ratings) | 5.0 (6 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 40.9% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 73 — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 8 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Phantom Fish | Howard Su |
Customer experience
Byline 5
R2SReader
Bugs and requests
Byline 5
Reported bugs
20 issues- App freezes after opening articles
- App attempts to paste from clipboard on opening
- Paid version still shows ads
- Unable to sign in via Google account
- Google login error: 'This browser or app may not be secure'
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- Cannot login to Feedly
- App freezes when initiating sync
- Offline page caching broken
- Offline reading only works for text, no images/diagrams
- Cannot link into websites when offline
- Cached items number in settings seems static
- Syncing is too slow
- Swipe sensitivity decreased
- Swipe gestures are difficult to use
- Swipe to mark as read is slow
- Mark all as read function moved to categories
- Cannot open items to Chrome
- Offline saving of web pages not working
- App crashes when trying to sign in with Feedly
- Doubling of some headlines
Requested features
12 requests- Add progress indicator for downloads
- Add dark mode
- Add widgets
- Improve swipe sensitivity
- Allow reordering of feeds
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- Add 'mark all as read' when scrolling
- Improve offline caching for images/diagrams
- Add option to expand groups to see sites within them
- Add font size adjustment
- Make scrolling mark as read
- Move to top article after manual refresh
- Allow opening items in Chrome
R2SReader
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Byline 5
- Byline Premium$2.99
- Byline Premium$5.99
R2SReader
No in-app purchases
