Reeder for Mac RSS client reaches beta

I don't know if I'll ever forgive Adobe for making it OK to create a combined title/toolbar (something Apple has also seemingly picked up on based on the promo screenshots for the Mac App Store), but I think it's used judiciously enough here that it's acceptable. The somewhat odd "inverted button" appearance of the Starred/Unread/All selector makes a bit more sense when you realize it's a slider, and if it stays that way I'm okay with it, but either a button set or implementation of an iPad-like selected indicator would be less odd-looking.

That said, I really super like this so far. It's WAY more responsive and "snappy" than Gruml, which I had been using for a while. The iCal-like unread count on the icon (rather than a badge) is especially clever, and much more subtle than the full-on Mail-like badge. I rather prefer it, since the traditional badge just makes unread items seem super-important, and I tend to go through my RSS feeds at a leisurely, as-time-permits pace that the subtle counter seems more well-suited for.

It's still rough around the edges in a few ways... I can't seem to sort the unread articles list by oldest first, and opening a page in the built-in browser seems to make it impossible to return to the article list using only the keyboard, but otherwise it seems remarkably stable for a first beta release. I haven't noticed any issues with sync or article counts so far either.

I love Reeder on my iPhone and iPad. I've tried NNW for the Mac and just didn't get into it. I've always opted to use Safari and Google Reader's web site (with my own plugin to help it function with more simplicity, like Reeder). Honestly though, what really sells me with Reeder for Mac is its speed. I can't believe how fast this thing is!

There are a few quirks. Keyboard shortcuts could be better. I'd also appreciate an option to open links by default in Instapaper Mobilizer (just like the iOS version). I know it doesn't make as much sense on a desktop, but it provides better readability.

I'm not sure why but NetNewsWire on my Mac (3.2.8) shows 22 unread articles for today but Reeder for Mac shows zero and they are both linked to the same Google Reader account. It shows starred feeds just fine though.

This is cool. I love Reeder on the iPhone, it's quick and effective (especially with the mobiliser) and worth whatever it was I paid for it.

It's looking good on the Mac. I don't really like NetNewsWire, I found it quite ineffective at syncing read counts back to the server and it didn't really add much over using my main desktop RSS solution, the Google Reader for Snow Leopard Safari Extension which makes Google Reader actually viewable, and a simple unread counter extension letting me know when there were any unread articles. But this may actually replace that, since it actually works, compared to NNW.

I'm using it to post this comment, and although it's still in 'beta' it's a really great RSS reader. Still needs some fine tuning but I see it becoming a precursor to the type of applications we will see on the Mac App Store and Lion as a whole.

Looks nice and will be interesting to see how it develops. Will stick with Socialite and Gruml for now.

I really like it! It REALLY needs preloading though. Google Reader is still much more convenient to use in this way, since it preloads all content from one group/feed. Way to go!

Syncing is terribly faulty. It just stops, then you try again, then it stops etc.

Many articles are obviously missing. Nice interface, but lots of work to be done still.

And I still don't get the hate on Google Reader - all articles are there instantly, no need to wait for the RSS reader to download the headers etc.

I have used Gruml in past days, which is one of the best Google Feed reader I have ever found. But for ease, these days I use Feedly - a browser plugin which is easy to navigate, tweet, share and do everything.

I'm still weary to buy this since 0 out of 2 of my support request emails have been answered for the iPad version :(