NewsFire: Very Hot News Reader

excellent
key review info
application features
  • A Dynamic Performance
  • (8 more, see all...)

As the web keeps growing and sites keep popping up, we are witnessing a change in the Internet paradigm. In the old days, we had mailing lists where would subscribe to and get all kinds of stuff in our mail. More and more, different programs and sites used to throw content at us... think of this as the provider 'pushing' information towards you.

These days, the paradigm is shifting and RSS (Really Simple Syndication) has been a big part of this. RSS feeds browse the sites you tell them to and filter out the content you want delivered directly, without you having to do anything except reading it. This is where you 'pull' information towards you.

In order to take advantage of RSS, you need a program that knows how to work with it, and although Safari offers integrated RSS support, dedicated RSS readers offer features that the browser simply does not. Enter NewsFire.

The Interface The first thing that I thought when I opened the application was "wow, it's so small". The main window is small and simple, and with just one glance you know where everything is. The left column holds the Feeds, Smart Feeds and groups you create, and in the bigger right part you can see a list of news and the news contents. NewsFire is truly one hundred percent intuitive, having virtually no learning curve.

Despite being clean and simple in looks, it is by no means simplistic. The left column animates as news items go in or get read. As Groups and Feeds gather news, they will slide up the list, above those with less unread items, similarly, if they have less unread items they will slowly slide down. Like the developers themselves say, the program looks like it was hand crafted from sheet metal and plastic gel, full of Tiger-esque eye candy.

Easy organizing If you have ever set up Rules in Mail or Smart Playlists in iTunes, you are going to be right at home with the Smart Feeds option. Add as many criteria as you need and let NewsFire do the hard work for you. If you are not into that sort of thing, you can create old fashioned folders in which to keep news. And if that is just not enough for you, you can add labels to make browsing even easier.

Adding a feed is as easy as typing a site address, since NewsFire has an automatic feed finder. Unfortunately, due to the way this is done, it will not work for larger sites, or sites with subdirectory structure, because the program only looks for feeds directly linked from the URL you give it.

If browsing is not exactly your style, then search is the way to go. Search for anything, and refine your search using the filters at the top of the results. News, Blogs, Podcasts can be searched for from within NewsFire, and the results can be saved as life feeds. That's right, NewsFire also serves as a search engine, and if you are a search fan, you will be glad to know that any article in NewsFire can be searched for in Spotlight

Podcast in style Not only can you search for podcasts right from within the program, but you can also listen to them, using the integrated audio player window. Alternatively, you can have podcasts added automatically to iTunes and have them branded as such, all it takes is two clicks.

The Good This program is simple without being simplistic, making it an ideal choice for both the RSS veterans and the newcomers. It offers great flexibility in searching for and adding feeds, organizing them, and then finding things articles they will bring in. It has great podcasting support, complete with download manager and built in player.

The Bad Because of the way it parses the URLs you give it, it will not be able to find feeds unless they are linked directly from the address.

The Truth This program does it all and does it in style. It does most things extremely well, and only falls short in a few areas. One of the more important things it is missing is proper documentation. Although the program is about as intuitive as it can get, it is still no excuse for lack of documentation. Apart from that, if you know how to use it and what it does, it will be smooth sailing and it's certainly one of the best news readers out there.

Here are some screenshots, click to enlarge:

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user interface 5
features 4
ease of use 4
pricing / value 4


final rating 5
Editor's review
excellent
 
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