6 ms·

Show HN: Feedbunch, a simple and elegant feed reader

23 points by amatriain 12y ago

amatriain 12y ago
Hi guys. I've released Feedbunch, a web app to read RSS and Atom feeds similar to the disappeared google reader. Signups are currently open and it will be totally free for at least as long as it is in the beta phase. It aims to be simple to use, hiding unnecessary complexity from the user as much as possible (feed autodiscovery, detecting when a feed has changed its URL, etc). It is responsive and supports being installed to the home screen in mobile devices, behaving almost like a native app. Feedbunch is opensource under the MIT license. The backend is a json REST API built with Ruby on Rails, and the frontend is a mix of Bootstrap and AngularJS. I'm very interested in hearing your opinion and I hope you find it useful.
- detaro 12y ago
  Any chance to get a demo login or something, to try the actual interface without creating an account?
  - amatriain 12y ago
    Sure. Use this: email: demo@feedbunch.com password: feedbunch-demo
    - detaro 12y ago
      Thanks! looks very sleek, the only thing that would be a deal-breaker for me are keyboard shortcuts for navigation (or maybe I just didn't figure them out?)
      - amatriain 12y ago
        Keyboard shortcuts are in the roadmap, but not yet implemented. It's an often requested feature, though, so I'll prioritize it :)
    - deleted 12y ago
      [deleted]
    - webwanderings 12y ago
      Keyboard shortcut is important for sure. BTW, what will you be charging in the future, any estimate? The thing about using any hosted RSS reader is (which basically means you are getting used to), that you cannot tell if the service will exist tomorrow or not. Feedly is a piece of crap today as it was the same yesterday. They just had a buzz going for them since they provided relatively faster service compared to any other around the time of GReader's demise. Compared to Feedly, Inoreader has lots of bells and whistles ... but ultimately, the notice is on the wall anyway. You are not going to be making a lot of money selling this as a product. There is hardly a chance that any RSS feed reader could become a hot property for any big company to grab. So not sure why my individual OPML be of any value to you. Hope you follow.
      - amatriain 12y ago
        At the moment I'm afraid I can't offer an estimate of the user fees once out of the beta phase. The beta will among other things serve as a stress test, giving me an idea of the server resources necessary for the service. That will give me an idea of the costs associated with running the SaaS, which will help decide the user fees. For the moment I simply have too little data, sorry. I intend it to be very affordable, if it helps. I understand you being worried that a service you use may disappear. But realistically that can happen with absolutely any SaaS. Being backed by a big company is no guarantee in this regard, as Google has shown with google reader and other services. My intention is to keep Feedbunch running for as long as possible, but I was also burned by the GReader shutdown so I understand your concern. The best I can offer is this: Feedbunch has an OPML export feature, so any user can take his subscriptions to any other feed reader that supports OPML whenever he wants. That's the best way to avoid vendor lock-in: to work with interoperable standards so that you can take your data elsewhere if necessary. And of course being opensource you can self-host it. In case you're interested I originally built Feedbunch for myself when GReader closed down, because I was unhappy with the alternatives. I've been using it for my feed reading needs for some time. Offering it as a SaaS is an extension of that, but the project started as a way for me to have a reader I liked. I'm not aiming to catch the eye of a big company here, but to run a good service. That was a bit all over the place but I hope I addressed your questions.
- wonjun 12y ago
  This is very nice, congratulations on shipping! This being open source is a huge plus.
malnourish 12y ago
I've been using RSSOwl for a while now to browse RSS feeds, but I just tried out your demo login (thanks for that! maybe you should add a link on the landing page to demo) and I really like the UX, well done. It's slick and I haven't noticed any problems as of yet.
detaro 12y ago
Oh, and maybe make the fact that it is open-source a bit more noticable. I didn't notice it at all the first visit and just now parsed the github logo. Note to everybody else: It's open-source ;)
- amatriain 12y ago
  Unfortunately I can no longer edit this submission's title. Anyway, the "About Feedbunch" of the landing page says that it is opensource (MIT license). Maybe it should be more prominent.
kevinmcf 12y ago
Does the import work? I am trying to import my Feedly OPML file and it has been sitting at 0 of 0 for a while.
- amatriain 12y ago
  There are many new users currently importing their OPML files. There is a rather large backlog in the queue but be patient, in a few minutes it will process your import. You will receive a notification email when it finishes.
abrowne 12y ago
