Review: Feeds

Feeds v0.4.3 | Published by Boris Bluntschli | Via ModMyIfone Source | Free Overview From the publisher's site: "A native news reader for the iPhone, based on the Google Reader API, developed using the unofficial SDK." Review As a complete news junkie, a quality mobile RSS reader is an absolute necessity. I dislike the iPhone interface of Google reader because it only shows five stories at a time and, being a webapp, does me no good unless I have an active internet connection. I hoped that Feeds would provide something better. In some regards, it does. Instead of 5 articles, then waiting while 5 more load, you can view up to 20 articles for each of your feeds. If the story is available through the RSS feed, the text will download automatically without an internet connection, though images will not. When you first download the app, you'll need to log into your Google Reader account and set your preferences. These are limited, but there's not much need for more: font and spacing is it.

When you open a feed, you view whatever is served through RSS. In many cases, this is just a headline and a link to the story in full. And this is where the program's limitations comes to the fore. First, when you tap the link, there is no indication that you've successfully done so other than a very brief flash on the screen, until your new page loads. So there were several times where I found myself wondering if anything was loading or not, until finally my new page popped up. The program would have done itself a favor to kick weblinks over to Safari, as well... the browsing experience doesn't hold up well against the iPhone's native client.

There is no tilt functionality, for starters, which makes reading wide column articles more difficult. And while you can double tap to zoom in and out, it seems to be a fixed zoom instead of Safari's almost-psychic ability to focus on document elements.

Still, this is a big step in the right direction. With an option to change the number of stored articles and either an improvement in the web navigation or better integration with the Safari browser, Feeds has the potential to be a must-have app. Incorporating the Google API was a wise decision, helping users avoid searching out the feed addresses for all their favorite sites for the umpteenth time. Keep an eye on this program, it's got some potential.

Summary A good start, but room for improvement. Good navigation, but needs a little more customization and better web browsing capability. Usability: 4 / 5 Value: 4 / 5 Utility: 3 / 5 Aesthetics: 3 / 5 Overall Rating: 3.5 / 5

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