14 DAY TRIAL // Not so long ago, before the Internet took its first steps, communication channels were quite varied. From television to radio and newspapers, the information needed a faster and more universal way of reaching the targeted people.
Since the Internet took off, the speed at which information travels has increased exponentially. People can find out almost immediately what happens in the opposite corner of the Earth with a click of a button. Every major website provides users with RSS feeds that can be displayed on their computer without directly accessing the main page of the website.
byTagg is a small and smooth-looking RSS reader with a twist. Unlike the other RSS feed readers, byTagg can also display news from other sources like Twitter, blogs, news sites and even search the entire web for the desired keywords displaying the most relevant items found.
First of all, the application is freeware, a thing that everyone will appreciate, but has a small disadvantage: it displays ad banners during its runtime. This can become very annoying but if you can surpass this issue, you're on your way to access all the news you can read.
byTagg has a smooth interface with no complicated menus or windows. The main window is simple, displaying only the essential data (feeds) without bothering you with other unrelated stuff. All your feeds and other links are shown as a list, making it easy to access each of them.
By right clicking any link, a menu will appear with some useful options. It enables you to reload or mark as read the selected RSS feed. This may come in handy when you want to refresh a specific link or just mark as read all the news from another without going through the whole feed. This menu can also enable you to edit the current feed if you want to change its settings or just delete it from your list.
In order to access each link, you just have to simply click on it, byTagg moving to the news section in a snap. In this window, like the previous, all the news is sorted by date and the simple click allows you to view the selected post in detail. There, you will be able to read a few lines from the main article; if you want to read it all, you just have to click the read more or View full article link.
You can navigate back and forth through the windows with the help of the back button from the top right corner of every window. Also when you click a post, it will automatically change its state to “read” but if you want to remember it for later access, you can mark it as unread by tweaking the asterisk icon next to each piece of news.
To add new feeds or other news, you just need to push the “add” button or “+” sign on top of the main window. This will take you to another window of byTagg, where you will be able to add the desired news feeds, Twitter accounts or insert the keywords you want to find news about and ByTagg will search for it on the entire web.
The first tab, Blog or RSS, will enable users to add new blogs or RSS links that they want to follow. The operation can be done manually or copy and paste the links directly. Also, you can insert optional keywords that will help you narrow down the results for a more accurate feedback.
If you have RSS feeds stored in your computer, byTagg can import them with ease; just select the ones you prefer and add them to your list using the import RSS feeds option from the bottom right corner of this window. The application also offers you the possibility to export your feeds for later use through the export RSS feeds option.
From the Twitter tab, you will be able to insert your Twitter user name, password, and check the My twitter account checkbox in order to access it through byTagg. You can even add optional keywords that will allow you to narrow down the results of your tweets. byTagg permits you to follow somebody else's account just by enabling the Follow someone else tickbox and entering your friend's twitter user name that you want to follow, along with optional keywords if you want to receive specific tweets.
Finally, the Entire web tab of the Add window allows users to enter the keywords they want byTagg to search for news on the entire web. You can set your search range by ticking the desired checkboxes: Entire web, Blogs, News sites and Twitter. From the Advanced window, you will be able to add various keywords that will be included in your search in order to get more precise results.
Besides the Add button in the main window, you will also find the Reload button that will enable you to reload and check for updates on all RSS feeds. Also last but not least the Settings menu allows you to adjust various options of the application. From the drop down menu, you will be able to change your current theme color and the way byTagg displays your RSS feeds.
The Settings menu will also grant you access to the Preferences and Proxy window. From the Preferences window, users can setup the general settings of the application, allowing you to enable / disable desktop shortcuts, startup and the way byTagg should handle the article reading process, displaying it in its own window or in your default browser window, by choice.
The Good
byTagg is a small and handy application with a modern look and smooth interface that handless very easily all your RSS feeds and more. Unlike other products in the same category, byTagg can manage your Twitter account displaying all your tweets and followers. At the same time, you can search for all the news you want on the entire web, including news sites, blogs and Twitter just by inserting the desired keywords.
The Bad We did not find any major flaws in byTagg but as any user out there can confess, ads can be very annoying when displayed in any application. They can distract you from your work and it's a thing that many people just don't like to see when they are accessing their favorite program. A handy addition to byTagg should be the ability to erase the desired news using the Delete key on your keyboard, thus saving a lot of time comparing to deleting every RSS feed manually.
The Truth byTagg has earned its place between today's RSS feed readers through the smooth and simple interface, easy news handling and reading and the fact that it allows you not only to view and read RSS feeds but also enabling you to perform active searches throughout the entire web, blogs or news sites for the desired information.
Being in Beta stage, byTagg promises to be a competitive RSS news reader, and rises up to its expectations.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