My quick feedback: Nice and simple, seems fast enough. I like that it's a responsive design. I need an option for oldest first. (I can't use a feed reader without this option.) Needs j/k for next/previous entry. Top bar should scroll out of the way when reading entries so it doesn't take up so much space. Default font should be something more readable than Helvetica/Arial. (My suggestion: Source Sans Pro.) (Disclosures: I am a happy paid user of FeedHQ, but I like trying new feed readers.)
- amatriain 12y ago
  Keyboard shortcuts are definitely in the roadmap. Thanks for the rest of the suggestions, I'll consider them.
  - abrowne 12y ago
    The top bar comment is definitely an opinion, and I'd consider it usable with the current design. Now that I've tried it on my phone, I'd say the default font size is a too small. (I tried Firefox on Android.) On desktop, I can use browser page zoom, but on mobile I can't. Non-Helvetica/Arial could be an option rather than default, for people who don't want to load an external font.
    - amatriain 12y ago
      Feedbunch currently uses the default Bootstrap tipography, so I'm a bit surprised that it gives you trouble. However a couple of you have mentioned it so I'll definitely look into it. What do the rest of you think about the tipography? Too small, hard to read, good the way it is?
      - abrowne 12y ago
        The typography isn't bad . . . but for an app whose purpose is to read articles it should be great! Helvetica/Arial is common enough, and sites like the BBC use it for body text, but there are so many free fonts available that are much readable for running text. I'm getting 14 px text for article bodies. Usually something closer to 17 px is optimal, and I think zooming the page 120% looks best (14 px · 1.2 = 16.8 px).
dewey 12y ago
For people who are looking for another self-hosted and minimal rss reader there's also miniflux [0]. With Fever sync for the various RSS apps supporting it. Not affiliated, just a happy user. [0] http://miniflux.net/ http://miniflux.net/
rspeer 12y ago
The sign-up process is pretty demotivating. Give me a way to at least see something happen before I go through the whole e-mail confirmation thing.
- amatriain 12y ago
  You're right, there's room for improvement in the signup process, to show the user something more useful and enticing after signup but before email confirmation. A couple of you have mentioned it. I'll work on it.
hackuser 12y ago
OT: I appreciate that most people want a simple, lightweight reader. But for myself, can someone recommend a sophisticated RSS reader for power users? I need to process feeds as efficiently as possible; a serious bottleneck is simply reading all the headlines to find the articles I want (and I'm picky about the feeds I download). I don't want simple, I want fast; I don't care about complexity or a learning curve, as long as it doesn't delay me as a user. I want the Vim (or Emacs?) of feed readers: * Immediate responsiveness, especially displaying article content * Information-dense, well-designed UI, so my eyes can skim headlines quickly. * Search and sort * Deduplication * Automatic grouping: This feature would reduce the headlines I need to review by 50% or more, I would guess. Group articles regarding the same topic, similar to what Google News does (but with my feeds and a more information-dense UI). For example, automatically group articles about the new Samsung wearable announcement, so I can choose the best one to read or simply delete them all. * Filtering: Based on headers or full-text, especially to highlight my favorite feeds and authors. * Analytics: Which feeds, authors, etc. do I read the most? From which do I open the full article the most (I download all summaries, for speed)? It would help me weed out less productive feeds. * Efficient management of feeds: Auto-discover changed feed URLs, etc. * Security: No external connections from within articles without user confirmation. That is, no image downloads, beacons, etc. No JavaScript. I'd happily pay > $100 for all that.
Involute 12y ago
So long, Feedly, you sucking douchenozzle, and hello, Feedbunch. Add a donate button somewhere, amatriain, so I can give you some dough.
involute1344 12y ago
Add some way to send suggestions/comments. E.g., the feed for Hacker News is completely different from what Feedly shows and from the front page of HN. Where's it coming from? I shouldn't have to come to HN to as about this.
- amatriain 12y ago
  There are three ways to send feedback or ask for help: - twitter (@feedbunch) - github issue tracker (github.com/amatriain/feedbunch) - email (admin@feedbunch.com) They are indicated in the landing page and in the signup, login and other pages. I don't understand your question about the HN feed. HN has an RSS feed (https://news.ycombinator.com/rss https://news.ycombinator.com/rss) which as far as I can tell includes every link posted to the front page, but not necessarily in the same order. Feedbunch does not create this feed, HN does, and I guess only someone from HN could explain what gets added to the feed. Feedbunch just shows whatever is in the feed.
  - Involute 12y ago
    I only just logged out to look for those links (and found them). If I'm logged in, I can't find them anywhere. Regarding HN's feed, all I know is, if I reset Feedly and Feedbunch (i.e., mark everything as read), after x minutes Feedly will show more unread articles than Feedbunch. Over the course of eight hours (when I'm asleep, e.g.), Feedbunch will show maybe a dozen new articles and Feedly will show, like, 40. I don't see this issue with my other feeds.

23 points by amatriain 12y ago

Hi guys. I've released Feedbunch, a web app to read RSS and Atom feeds similar to the disappeared google reader. Signups are currently open and it will be totally free for at least as long as it is in the beta phase. It aims to be simple to use, hiding unnecessary complexity from the user as much as possible (feed autodiscovery, detecting when a feed has changed its URL, etc). It is responsive and supports being installed to the home screen in mobile devices, behaving almost like a native app. Feedbunch is opensource under the MIT license. The backend is a json REST API built with Ruby on Rails, and the frontend is a mix of Bootstrap and AngularJS. I'm very interested in hearing your opinion and I hope you find it useful.

detaro 12y ago
Any chance to get a demo login or something, to try the actual interface without creating an account?
- amatriain 12y ago
  Sure. Use this: email: demo@feedbunch.com password: feedbunch-demo
  - detaro 12y ago
    Thanks! looks very sleek, the only thing that would be a deal-breaker for me are keyboard shortcuts for navigation (or maybe I just didn't figure them out?)
    - amatriain 12y ago
      Keyboard shortcuts are in the roadmap, but not yet implemented. It's an often requested feature, though, so I'll prioritize it :)
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - webwanderings 12y ago
    Keyboard shortcut is important for sure. BTW, what will you be charging in the future, any estimate? The thing about using any hosted RSS reader is (which basically means you are getting used to), that you cannot tell if the service will exist tomorrow or not. Feedly is a piece of crap today as it was the same yesterday. They just had a buzz going for them since they provided relatively faster service compared to any other around the time of GReader's demise. Compared to Feedly, Inoreader has lots of bells and whistles ... but ultimately, the notice is on the wall anyway. You are not going to be making a lot of money selling this as a product. There is hardly a chance that any RSS feed reader could become a hot property for any big company to grab. So not sure why my individual OPML be of any value to you. Hope you follow.
    - amatriain 12y ago
      At the moment I'm afraid I can't offer an estimate of the user fees once out of the beta phase. The beta will among other things serve as a stress test, giving me an idea of the server resources necessary for the service. That will give me an idea of the costs associated with running the SaaS, which will help decide the user fees. For the moment I simply have too little data, sorry. I intend it to be very affordable, if it helps. I understand you being worried that a service you use may disappear. But realistically that can happen with absolutely any SaaS. Being backed by a big company is no guarantee in this regard, as Google has shown with google reader and other services. My intention is to keep Feedbunch running for as long as possible, but I was also burned by the GReader shutdown so I understand your concern. The best I can offer is this: Feedbunch has an OPML export feature, so any user can take his subscriptions to any other feed reader that supports OPML whenever he wants. That's the best way to avoid vendor lock-in: to work with interoperable standards so that you can take your data elsewhere if necessary. And of course being opensource you can self-host it. In case you're interested I originally built Feedbunch for myself when GReader closed down, because I was unhappy with the alternatives. I've been using it for my feed reading needs for some time. Offering it as a SaaS is an extension of that, but the project started as a way for me to have a reader I liked. I'm not aiming to catch the eye of a big company here, but to run a good service. That was a bit all over the place but I hope I addressed your questions.
wonjun 12y ago
This is very nice, congratulations on shipping! This being open source is a huge plus.

malnourish 12y ago

I've been using RSSOwl for a while now to browse RSS feeds, but I just tried out your demo login (thanks for that! maybe you should add a link on the landing page to demo) and I really like the UX, well done. It's slick and I haven't noticed any problems as of yet.

detaro 12y ago

Oh, and maybe make the fact that it is open-source a bit more noticable. I didn't notice it at all the first visit and just now parsed the github logo. Note to everybody else: It's open-source ;)

amatriain 12y ago
Unfortunately I can no longer edit this submission's title. Anyway, the "About Feedbunch" of the landing page says that it is opensource (MIT license). Maybe it should be more prominent.

kevinmcf 12y ago

Does the import work? I am trying to import my Feedly OPML file and it has been sitting at 0 of 0 for a while.

amatriain 12y ago
There are many new users currently importing their OPML files. There is a rather large backlog in the queue but be patient, in a few minutes it will process your import. You will receive a notification email when it finishes.

abrowne 12y ago

My quick feedback: Nice and simple, seems fast enough. I like that it's a responsive design. I need an option for oldest first. (I can't use a feed reader without this option.) Needs j/k for next/previous entry. Top bar should scroll out of the way when reading entries so it doesn't take up so much space. Default font should be something more readable than Helvetica/Arial. (My suggestion: Source Sans Pro.) (Disclosures: I am a happy paid user of FeedHQ, but I like trying new feed readers.)

