Feed Me!
19.04.07Filed Under: Technology
I’ve been in search of a decent RSS reader for the last month and a half. The problem is that I’m not willing to pay $20 - $30 for an RSS reader, but I’m not willing to compromise on quality either. Of course this puts one in an odd spot. You could go with an open-source reader, that looks and behaves like shit (Shrook) or you can download a trial version of a better reader and deal with their restrictions and nag screens.
My problem really wasn’t the restrictions on the commercial readers. I can’t export OPML. Fine. I can’t have more than a certain number of feeds. Again, fine. But every time I open you I have to look at a bunch of nag screens? I just can’t stand that. So I’ve gotta find an alternative
Of course the first thing that came to mind as an alternative to a desktop client was Google Reader. A lot of people like Bloglines, but I just can’t stand the interface. Google Reader feels like a “real” app, plus I’m a Google fan boy, so it seemed like a good fit. And, it was. I have no intention of getting rid of Google Reader, it’s keeping it’s prestigious first-spot on my bookmarks toolbar, but I still wanted that desktop app.
Enter MacApper and Vienna. Vienna is the fully featured, open-source RSS badass that you see pictured above. For some reason I never stumbled across this gem until it ended up in my Google Reader (via MacApper, get it?). Gotta love the irony there.
Vienna sports just about every feature you could expect from an RSS reader. Only drawback I’ve seen so far is the inability to adjust the refresh time to lower than 30 mins. This simply means that I end up hitting the refresh dialog on the dock more often. So be it. Since it’s opens source, I have the source code, so I’ll be looking for a work-around.
I’m still toying with Vienna, but so far I’m incredibly pleased. If nothing else, it’s just a very pretty app that gets done what it promises to get done.
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