10 ms·

Show HN: Feediary – RSS reader with zero tracking and zero ads

109 points by justmarkup 8y ago

raslakite 8y ago
I tried it out for a bit and compared to my current reader of choice this is what I miss: - keyboard navigation - expanded view (full content in the list view) Some other remarks: - The pricing is a bit high for me, for a couple € more I could run my own virtual server (which could also be used for many other things) with an opensource feed reader. - Do Not Track is a nice addition but it would be better to proxy the images through your service instead of removing them altogether. - The feed crawler should handle last modified and etag headers to save bandwidth both for yourself and the content providers (it could also use a proper user agent with a subscriber count in it).
- justmarkup 8y ago
  Hey, thanks for your feedback! Keyboard shortcuts will be added in the next release (next week), and expanded view in the Reader is also planned and will be added in some of the next releases. Also thanks for the other remarks, we will not decrease the price as this is the minimum to ensure the service is sustainable. Will definitely think about the image proxy and the etag headers.
nicolaslem 8y ago
Congratulation on shipping it! I definitely share the same values, so much that I developed a very similar Open Source RSS feed reader with the exact same requirements in mind (no tracking, no ads, no BS...). https://feedsubs.com https://feedsubs.com (https://github.com/NicolasLM/feedsubs https://github.com/NicolasLM/feedsubs)
- ObsoleteNerd 8y ago
  I'd definitely consider at least putting a screenshot on the front page, or in the Github readme. I clicked your link very interested, saw nothing but a Sign Up button and then an (almost) empty Github readme, and lost interest.
- justmarkup 8y ago
  Thank you! your RSS reader looks good, keep up the good work!
- mxuribe 8y ago
  Oh, I was excited when I read this...but there's no screenshot or demo. In any case, kudos for building something open source!
  - brennebeck 8y ago
    I’d just like to second that. I get gp built for gp, but if you want others to take interest...
- hopesthoughts 8y ago
  I went to put in the OPML and I got a 500 error after I pressed the button.
pmoriarty 8y ago
If it's not an open-source client that I can run on my own machine, I wouldn't trust it. There's nothing preventing a service from tracking you or giving away your data, no matter what reassuring words they use.
- justadudeama 8y ago
  Which client do you use?
  - vollmond 8y ago
    I've used Tiny Tiny RSS. Works well enough.
  - pmoriarty 8y ago
    I use newsboat[1][2], an actively maintained fork of the excellent newsbeuter. [1] - https://newsboat.org/ https://newsboat.org/ [2] - https://github.com/newsboat/newsboat https://github.com/newsboat/newsboat
- blitmap 8y ago
  Something like devdocs.io as an RSS reader.
- easytiger 8y ago
  The internet must be a scary place for you then
frumiousirc 8y ago
Let me suggest to come up with a different hook. Lack of tracking and lack of ads are two of the fundamental defining (anti)characteristics of RSS. The whole point of RSS is to directly connect individual content providers to individual content consumers. This current hook is like trying to sell pillows on the basis that they don't spontaneously explode.
- piecu 8y ago
  Well, feedly does inject ads so it is a thing.
  - wkdown 8y ago
    slack x 10000000
  - TheRealPomax 8y ago
    It is a thing, and it makes feedly a bad application. "Not having ads" does not make your RSS reader good, it just makes it "not doing something bad and frankly, plain stupid". Not having trackers or ads is a given, in the same way your coffee maker doesn't come with tracking or ads, and you should go "uh, what? no thanks I'll use something else, this is ridiculous" when you find a coffee maker that does. Selling your coffee maker as "doesn't have tracking or ads!" just tells us your product has nothing else worth talking about.
    - mdpopescu 8y ago
      Agreed. This reminds me of those products in the grocery store with "produced locally" on them. If that's the best you can say about something, it must be really bad.
    - pinkano 8y ago
      Hello, thank you for your feedback. Yes, we do show ads in the Free version, there is always Feedly Pro with no ads. Ads in the Free version help us fund new projects and the infrastructure.
piecu 8y ago
Did anyone use it? Is it any good? Why there is no demo to try but it forces me to create an account?
- mhb 8y ago
  How does it compare to yoleo, for example?
listenallyall 8y ago
In the 5 years I've used BazQux reader, I've never once had an ad injected, never received a single promotional email, and if they are tracking me, they are doing an amazing job of hiding it. Fantastic software that I am proud to support. bazqux.com
- vshabanov 8y ago
  Thank you for the kind words! Clickable link https://bazqux.com https://bazqux.com Actually BazQux Reader removes some simple tracking like 1x1 pixel images/iframes and filters out images containing ".ads.", "feedads", "google-analytics" and few more common ads/tracking sites. I've implemented it many years ago when tracking fighting wasn't mainstream mostly to improve reader speed. I'm also planning to implement image proxy to make everything HTTPS (no mixed HTTP/HTTPS content) and to resize overlarge images (speed again) and thinking to add proxying of audio & video too. So site owners would not know that you've loaded anything from them at all. The only thing that BazQux Reader tracks is feature usage: Add/remove subscription/star/unstar/tag/search/share/etc. And only fact of usage is tracked, no details (e.g., no records of what article was starred/shared, only fact that star/share was used). It helps me to get statistics of overall reader usage but of course I don't plan to sell it (and I don't think that anybody needs it). BazQux Reader gets its money directly from clients. It's plain stupid to sell data of client paying $20-$30 a year for .000001 cent and loose all the trust (and money and self-respect).
