NewsFire goes free

Coming hot on the heels of the 1.5 release, Dave Watanabe's popular RSS reader, NewsFire is now free.

David posted this on his blog:
"After much internal debate, I've made the decision that as of today, NewsFire is totally free. No feature restrictions, no ads, no cut-down 'lite' version... this is the real deal."

Newsfire is just the latest in the growing trend of free offline RSS readers available for the Mac. In January, leading reader app NetNewsWire became a free program, joining Vienna, Safari and even Mail.app as alternatives to the 800 lb gorilla known as Google Reader (also free).

Whether or not some of the other freeware alternatives will be able to sustain development without the support of a company like Newsgator (which owns NetNewsWire) remains to be seen, but in the meantime, I'm loving all these new RSS choices that don't deplete my wallet.

Although David Watanabe has been a controversial figure in the Mac community, he does make beautiful looking software. If you aren't already married to your RSS reader, or you have been waiting for NewsFire to have full Leopard support, now is your chance to try it out.

Thanks Carlo!

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Source: http://www.newsfirex.com/blog/?p=201

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Coming hot on the heels of the 1.5 release, Dave Watanabe's popular RSS reader, NewsFire is now free. David posted this on his blog:"After...

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Howie Isaacks

I talked to PayPal about this. If enough people complain, they will suspend David Watanabe's account and investigate. Also, check out this article I found about him. He isn't very nice to his customers... http://squidnews.com/2007/04/17/david-watanabe-the-complaints/

March 03 2008 at 12:12 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Jono

I can understand people who bought lifetime upgrades feeling pretty pissed off right now.

I abandonded NewsFire ages ago. It looks nice but it's seems dated feature wise. I've been using NetNewsWire for quite a while (after trying pretty much all there is) & love it. Here are some of the things I like about NetNewsWire:

Syncing: Syncs between 2 Macs & my iPhone.

iPhone: Through newsgator there's a proper version for the iPhone. Mark feeds read on the iPhone & it syncs back to NNW & vice versa. That's a fantastic feature :)

Thumbnail tabs

Open articles in NetNewsWire or Safari (don't have to open every item in Safari).

I guess if you only use 1 computer then itâ€™s fine. But if you use more than 1 computer & an iPhone then itâ€™s not good.

March 03 2008 at 4:00 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Justin Walther

Can someone explain why NetNewsWire is better than google reader? I "discovered" RSS about 6 months ago and started with google reader and I guess I don't know what I'm missing with these other readers.

March 02 2008 at 11:00 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to Justin Walther's comment

Christina Warren

The nice thing about the other readers is that it can be easier to scan through lots and lots of different feeds, especially if you are offline -- and you don't have to have your browser open all the time.

Take a look at Cory's post comparing Vienna and NetNewsWire for more of an idea of what an external reader can offer (http://www.tuaw.com/2008/01/10/netnewswire-vs-vienna/). Personally, I love NetNewsWire because it syncs with Newsgator, an online aggregator like Google Reader (but I prefer its interface), so if you add a feed to your Newsgator account (if you are on another computer), when you start up NNW, your feed list will be updated, and vice versa.

March 02 2008 at 3:59 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

izzy

I have to say that I purchased this product years ago and even bought a lifetime update for it. I've been very happy with my purchase and don't regret buying it at all.

I think all the hate for Dave is, in this case, very juvenile. That guy just can't win. He could give away free ice-cream and still catch hell for it.

March 02 2008 at 10:56 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

AlphaTeam

I was about to buy this yesterday.

March 02 2008 at 1:33 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Howie Isaacks

What an asshole!! I PAID for a "household" license just recently. I want my fucking money back!!! I'm to file a complaint with PayPal and bug the hell out of this guy until I get it.

March 01 2008 at 11:44 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Justin

It's not free, it's abandoned.

March 01 2008 at 8:48 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Adam

I've updated today to 1.5 v72 and Dave Watanbe's blog hasn't appeared in my feedsâ€¦ Maybe you all could try deleting the preferences file and starting from scratch? (I don't know if this would work, mindâ€¦)

March 01 2008 at 4:34 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Chris24

Dave screws over his loyal customers, once again. Nice work Dave. /sarcasm.

Dave's support sucks, and in my opinion, he is a Wannabe Mac Developer. More like a Windows developer, because of his support. Generally support from indie Mac devs is extremely kind, but Dave's just isn't.

March 01 2008 at 3:30 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Ken

NewsFire is free, yay !! Downloading ... !! Importing feeds ..., exciting !!. But hang on, I cannot delete David's feed !! What the @$#$@#$.

I now consider NewsFire is a "free" ad-ware.

March 01 2008 at 3:23 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply