[simonw]

If you're in the Apple ecosystem (Mac, iPhone) NetNewsWire is an absolute delight. It's not a commercial product any more, Brent Simmons runs it as a (very serious) passion project. Here's a recent post by him explaining part of his philosophy for it: https://inessential.com/2025/10/04/why-netnewswire-is-not-we...

Crucially, it syncs feed read state between my laptop and phone.

[JLO64]

> Crucially, it syncs feed read state between my laptop and phone.

This is via iCloud and only works for iPhones/Macs. What’s great though is that NetNewsWire also supports RSS feed aggregators (I personally use FreshRSS) so that you can sync RSS read status over all your devices, even non Apple ones!

I’ve been tempted over the years to switch to other RSS apps, but this feature is what keeps me using NetNewsWire.

[dewey]

I use https://miniflux.app and use that to sync NetNewsWire across my devices and across RSS readers. I'm using Reeder on my iPad, Miniflux on the web and sometimes NetNewsWire on my Mac.

[Robelius]

I used Reeder for a year, but switched to Miniflux because I wanted an RSS reader that could be used outside of my Apple devices. I do miss having a mobile app of my reader, since Miniflux can sometimes be hard to navigate on a mobile device. I never seriously considered using multiple readers until now. Thanks for the accidental recommendation.

[perardi]

I have used NetNewsWire since 2003.

Really.

It’s flawless. It just works. There are no gimmicks, there is no weird effort to gamify it into a social media play, it’s just a user-focused news reader. And that’s great.

[ubermonkey]

That's about when I started, if memory serves. GREAT software.

[citbl]

This is what happens when a product isn't being invested in and tries to take over the world, inevitably resulting in its enshittification.

[divbzero]

+1 I use NetNewsWire as well.

In addition to sync by iCloud, you can also sync with a third-party aggregator (BazQux, Feedbin, Feedly, Inoreader, NewsBlur, The Old Reader, or FreshRSS). This can be a good option if you sometimes need access from a non-Apple device.

[nntwozz]

I started out with NNW then went to Reeder when iPhone came out. Later on google shut down their endeavor and I became frustrated with all the *free* alternatives—luckily I stumbled across News Explorer which I believe was the first (or one of the first) to do iCloud syncing so I could ditch the middleman.

I suggested iCloud sync to Brent but was first rebuffed about the poor technical aspects and problems that it had. For those who remember the sentiment around that time was that iCloud sync was unreliable yet News Explorer was proof that it was working just fine.

Brent later backtracked for which I am very happy, I've been using NNW ever since.

I only wish it had RSS filtering to weed out the shitposts, I believe they're working on it. In the meantime I've been using Feed Rinse.

http://www.feedrinse.com/index-old.php

[olex]

I use NetNewsWire as a frontend, and self-hosted FreshRSS as backend for sync and feed management. Works a treat across multiple devices, Mac/iOS/iPadOS and web.

[ubermonkey]

I used NNW for a LONG LONG TIME. It's great software.

There was a period when it was not as useful, though, and I migrated away, but I still think of it very fondly.

My current RSS consumption toolchain uses Feedbin as the back end / syncing host, and their web app is good enough that I no longer use a native tool on my Mac. On my phone and iPad I use Reeder.

[alsetmusic]

NNW got me paying for my first RSS client. Reeder got me while it was semi-retired. I still have NNW installed just for nostalgia. Both are great and a solid RSS client is one of the first three apps I'd install on any / every device.

[theshrike79]

Just discovered it a few months ago after using Reeder 3 (no need to upgrade to 4).

Works perfectly with a self-hosted FreshRSS backend.

[reddalo]

+1 for NetNewsWire, truly delightful. I wish there was a Linux version.