You might not be aware but Lemmy has RSS built into it. I just noticed myself so I wanted to check out the current state of RSS clients and well, nothing seems to be quite what I’m after.
What RSS clients out there are worth looking at? I notice several have self-hosted server solutions which is interesting. I don’t care if it’s free, open source, paid or whatever though, I just want a good experience.
FreshRSS - Not too big on RSS, but for me it does the job. Also, If I understood correctly there is an Open API so you can use another Client with FreshRSS Back End
Another vote for FreshRSS. It’s a self hosted solution. I’m a bit of a data hoarder so mine is set to never purge articles, and edits are treated as new articles.
Clients I use:
- NewsFlash on Linux
- NetNewsWire on iOS or Mac
I’ve been so happy with rediscovering rss via FreshRSS and NetNewsWire that I’m chiming in on old threads. That is all. 🤙🏻
FreshRSS is amazing. Super powerful. I used to use tt-rss but it was unstable, limited in its clients (API emulation) and a very hostile developer.
This looks interesting, thanks for the suggestion. I’ll give it a whirl.
Sadly I haven’t yet got Kbin’s RSS to work with FreshRSS. It claims there is no feed. Which is a shame. But yes I use FreshRSS daily 👍
No apk for this?
There are apps which can connect to FreshRSS, but the mobile UI is better, IMO.
I don’t think so, but you can find a list of apps compatible with it here : https://github.com/FreshRSS/FreshRSS#apis--native-apps
I’m using the opinionated and self-hosted reader Miniflux in combination with a browser plugin for Chrome. This way I see the amount of unread RSS items and I can either click them to open them or just mark them as read. Not sure if it’s for everyone, but I like it a lot :) Just figured it should get a mention here.
Another vote for Miniflux. If you like a Reader-type interface, check out reminiflux (it’s just an alternative frontend).
I’ve replaced ttrss with Miniflux and I’m very happy with it. No need for a mobile app, the web interface is just fine on both desktop and phone.
miniflux is great. If you don’t want to self host, the developer offers a hosted version that is very reasonably priced and I like to think it contributes to the development of the software.
This with the matrix integration works great for me.
I selfhost FreshRSS and connect to it with Reeder on iOS.
Have you tried Unread on iOS? I ask because my setup is FreshRSS -> Unread, so I’m curious if it’s worth buying Reeder.
I haven’t. I just installed it to check it out, but I don’t even see a freshRSS sync option.
Ah, I use the fever API.
Ok it works, I tried it a little bit. I like the swipe left/right to get to move around and get options, but I’m not a fan of the way groups/categories work. On Reeder I get the classic folder structure: each feed is inside the category. On Unread I can select the single feed (but they’re all unorganized) OR I can select the category (in that case the feeds are mixed by default, or they’re ordered by website but in that case I have to manually scroll through all posts of other websites of the same category before I can get to the one I want to read). I don’t know if I explained myself, but I basically find it quicker to get to the content I want using Reeder’s way. In the same category/topic I might have feeds that I check daily and other ones that I barely check every now and then, and that’s not a problem with Reeder (I do a weekly “mark all as read” if the backlog gets too long), while I feel it gets a little hard to do the same thing on Unread.
Anyway, that’s how I browse feeds. If you like Unread, go on with it. Sorry for the wall of text.
Awesome, thanks for giving me an in depth comparison!
Yeah, I basically just look at all of my feeds in one list most of the time, though I do have groups in Unread. I guess I’m not super clear on how reeder differs, but if it is actually better for reading infrequent articles and stuff I’d be curious. I should probably just pay the $5 and try it…
FreshRSS is ugly and sometimes clunky but seems to be unparalleled for features and support (Reeder + Netnewswire for clients) as far as selfhosted options go
This is how I ended up on FreshRSS. It’s not my favourite looking thing or anything, but it seems to work the best (especially in terms of supporting mobile apps). I wish it was more tag centric, though. It’s kind of clunky having to make single categories for everything.
I just try to stay out of the actual webui as much as possible, pretty much only going in to change filters. maybe there’s an extension for better tagging?
Nextcloud News, if you already have Nextcloud set up. There’s also an Android app for it that connects to the server.
^ This. The Android app is quite nice. For iOS readers, you should use netnewswire
I’ve been running tiny tiny rss (aka ttrss) on a vps for well over 10 years. It’s been rock solid through many upgrades. It’s got a great web interface & android app. There’s a decent sized community for it. The only drawback is that primary dev (fox) does not tolerate (what he conciders) dumb questions. The new docker compose deployment is brain-dead simple.
I decided to not use tt-rss after discovering how that developer treats others. I don’t want to be involved or support someone like that.
I love Reeder for iOS. For service I’ve been using Feedly since the beginning so I’ve stuck with them. But these days there is probably better (and cheaper) options.
+1 for Reeder. I use it with NewsBlur
I use Reeder as well, with my feeds coming from Feedbin. Reeder has an option to use iCloud to hold & sync feeds across your devices, but I haven’t had good luck with that.
I’ve been using Feedbro (Firefox plugin) for a while and it does the job.
Also my recomendation if you don’t need anything fancy.
I like the integration into the broser a lot: Instead of switching between the reader and the browser, i just switch between browser tabs.
The only weird thing with this addon is the company that makes it. They put a lot of work into their browser addons without any obvious way of monetarisation. i can not explain to myself how they make money.
So maybee don’t use it if you are on some three letter agency’s naughty list ;)
I was using feedbro until I noticed some bots started hitting my freshrss url that is not public. Switched to yarr for desktop and feeder for mobile.
+1 for Feedbro.
TT-RSS tiny tiny RSS, it also has a good Android app
@xaxl I use Feeder from F-Droid: https://f-droid.org/packages/com.nononsenseapps.feeder/
Thank you! My favorite RSS app got suddenly over run by ads a few years ago. I’ve been lacking a replacement ever since. Feeder is exactly what I needed!
I like feedly
I’m a fan of Inoreader.
Feeder on F-droid
TT-RSS (Tiny Tiny RSS). It’s the most complete for selfhosting.
I use the Miniflux standalone podcast reader with Wallabag and submit selected articles to Wallabag for later reading. I also use the Newsboat CLI client which can sync with Miniflux installations as an alternative to the web interface it’s comfortable.