- delish 8y ago
  I also use and enjoy BazQux. It's fast and supports vi-like keybindings.
niklasbuschmann 8y ago
I really like this.
Y_Y 8y ago
Fee Diary
syoc 8y ago
I recommend https://tt-rss.org/ https://tt-rss.org/ It is quite easy to self host
superkuh 8y ago
Imagine saying this about a native application like it's some special feature. Web 'apps' are terrible in so many ways.
- icebraining 8y ago
  Native applications (on mobile) have both in droves.
  - superkuh 8y ago
    Yeah, everything on mobile is terrible. Both web and native. That's why I've chosen to never use smart phones. But using a feed reader on a mobile device is kind of silly anyway. It's not like you can do any serious reading or work on a mobile computer.
- TekMol 8y ago
  Why would you think native applications do not track you? They do. And they have way more insight into your world then a web app.
  - stephenr 8y ago
    What exactly is a native app going to 'track'? It has zero access to your browser.
    - Moru 8y ago
      A native app on windows have full access to your computer and can track just about everything from what you click in the app to passwords entered in other apps and websites.
      - stephenr 8y ago
        Thats more of an advert for not using Windows than not using Native Apps.
prepend 8y ago
This is neat. Can I pay a one time fee to run the service myself? Just a simple container or package of some sort. This seems like a neat product, but it’s better for me as a user to pay some amount once than 4/month forever. I want to encourage you to keep building the software, but have to keep my list of monthlies really small.
- justmarkup 8y ago
  Thank you very much. We are thinking about offering a lifetime membership plan, but need to figure out the details first. How much would you be willing to pay for a lifetime licence?
  - jdeibele 8y ago
    What I would like to see is a membership where the price drops each year. First year, it's $5/month. Second, it's $4. Third year, it's $3. And so on. Ideally it's free year 6 and from then on as long as you have an active account. But it could be $1/year. I already have enough things I have to pay for every month for the rest of my life.
    - icebraining 8y ago
      What happens if signups dry up? Those $180 won't last forever if you expect hosting, support and/or new developments.
    - magnetic 8y ago
      A service that has a non zero operating expense (which is, pretty much everyone) cannot survive if there is no revenue from users to support that OPEX (IT/cloud costs, dev pay, etc). You need recurrent money to run the business. It comes from ads/tracking/data and/or from subscriptions. Some business want to protect your privacy by not tracking you or serve you ads, so you should expect a non zero recurrent cost. It can be extremely small, but it needs to be there to be profitable: the business has to cover its costs somehow, or it won't last. > I already have enough things I have to pay for every month for the rest of my life. So does this business to provide a service to you, for as long as you remain a customer.
xaduha 8y ago
Ok, I'll give it a go. Haven't really used any since Digg Reader closed.
human_error 8y ago
Is RSS still alive? I'm asking this out of curiosity. I've stopped using RSS long time ago. It has nothing to do with Google Reader. I've stopped using RSS before Google Reader died.
- branchless 8y ago
  It's just a question, but people are voting based on some affection for RSS. Yeah it's still used.
- aaaaaaaaaab 8y ago
  What are you using instead? Facebook and Instagram?
- dsr_ 8y ago
  There are certain technologies that are no longer considered sexy, but are extremely powerful for people who select the right tools and invest a little time in learning how to get the most out of them. Text editors like vim and emacs; email clients like mutt; NNTP clients and text-only Usenet groups; RSS feed readers...
- hokus 8y ago
  In 2018 it is reasonably hard to find RSS feeds. There are no good directories, people are not sharing their OPML files (not in articles nor <link> elements) Finding smaller websites in 2018 is even harder. There are no good directories, people are not sharing their favorite websites but if they do their audience is so microscopic that it doesn't reach you. I sort of ended up building my own box of tricks. Talking about those mostly generates feedback from the RSS oblivious who moan about RSS being dead and praising the glory of walled gardens that have some laughably inferior news implementation. (I'm not complaining, if not an accurate description it is an understatement) The way I see it I would prefer to glorify with my subscription the (perhaps low audience) websites that really deserve it. People who worked to write and record things I'm interested in and ran that extra mile to make it informative. But who cares about that if you can have the fcebook and twitter type of walled echo chambers? It is not so much that RSS is dying. Why even make a website if you cant find readers for it? Arguably the whole concept of a website is changing from providing information for free to hard-sell commerce. That said, while it is certainly getting more difficult every year to find new subscriptions, it can be done. If you continue to put in the effort to find more you will reach a sweet spot where the number of dead feeds matches the number of new finds. One week you will be very happy with the results the next might be a sad display of the large older news outlets. It may give the impression of slow death. It is rather weird... do you just delete feeds that don't work? Do you crawl the dead list every week? How long does it have to be dead before you purge it? Did it just move? Is the website it self still there? How valuable is its content to you? Then, to repeat myself, since everyone and their mum is pretty much locked into walled gardens there is this huge echo chamber effect where, much like TV in the 80's, everyone is talking about the same topics. Trying to filter those out feels like reanimating a corps. However: It continues to be worth it to find original thought. If I have to crawl the entire internet to find that last blogger who isn't parroting Ruppert Murdoch or Donald Trump ~ I will. A long story short, if RSS is dead you've killed her. (lol)
unicornporn 8y ago
https://freshrss.org/ https://freshrss.org/ FTW!
devindotcom 8y ago
Always happy to see a new reader. My only quibble is with the name - is it like diary or apiary?
TheRealPomax 8y ago
Why would an RSS reader with zero tracking or ads be a selling point? Those are not things an RSS reader should have to begin with, it's like advertising that you made an offline garden planner without tracking or ads: that is the expected baseline. This seems a pretty strong case of the "having X is bad, so not having X must be good" logical reasoning fallacy.
- specializeded 8y ago
  that is the expected baseline I don’t know what world you’re living in, but that is absolutely not the expected baseline for consumer facing software in 2018 (unfortunately).
  - cyberpunk0 8y ago
    No it is, it's just not what our dogshit economic system brainwashes you into assuming.
  - jlarocco 8y ago
    > I don’t know what world you’re living in, but that is absolutely not the expected baseline for consumer facing software in 2018 (unfortunately). I don't know what world you're living in, but none of the "consumer facing" software I use has built-in tracking, including my RSS reader. It's actually sad that apparently even the tech literate people on HN have given up and just accept that creepy corporate tracking is a way of life. What's even more sad is that I know many people here work for companies that do this and they go along with it.
    - vvillena 8y ago
      If you use an RSS aggregator like Feedly, Newsblur, The Old Reader, or Inoreader, it's safe to assume and expect they will track you. It's shitty and there is (was?) no real alternative.
      - iand 8y ago
        The alternative is a paid reader with no ads.
fierarul 8y ago
Where's the download button?
p4bl0 8y ago
Well, NewsBlur gives you all that and is open source too. It's also less expensive if you use the hosted version ($36/yr for NewsBlur vs 48€ for feediary).
- reitanqild 8y ago
  I have a strong feeling I tried newsblur before and didn't like it so there might still be room for a couple of RSS readers. (No this is not a jab at newsblur, it might be an excellent product just like other things I don't personally like. My point is only there is room for more products.) Personally I use Feedbro which I find excellent: - works nicely (well, I had to restore my opml a couple of times) but when it works I really like it - no login. No account. - runs locally as a Firefox extension It is not open source though as far as I can see.
pjmlp 8y ago
Thunderbird is already good enough.
ishanjain28 8y ago
> Gets super interested. > Opens website and sees subscription based model > no thanks.
expertentipp 8y ago
The lack of free/native RSS readers on Android/iPhone and MacOS (Thunderbird only?) is a truly sad state of affairs. I don’t want social, I don’t want online sychronization with whateverNews, I don’t want smart, I don’t want premium - just let me subscribe to the bloody RSS’ URL.
- ravenstine 8y ago
  This describes the web experience for me in general. All of these features sidestep the core functionality. People build these things and seem to ignore typography and clarity. Maybe it's because things like social and "smart" anything increase "engagement" and other such vanity metrics that are used to impress stakeholders, even though they have little to do with what the products should be good at, which is allowing people to read.
- jonafato 8y ago
  I quite liked Vienna (http://github.com/ViennaRSS/vienna-rss http://github.com/ViennaRSS/vienna-rss) while I had a Mac. It has options to run both as a standalone application and synced with various online services.
- invernomut0 8y ago
  I like Reeder[0] and I use it since some time without problems. [0]http://reederapp.com http://reederapp.com
- dewey 8y ago
  On iOS there's a healthy selection of standalone apps I'd say, most of them offer support to sync with paid or self-hosted online services (If they support the Fever API). My current combination is a self-hosted Miniflux instance and Reeder on iOS and macOS as clients. I wrote a little bit about it here: https://blog.notmyhostna.me/sad-state-of-rss-on-the-mac/ https://blog.notmyhostna.me/sad-state-of-rss-on-the-mac/ and there's a good discussion with other readers here (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17577442 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17577442)
dewey 8y ago
Another alternative that's free (they also have a paid hosted version), open source, fast and written in Go: https://miniflux.app https://miniflux.app
rmm 8y ago
As an aside. I absolutely hate sites that only send a partial RSS feed, showing only the first paragraph or what have you. I know the logic, entice me enough to click through, serve ads etc. but 90% of the time I won't, unless I am really interested, but MOST of all, I fly for nearly 30% of my week. First thing I do before boarding is updating my feed, not being able to access full content has had me unsubscribe to a whole bunch of sites in frustration. /rant
oxplot 8y ago
Oh all these "feed readers". Long ago, I discovered you can just send feeds to email. Once your feed is emailed to you, you can save it, forward it, read on the web, tablet, phone. Search it like a boss, and more. I use IFTTT by the way.
hopesthoughts 8y ago
Feediary is definitely coming along nicely!

