Filed under: Software, Internet Tools, Blogs
NewsLife: News, blog and RSS reading simplified
In a world of RSS readers that are unveiling major new features and power beyond our wildest dreams, it's nice to see a new app that's getting back to basics. NewsLife (beta) from ThinkMac Software (previously the makers of what looks to be the retired NewsMac Pro) is just such an app, as it strips down to the simplified basics of reading news and blogs sites through RSS for those who are interested in this handy medium, but might be intimidated by more powerful juggernauts like NetNewsWire.
Upon opening NewsLife, you are presented with a simple window and a few pre-installed news feeds to get you started. Individual headlines and posts are summarized in the centered reading pane in favor of fitting more headlines on a single page, and clicking any headline will open the entire article - still in a stripped down, content-only RSS view - in a new tab. Clicking the arrow next to any headline will open the actual item in your default browser, and some simple searching tools are provided in the right-most pane. Beyond that, there are some other niceties sprinkled throughout, such as a gear menu in the lower right with blog, email, digg and del.icio.us options, but all this 'extra' functionality is hidden well in a way that it shouldn't get in the way of new users who might not be interested in taking those leaps just yet.
Overall, it looks like NewsLife is a good effort, and its €12 price (about $16 US as of this writing) is a good deal for an entry level RSS app. Of course, a demo is also available, so take it for a test drive if you're looking for a simple, streamlined app for reading your favorite news sites and blogs.
Upon opening NewsLife, you are presented with a simple window and a few pre-installed news feeds to get you started. Individual headlines and posts are summarized in the centered reading pane in favor of fitting more headlines on a single page, and clicking any headline will open the entire article - still in a stripped down, content-only RSS view - in a new tab. Clicking the arrow next to any headline will open the actual item in your default browser, and some simple searching tools are provided in the right-most pane. Beyond that, there are some other niceties sprinkled throughout, such as a gear menu in the lower right with blog, email, digg and del.icio.us options, but all this 'extra' functionality is hidden well in a way that it shouldn't get in the way of new users who might not be interested in taking those leaps just yet.
Overall, it looks like NewsLife is a good effort, and its €12 price (about $16 US as of this writing) is a good deal for an entry level RSS app. Of course, a demo is also available, so take it for a test drive if you're looking for a simple, streamlined app for reading your favorite news sites and blogs.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
pablo said 5:16PM on 6-25-2007
Well,
there used to be one such nifty and useful app for RSS: NewsFire. However, the developer, David Watanabe, lost his opportunity to make an outstanding app in terms of intuitiveness and usability and it is now dedicated to, according his words, "more important things". As a result, NewsFire has been more than one year without an update and more complete apps (NetNewsFire-Vienna) and simpler ones (Endo-Newslife) are replacing old good, but abandoned, projects.
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Matt said 5:27PM on 6-25-2007
Vienna has the same features, and its free.
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Matt said 6:10PM on 6-25-2007
vienna rocks - free
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Frank said 6:42PM on 6-25-2007
I hate posting "me too" posts, but I agree that Vienna rocks! Why? Simple feature list, clean UI, and free! Only thing i'd like to see is updating of the dated brushed metal interface.
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dbdrwdn said 7:13PM on 6-25-2007
NetNewsWire Lite is all i need...also free.
there is also a little alternative to vienna available: http://www.apfelplusz.de/futter
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Gary Lee said 7:38PM on 6-25-2007
I use vienna and it does everything i want it to do!
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schwa said 8:53PM on 6-25-2007
I don't know from Vienna, but as god is my witness I cannot figure out how this app is anything other than a rather amateurish ripoff of NewsFire, unless the "news bin" counts. The interface is almost a straight-up clone, just with the widgets changed.
And pablo, you won't hear me attempting to argue that David Watanabe is anything but a massive jerk, but what exactly is wrong with NewsFire as it is now? Off the top of my head I can think of maybe two extra features I'd like it to have: syncing and automatic downscaling of images to fit within the window. And both of those are fairly minor.
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JimD said 9:48PM on 6-25-2007
add me to the list of those who wonder what is so great about Vienna. Plus, it's ugly!
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cyclingplatypus said 10:33PM on 6-25-2007
Am I the only one who is tired of developers charging for betas, please help us find all the bugs in out product, it'll only cost you $15, come on already, used to be back in the good old days that when you beta tested something the developer(s) gave you a copy of the program for free and even a little swag (say what you want about Microsoft but some of the coolest beta swag I've gotten was from them), now you want me to pay you to find your bugs...no thanks, well that and I'm very happy with Vienna.
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Mark S said 11:26PM on 6-25-2007
This actually does look a LOT like NewsFire. Hopefully there won't be any lawsuits...
NewsLife looks really good for users that just need a basic RSS reader. I personally use NetNewsWire because it has sync support and the built-in web browser makes it fast to read stories. That's the biggest feature missing in most RSS readers and what keeps me coming back to it. At the same time I am disappointed that NewsFire hasn't gotten more updates and hasn't made it to 2.0 yet. I like the speed and simple layout (just glad I didn't pay the lifetime upgrade tax!).
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Ronald Poi said 11:20AM on 6-26-2007
I use NewsLife from such long time and i love it... it still have some bugs but overall is one of my must-have apps... Hope it gets more attention.
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pablo said 4:23AM on 6-26-2007
I agree with you, Mark. I think Vienna is super-functional, but it does lack some aesthetic in its core: icons, layout, typos. This is something NetNewsWire has also addressed in the new version.
Schwa, I realise that I need what you mention, but also draggable feeds and ability to create folders based in my opinion, not just in smart rules. Besides that: better integration wit del.li.cious, search engine, etc, but just a clipping folder will make my day.
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orinjuse said 7:03AM on 6-26-2007
I'm sure this is a lovely little programme, but for basic RSS/Atom feedreading, why not just use the readers built into practically every web app that you already use? Firefox, Thunderbird, Opera...
I use the reader in Thunderbird. What do these kind of programmes have that T-bird doesn't?
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chumsdock said 11:15AM on 6-26-2007
I have to say its UI is more stylish than Vienna, but it's definitely not worth of those bucks.Vienna has many more killer functions, the column view, the custom themes and built-in tabbed web viewer. It's just all I need as an RSS reader.
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Galley said 12:25PM on 6-26-2007
NewsFire is pretty much perfect as it is. What else could you want?
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Tom Kla ver said 6:42PM on 7-11-2007
Now I'm still waiting for an RSS _application_ that, just like Google Reader, marks items as read as I scroll by.
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