Review: Reeder is fully featured, Lion compatible

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Review: Reeder is fully featured, Lion compatible

30 June 2011 3,936 views 8 Comments

When it comes to an RSS newsreader, my needs are on the whole quite simple: Google Reader sync, basic keyboard shortcuts and OS X 10.7 Lion compatibility. Although I’ve been until recent weeks a very satisfied NetNewsWire user, that application has become unstable and it’s future is quite uncertain. That is, the most recent release, NetNewsWire Lite 4, is unusable and the product has since been sold to a developer that hasn’t committed to a development timeline for a Lion compatible version.

So, on Tuesday I was watching to MacBreak Weekly (iTunes, free) and both Leo Laporte and Andy Ihnatko recommended Reeder (Mac App Store, $9.99) from Silvio Rizzi. A quick glance at the screen caps tells you it’s been engineered with Lion in mind and the features list tell me it’s got what I need:

• Syncs with Google Reader
• Full readability (readability.com) integration
• Customizable interface
• Gestures
• Customizable shortcuts
• Send to Instapaper, ReadItLater, Readability
• Save to Pinboard, Delicious, Zootool
• Post to Twitter
• Mail Link
• Open with Instapaper Mobilizer, Google Mobilizer

See also: Bye bye, Photoshop. Hello, Acorn 3.

Affordable and does everything I need. That is, unlike the score or so me too RSS clients that have popped up, mushroom like around the NetNewsWire crater, Reeder looks and feels substantive, and is packed with forward thinking features, like Readability, Twitter and Lion UI specific functionality (i.e. invisible sliders, gestures, etc).

Better is as better does

Thereupon, I’ve put down my hard earned dollars and switched to Reeder, and feel right at home in the familiar three-pane interface that I grew to love in NetNewsWire. Moreover, it’s actually easier to navigate with a stronger set of keyboard shortcuts that I’ve discovered to be somewhat different though highly intuitive — just touch an alpha character (“r” for instance) and Reeder updates.

I’m still learning, but it’s already clear that Reeder was the right choice…

What’s your take?

8 Comments »

Going on a Lion hunt [OS X 10.7 ready apps] | FairerPlatform said:

[...] Reeder 1: RSS reader that fast, clean and stable (bye bye, NetNewsWire) [...]

# 6 July 2011 at 12:03 am

Michael Vermaak said:

Reeder is a great app. I started using it about 2 weeks into it’s public beta and haven’t looked bad since. There is one huge problem for me now though.

I’m dual booting Lion and Snow Leopard (SL) at the moment. Testing to see whats not working so that i can still do my job.

In SL I used the gestures to navigate Reeder. This was perfect for me on my 17″ MBP. 3 finger swipe up went to the next article and 3 fingers down went back. 3 finger swipe to the right opened the current article in the in app browser and 3 fingers back to the left took you back. This worked so well that the keyboard shortcuts didn’t ever apply to me. I never needed them…

…until now.

Lion has taken over these gestures completely. Thats fine when it comes to using the OS as it works so well. but when you get used to them and then run the app thats “been engineered with Lion in mind” and your main functions don’t work. Well you see my problem.

I love reeder and I will continue to use it, but I really want a way to swipe using it. It was that good.

# 7 July 2011 at 9:03 am

Gregg Smith said:

I dont see Reeder being compatible with Lion Gestures. The Swipe features that used to work in Snow Leopard are now broken.

# 19 July 2011 at 12:48 pm

roksob said:

Having to sign in every time you open Reeder is a pain. Is there any way to avoid having to do this? Anybody?

# 21 July 2011 at 1:21 am

Aleks said:

@Gregg Smith: Same here
@roksob: I don’t have that issue w/ Reeder on Mac OS X 10.7…

# 21 July 2011 at 3:24 am

Reeder 1.1 gains Lion fullscreen, save to Evernote | FairerPlatform said:

[...] Fairer Platform readers are mixed on this subject with at least confirming the issue and another claiming no problems. On my 2007 [...]

# 25 July 2011 at 12:05 am

NetNewsWire 3.3 gets Lion friendly | FairerPlatform said:

[...] since moved on to Reeder (review), which is available on the Mac App Store [...]

# 18 October 2011 at 11:22 am

Top 10 Mac OS X Dashboard Widgets for 2013 - FairerPlatform said:

[...] your favorite RSS feeds and lets you scan through them to look for new posts. — See also: Review: Reeder is fully featured, Lion compatible — See also: Daily Dilbert Widget: Don’t go a day without [...]

# 4 February 2013 at 12:08 am