109 points by justmarkup 8y ago

I tried it out for a bit and compared to my current reader of choice this is what I miss: - keyboard navigation - expanded view (full content in the list view) Some other remarks: - The pricing is a bit high for me, for a couple € more I could run my own virtual server (which could also be used for many other things) with an opensource feed reader. - Do Not Track is a nice addition but it would be better to proxy the images through your service instead of removing them altogether. - The feed crawler should handle last modified and etag headers to save bandwidth both for yourself and the content providers (it could also use a proper user agent with a subscriber count in it).

justmarkup 8y ago
Hey, thanks for your feedback! Keyboard shortcuts will be added in the next release (next week), and expanded view in the Reader is also planned and will be added in some of the next releases. Also thanks for the other remarks, we will not decrease the price as this is the minimum to ensure the service is sustainable. Will definitely think about the image proxy and the etag headers.

nicolaslem 8y ago

Congratulation on shipping it! I definitely share the same values, so much that I developed a very similar Open Source RSS feed reader with the exact same requirements in mind (no tracking, no ads, no BS...). https://feedsubs.com https://feedsubs.com (https://github.com/NicolasLM/feedsubs https://github.com/NicolasLM/feedsubs)

ObsoleteNerd 8y ago
I'd definitely consider at least putting a screenshot on the front page, or in the Github readme. I clicked your link very interested, saw nothing but a Sign Up button and then an (almost) empty Github readme, and lost interest.
justmarkup 8y ago
Thank you! your RSS reader looks good, keep up the good work!
mxuribe 8y ago
Oh, I was excited when I read this...but there's no screenshot or demo. In any case, kudos for building something open source!
- brennebeck 8y ago
  I’d just like to second that. I get gp built for gp, but if you want others to take interest...
hopesthoughts 8y ago
I went to put in the OPML and I got a 500 error after I pressed the button.

pmoriarty 8y ago

If it's not an open-source client that I can run on my own machine, I wouldn't trust it. There's nothing preventing a service from tracking you or giving away your data, no matter what reassuring words they use.