amatriain 12y ago
Keyboard shortcuts are definitely in the roadmap. Thanks for the rest of the suggestions, I'll consider them.
- abrowne 12y ago
  The top bar comment is definitely an opinion, and I'd consider it usable with the current design. Now that I've tried it on my phone, I'd say the default font size is a too small. (I tried Firefox on Android.) On desktop, I can use browser page zoom, but on mobile I can't. Non-Helvetica/Arial could be an option rather than default, for people who don't want to load an external font.
  - amatriain 12y ago
    Feedbunch currently uses the default Bootstrap tipography, so I'm a bit surprised that it gives you trouble. However a couple of you have mentioned it so I'll definitely look into it. What do the rest of you think about the tipography? Too small, hard to read, good the way it is?
    - abrowne 12y ago
      The typography isn't bad . . . but for an app whose purpose is to read articles it should be great! Helvetica/Arial is common enough, and sites like the BBC use it for body text, but there are so many free fonts available that are much readable for running text. I'm getting 14 px text for article bodies. Usually something closer to 17 px is optimal, and I think zooming the page 120% looks best (14 px · 1.2 = 16.8 px).

dewey 12y ago

For people who are looking for another self-hosted and minimal rss reader there's also miniflux [0]. With Fever sync for the various RSS apps supporting it. Not affiliated, just a happy user. [0] http://miniflux.net/ http://miniflux.net/

rspeer 12y ago

The sign-up process is pretty demotivating. Give me a way to at least see something happen before I go through the whole e-mail confirmation thing.

amatriain 12y ago
You're right, there's room for improvement in the signup process, to show the user something more useful and enticing after signup but before email confirmation. A couple of you have mentioned it. I'll work on it.

hackuser 12y ago

OT: I appreciate that most people want a simple, lightweight reader. But for myself, can someone recommend a sophisticated RSS reader for power users? I need to process feeds as efficiently as possible; a serious bottleneck is simply reading all the headlines to find the articles I want (and I'm picky about the feeds I download). I don't want simple, I want fast; I don't care about complexity or a learning curve, as long as it doesn't delay me as a user. I want the Vim (or Emacs?) of feed readers: * Immediate responsiveness, especially displaying article content * Information-dense, well-designed UI, so my eyes can skim headlines quickly. * Search and sort * Deduplication * Automatic grouping: This feature would reduce the headlines I need to review by 50% or more, I would guess. Group articles regarding the same topic, similar to what Google News does (but with my feeds and a more information-dense UI). For example, automatically group articles about the new Samsung wearable announcement, so I can choose the best one to read or simply delete them all. * Filtering: Based on headers or full-text, especially to highlight my favorite feeds and authors. * Analytics: Which feeds, authors, etc. do I read the most? From which do I open the full article the most (I download all summaries, for speed)? It would help me weed out less productive feeds. * Efficient management of feeds: Auto-discover changed feed URLs, etc. * Security: No external connections from within articles without user confirmation. That is, no image downloads, beacons, etc. No JavaScript. I'd happily pay > $100 for all that.

Involute 12y ago

So long, Feedly, you sucking douchenozzle, and hello, Feedbunch. Add a donate button somewhere, amatriain, so I can give you some dough.

involute1344 12y ago

Add some way to send suggestions/comments. E.g., the feed for Hacker News is completely different from what Feedly shows and from the front page of HN. Where's it coming from? I shouldn't have to come to HN to as about this.

amatriain 12y ago
There are three ways to send feedback or ask for help: - twitter (@feedbunch) - github issue tracker (github.com/amatriain/feedbunch) - email (admin@feedbunch.com) They are indicated in the landing page and in the signup, login and other pages. I don't understand your question about the HN feed. HN has an RSS feed (https://news.ycombinator.com/rss https://news.ycombinator.com/rss) which as far as I can tell includes every link posted to the front page, but not necessarily in the same order. Feedbunch does not create this feed, HN does, and I guess only someone from HN could explain what gets added to the feed. Feedbunch just shows whatever is in the feed.
- Involute 12y ago
  I only just logged out to look for those links (and found them). If I'm logged in, I can't find them anywhere. Regarding HN's feed, all I know is, if I reset Feedly and Feedbunch (i.e., mark everything as read), after x minutes Feedly will show more unread articles than Feedbunch. Over the course of eight hours (when I'm asleep, e.g.), Feedbunch will show maybe a dozen new articles and Feedly will show, like, 40. I don't see this issue with my other feeds.