Filed under: Software, Productivity, Internet Tools, .Mac, iPhone
The .Mac Reader RSS app for iPhone is awesome
Remember that iPhone-only .Mac RSS reader Apple quietly introduced barely a day before the phone's release? After trying out nearly every iPhone web app launcher that has an RSS reader bolted on and even Newsgator Mobile for iPhone (since I primarily use NetNewsWire on a Mac), I have to say that the .Mac Reader (reader.mac.com) is my hands-down favorite. It's fast and displays RSS headlines in a very Safari RSS-like fashion, and it seems to cache better than most web apps I've seen, as it offers lightning-fast response when moving from an individual article back to the main list of headlines and snippets.
As a bonus, this .Mac Reader app doesn't appear to require you to be a .Mac member to use it, though since I am a member, I would like to hear from non-members on whether this assessment is correct.
If you already have a bunch of RSS headlines in Safari, or you use a trick like the NetNewsWire drag and drop one I just mentioned, the iPhone's one-two punch of Safari bookmark/feed management and the .Mac Reader could be a great way to bring your favorite feeds on the go.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Gary Lee said 7:37PM on 7-30-2007
I've been using leaflets, but it's been only ok . . . what's the address to access .mac? and does anyone want to still win my iPhone . . it's just kickin it on my desk right now!
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David Chartier said 7:42PM on 7-30-2007
#1: Woops, I knew I forgot something in the post. :)
I have since updated the post with the actual .Mac Reader app URL, but just in case: it is reader.mac.com. Enjoy!
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JJ Forde said 7:58PM on 7-30-2007
I kind of hope this is a .mac member only feature even though I don't own an iPhone. While I will continue to pay for the service it really could use a few more features and exclusives to justify its high price. Eitehr that or they make it all free again and refund me recent purchase.
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Micah Neumark said 8:05PM on 7-30-2007
JJ Forde: While I understand your desire for .Mac to have more exclusives, the whole point of .Mac should be to offer some really neat features that are understandably not free. However a web based RSS reader would be extremely ridiculous to make a .Mac exclusive seeing as it isn't on the mac version of Safari and there are already a number of them out there. Its why .Mac is in such a state of disrepair, because there aren't enough features like what I said. Most of its features can be replicated elsewhere for free. I'm not saying .Mac has no place, but it certainly is on the verge of losing its place, and if they want it to remain a valuable service, lots of things need to change. Steve Jobs has implied that those changes are already on the way, and I suspect it will be revealed at the same time as the new iLife. One feature (DynDNS essentially) has already been announced at WWDC, but there better be a whole lot more.
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PK said 8:28PM on 7-30-2007
My Google Reader page formats superbly on my iPhone and I've been using that to peruse all of my saved feeds. The .Mac Reader RSS app doesn't seem to work as well for me. I'm not a .Mac member, so am I missing out on some functionality? As far as I can tell, the only way it works is for me to navigate to a saved RSS feed in my bookmarks - then the reader activates and I'm able to read it. With Google Reader, it already has all of my saved feeds together in one scrollable page, with each story interspersed with others on a timeline. No navigating through bookmarks to read various feeds - just one login (which is saved via cookie) and then I'm viewing all the feeds I want. It seems simpler to me than the .Mac Reader, but I could be misunderstanding the way the .Mac app works...
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PK said 8:29PM on 7-30-2007
Also, can we please delete this iGiki comment spam that keeps popping up? Thanks...
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NutMac said 8:29PM on 7-30-2007
Perhaps I am missing something but I am not at all impressed. I use it once in awhile by clicking on the RSS links (either from Bookmark or links). But it is severely lacking in even the most basic features such as mark as read. And to me, it is really not noticeably faster (if any) than far superior NewsGator. It seems reader.mac.com was provided as a short stop gap for missing built-in RSS reader functionality on Mobile Safari.
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punkassjim said 8:46PM on 7-30-2007
I'm gonna go ahead and agree with NutMac. My one big gripe is that it doesn't mimic the desktop Safari functionality of checking the feeds occasionally and putting up the number of unread articles. I hate having to check feeds to see if there's anything new, when it would be much easier to just glance at my bookmark list, and cancel if I don't see any new numbers.
Also, it took me a little while to stop instinctively hitting the back button from the detail view. It doesn't take you back to the overview, it takes you back to wherever you were before you loaded the feed. Strange.
Don't get me wrong, I like it too, but I think it could be better.
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Keith Mancuso said 8:52PM on 7-30-2007
Google Reader has an almost identical interface on the iPhone as the .mac reader and it has the added value of syncing read status with your regular reader, read by tags, etc...
Much nicer for me as the the full on google reader is all I use for my feeds...
to each his own..
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NutMac said 9:06PM on 7-30-2007
Just tried Google Reader. While it's more powerful than reader.mac.com (but what isn't?), the UI is just not as polished as NewsGator (m.newsgator.com).
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Tom Boucher said 9:48PM on 7-30-2007
It must not like me, because when I goto reader.mac.com on my iMac it just tells me to point safari straight too it and doesn't show anything exciting. And I'm an .Mac user.
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Tom Boucher said 9:48PM on 7-30-2007
er that should say iPhone, not iMac.
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Michael Strutton said 10:20PM on 7-30-2007
I was using .Mac reader, and really liked it until NewsGator updated m.newsgator.com for the iPhone. I primarily used NetNewsWire to manage my feeds on my laptop. Since the launch, I have synced my laptop's feeds with NewsGator (online service). Now my iPhone and laptop are maintaining read/unread status for each feed. I was also able to configure only certain feeds to display on my mobile account. It's great, I'm really hooked on NewsGator/NetNewsWire combo now....
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Kenny Sabarese said 8:29AM on 7-31-2007
i prefer google reader, it cuts out most of the images so the pages load much faster over EDGE
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Jose Vazquez said 11:36AM on 7-31-2007
I don't know how many people have discovered the "Next >>" bookmark for Google reader. It can be found in the Google reader page under Setting in the Goodies tab. There you can grab the Next >> link and place it in your bookmarks. Basically it creates a bookmark that takes you to the next article available in your subscriptions. In Safari I moved it all the way to the left on my bookmark bar, this way it automatically gets associated with the command-1 shortcut. All I have to do is hit command-1 and safari goes to the next article. I have done similar things in Camino, and firefox (even ie6 at work, yuk!) Guess what!? this also works on my iPhone. I just go for the next >> bookmark (that got synced from Safari) and it takes me to the next article. There is no interface involved, just the webpages themselves! you can also do bookmarks for specific feeds. Enjoy
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Luigi193 said 3:17PM on 7-31-2007
Anyone know how i can access this by using safari's user agent thingy?
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Luigi193 said 3:23PM on 7-31-2007
I ment firefox...
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