justadudeama 8y ago
Which client do you use?
- vollmond 8y ago
  I've used Tiny Tiny RSS. Works well enough.
- pmoriarty 8y ago
  I use newsboat[1][2], an actively maintained fork of the excellent newsbeuter. [1] - https://newsboat.org/ https://newsboat.org/ [2] - https://github.com/newsboat/newsboat https://github.com/newsboat/newsboat
blitmap 8y ago
Something like devdocs.io as an RSS reader.
easytiger 8y ago
The internet must be a scary place for you then

frumiousirc 8y ago

Let me suggest to come up with a different hook. Lack of tracking and lack of ads are two of the fundamental defining (anti)characteristics of RSS. The whole point of RSS is to directly connect individual content providers to individual content consumers. This current hook is like trying to sell pillows on the basis that they don't spontaneously explode.

piecu 8y ago
Well, feedly does inject ads so it is a thing.
- wkdown 8y ago
  slack x 10000000
- TheRealPomax 8y ago
  It is a thing, and it makes feedly a bad application. "Not having ads" does not make your RSS reader good, it just makes it "not doing something bad and frankly, plain stupid". Not having trackers or ads is a given, in the same way your coffee maker doesn't come with tracking or ads, and you should go "uh, what? no thanks I'll use something else, this is ridiculous" when you find a coffee maker that does. Selling your coffee maker as "doesn't have tracking or ads!" just tells us your product has nothing else worth talking about.
  - mdpopescu 8y ago
    Agreed. This reminds me of those products in the grocery store with "produced locally" on them. If that's the best you can say about something, it must be really bad.
  - pinkano 8y ago
    Hello, thank you for your feedback. Yes, we do show ads in the Free version, there is always Feedly Pro with no ads. Ads in the Free version help us fund new projects and the infrastructure.

piecu 8y ago

Did anyone use it? Is it any good? Why there is no demo to try but it forces me to create an account?

mhb 8y ago
How does it compare to yoleo, for example?

listenallyall 8y ago

In the 5 years I've used BazQux reader, I've never once had an ad injected, never received a single promotional email, and if they are tracking me, they are doing an amazing job of hiding it. Fantastic software that I am proud to support. bazqux.com

vshabanov 8y ago
Thank you for the kind words! Clickable link https://bazqux.com https://bazqux.com Actually BazQux Reader removes some simple tracking like 1x1 pixel images/iframes and filters out images containing ".ads.", "feedads", "google-analytics" and few more common ads/tracking sites. I've implemented it many years ago when tracking fighting wasn't mainstream mostly to improve reader speed. I'm also planning to implement image proxy to make everything HTTPS (no mixed HTTP/HTTPS content) and to resize overlarge images (speed again) and thinking to add proxying of audio & video too. So site owners would not know that you've loaded anything from them at all. The only thing that BazQux Reader tracks is feature usage: Add/remove subscription/star/unstar/tag/search/share/etc. And only fact of usage is tracked, no details (e.g., no records of what article was starred/shared, only fact that star/share was used). It helps me to get statistics of overall reader usage but of course I don't plan to sell it (and I don't think that anybody needs it). BazQux Reader gets its money directly from clients. It's plain stupid to sell data of client paying $20-$30 a year for .000001 cent and loose all the trust (and money and self-respect).
delish 8y ago
I also use and enjoy BazQux. It's fast and supports vi-like keybindings.

niklasbuschmann 8y ago

I really like this.

Y_Y 8y ago

Fee Diary

syoc 8y ago

I recommend https://tt-rss.org/ https://tt-rss.org/ It is quite easy to self host

superkuh 8y ago

Imagine saying this about a native application like it's some special feature. Web 'apps' are terrible in so many ways.

icebraining 8y ago
Native applications (on mobile) have both in droves.
- superkuh 8y ago
  Yeah, everything on mobile is terrible. Both web and native. That's why I've chosen to never use smart phones. But using a feed reader on a mobile device is kind of silly anyway. It's not like you can do any serious reading or work on a mobile computer.
TekMol 8y ago
Why would you think native applications do not track you? They do. And they have way more insight into your world then a web app.
- stephenr 8y ago
  What exactly is a native app going to 'track'? It has zero access to your browser.
  - Moru 8y ago
    A native app on windows have full access to your computer and can track just about everything from what you click in the app to passwords entered in other apps and websites.
    - stephenr 8y ago
      Thats more of an advert for not using Windows than not using Native Apps.

prepend 8y ago

This is neat. Can I pay a one time fee to run the service myself? Just a simple container or package of some sort. This seems like a neat product, but it’s better for me as a user to pay some amount once than 4/month forever. I want to encourage you to keep building the software, but have to keep my list of monthlies really small.

justmarkup 8y ago
Thank you very much. We are thinking about offering a lifetime membership plan, but need to figure out the details first. How much would you be willing to pay for a lifetime licence?
- jdeibele 8y ago
  What I would like to see is a membership where the price drops each year. First year, it's $5/month. Second, it's $4. Third year, it's $3. And so on. Ideally it's free year 6 and from then on as long as you have an active account. But it could be $1/year. I already have enough things I have to pay for every month for the rest of my life.
  - icebraining 8y ago
    What happens if signups dry up? Those $180 won't last forever if you expect hosting, support and/or new developments.
  - magnetic 8y ago
    A service that has a non zero operating expense (which is, pretty much everyone) cannot survive if there is no revenue from users to support that OPEX (IT/cloud costs, dev pay, etc). You need recurrent money to run the business. It comes from ads/tracking/data and/or from subscriptions. Some business want to protect your privacy by not tracking you or serve you ads, so you should expect a non zero recurrent cost. It can be extremely small, but it needs to be there to be profitable: the business has to cover its costs somehow, or it won't last. > I already have enough things I have to pay for every month for the rest of my life. So does this business to provide a service to you, for as long as you remain a customer.

xaduha 8y ago

Ok, I'll give it a go. Haven't really used any since Digg Reader closed.

human_error 8y ago

Is RSS still alive? I'm asking this out of curiosity. I've stopped using RSS long time ago. It has nothing to do with Google Reader. I've stopped using RSS before Google Reader died.

branchless 8y ago
It's just a question, but people are voting based on some affection for RSS. Yeah it's still used.
aaaaaaaaaab 8y ago
What are you using instead? Facebook and Instagram?
dsr_ 8y ago
There are certain technologies that are no longer considered sexy, but are extremely powerful for people who select the right tools and invest a little time in learning how to get the most out of them. Text editors like vim and emacs; email clients like mutt; NNTP clients and text-only Usenet groups; RSS feed readers...
hokus 8y ago
In 2018 it is reasonably hard to find RSS feeds. There are no good directories, people are not sharing their OPML files (not in articles nor <link> elements) Finding smaller websites in 2018 is even harder. There are no good directories, people are not sharing their favorite websites but if they do their audience is so microscopic that it doesn't reach you. I sort of ended up building my own box of tricks. Talking about those mostly generates feedback from the RSS oblivious who moan about RSS being dead and praising the glory of walled gardens that have some laughably inferior news implementation. (I'm not complaining, if not an accurate description it is an understatement) The way I see it I would prefer to glorify with my subscription the (perhaps low audience) websites that really deserve it. People who worked to write and record things I'm interested in and ran that extra mile to make it informative. But who cares about that if you can have the fcebook and twitter type of walled echo chambers? It is not so much that RSS is dying. Why even make a website if you cant find readers for it? Arguably the whole concept of a website is changing from providing information for free to hard-sell commerce. That said, while it is certainly getting more difficult every year to find new subscriptions, it can be done. If you continue to put in the effort to find more you will reach a sweet spot where the number of dead feeds matches the number of new finds. One week you will be very happy with the results the next might be a sad display of the large older news outlets. It may give the impression of slow death. It is rather weird... do you just delete feeds that don't work? Do you crawl the dead list every week? How long does it have to be dead before you purge it? Did it just move? Is the website it self still there? How valuable is its content to you? Then, to repeat myself, since everyone and their mum is pretty much locked into walled gardens there is this huge echo chamber effect where, much like TV in the 80's, everyone is talking about the same topics. Trying to filter those out feels like reanimating a corps. However: It continues to be worth it to find original thought. If I have to crawl the entire internet to find that last blogger who isn't parroting Ruppert Murdoch or Donald Trump ~ I will. A long story short, if RSS is dead you've killed her. (lol)

unicornporn 8y ago

https://freshrss.org/ https://freshrss.org/ FTW!

devindotcom 8y ago

Always happy to see a new reader. My only quibble is with the name - is it like diary or apiary?

TheRealPomax 8y ago

Why would an RSS reader with zero tracking or ads be a selling point? Those are not things an RSS reader should have to begin with, it's like advertising that you made an offline garden planner without tracking or ads: that is the expected baseline. This seems a pretty strong case of the "having X is bad, so not having X must be good" logical reasoning fallacy.

specializeded 8y ago
that is the expected baseline I don’t know what world you’re living in, but that is absolutely not the expected baseline for consumer facing software in 2018 (unfortunately).
- cyberpunk0 8y ago
  No it is, it's just not what our dogshit economic system brainwashes you into assuming.
- jlarocco 8y ago
  > I don’t know what world you’re living in, but that is absolutely not the expected baseline for consumer facing software in 2018 (unfortunately). I don't know what world you're living in, but none of the "consumer facing" software I use has built-in tracking, including my RSS reader. It's actually sad that apparently even the tech literate people on HN have given up and just accept that creepy corporate tracking is a way of life. What's even more sad is that I know many people here work for companies that do this and they go along with it.
  - vvillena 8y ago
    If you use an RSS aggregator like Feedly, Newsblur, The Old Reader, or Inoreader, it's safe to assume and expect they will track you. It's shitty and there is (was?) no real alternative.
    - iand 8y ago
      The alternative is a paid reader with no ads.

fierarul 8y ago

Where's the download button?

p4bl0 8y ago

Well, NewsBlur gives you all that and is open source too. It's also less expensive if you use the hosted version ($36/yr for NewsBlur vs 48€ for feediary).

reitanqild 8y ago
I have a strong feeling I tried newsblur before and didn't like it so there might still be room for a couple of RSS readers. (No this is not a jab at newsblur, it might be an excellent product just like other things I don't personally like. My point is only there is room for more products.) Personally I use Feedbro which I find excellent: - works nicely (well, I had to restore my opml a couple of times) but when it works I really like it - no login. No account. - runs locally as a Firefox extension It is not open source though as far as I can see.

pjmlp 8y ago

Thunderbird is already good enough.

ishanjain28 8y ago

> Gets super interested. > Opens website and sees subscription based model > no thanks.

expertentipp 8y ago

The lack of free/native RSS readers on Android/iPhone and MacOS (Thunderbird only?) is a truly sad state of affairs. I don’t want social, I don’t want online sychronization with whateverNews, I don’t want smart, I don’t want premium - just let me subscribe to the bloody RSS’ URL.

ravenstine 8y ago
This describes the web experience for me in general. All of these features sidestep the core functionality. People build these things and seem to ignore typography and clarity. Maybe it's because things like social and "smart" anything increase "engagement" and other such vanity metrics that are used to impress stakeholders, even though they have little to do with what the products should be good at, which is allowing people to read.
jonafato 8y ago
I quite liked Vienna (http://github.com/ViennaRSS/vienna-rss http://github.com/ViennaRSS/vienna-rss) while I had a Mac. It has options to run both as a standalone application and synced with various online services.
invernomut0 8y ago
I like Reeder[0] and I use it since some time without problems. [0]http://reederapp.com http://reederapp.com
dewey 8y ago
On iOS there's a healthy selection of standalone apps I'd say, most of them offer support to sync with paid or self-hosted online services (If they support the Fever API). My current combination is a self-hosted Miniflux instance and Reeder on iOS and macOS as clients. I wrote a little bit about it here: https://blog.notmyhostna.me/sad-state-of-rss-on-the-mac/ https://blog.notmyhostna.me/sad-state-of-rss-on-the-mac/ and there's a good discussion with other readers here (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17577442 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17577442)

dewey 8y ago

Another alternative that's free (they also have a paid hosted version), open source, fast and written in Go: https://miniflux.app https://miniflux.app

rmm 8y ago

As an aside. I absolutely hate sites that only send a partial RSS feed, showing only the first paragraph or what have you. I know the logic, entice me enough to click through, serve ads etc. but 90% of the time I won't, unless I am really interested, but MOST of all, I fly for nearly 30% of my week. First thing I do before boarding is updating my feed, not being able to access full content has had me unsubscribe to a whole bunch of sites in frustration. /rant

oxplot 8y ago

Oh all these "feed readers". Long ago, I discovered you can just send feeds to email. Once your feed is emailed to you, you can save it, forward it, read on the web, tablet, phone. Search it like a boss, and more. I use IFTTT by the way.

hopesthoughts 8y ago

Feediary is definitely coming along nicely!