Nokia Blog » RSS Reader Showdown?

RSS Reader Showdown?

Firstly, apologies for the length of my post and thanks to Pasha for opening up this blog to other E61 users!

Being a devout gadget fan and all, I’m usually first in the queue for any mobile convergence item that is even remotely interesting. Throughout my technically colored recent years I’ve been an avid Palm user; a devout Windows mobile user and, since my introduction to the Symbian OS on the Nokia N-Gage (remember them!), a steadfast Symbian devotee.

My admiration (& dependence) of the S60 OS was further increased as the 6680 became my mobile of choice. Yet, at the time, I still needed my trusty Qtek S100 for mail syncing, quality web browsing, decent RSS reader and overall screen real estate.

With the introduction of the E61 however, I believe I have found the ultimate in convergence in an elegant package. Since buying the phone 2 months ago, I have found it has easily replaced my aforementioned Qtek and I find myself using it solely as my mobile office. It really is a cut above in many respects. The feature set is incredible in a very slim (albeit wide) package.

Web browsing on the device is a pleasure, the screen is fantastic and, after years poking various touch screens (& losing numerous styli) I found the QWERTY keypad a joy to use and I took to it a lot quicker than I expected. It’s actually faster than graffiti or letter recognition!

However it’s not all a bed of roses. Like many early adaptors, I get frustrated at the lack of updated or new software for the new OS 9.1, and, though I know developers are doing their best, its feels like waiting for a bus.. that doesn’t come.

Increasingly, phones, like the E61 have built in wi-fi making it easier to “sync ‘n’ go” for all sorts of data. We are not limited by network data or GPRS charges and I hope that developers take this into consideration. I haven’t seen may OS9.1 apps that do though..

I like that the E61 has a built in RSS reader out of the box. I DON’T like that you have to be connected in order to read feeds. For example, if I connect via wifi in the AM to get the latest feeds, and then disconnect, I need to keep the application open or running in the background in order to continue reading. If I go back out to the feed list or exit the feed portion of the web browser, I need to re-connect in order to read (or refresh) a feed that I downloaded only moments ago.

As I said the only solution is to keep the app in the background and even then you can only read all the articles in that particular feed. Try opening another feed and it will again attempt to connect. There seems to be no option to read my cached feeds….

So, in summary, the default RSS reader is a terrible “offline” RSS reader. This would not be too bad if there was an option to download feed images as I am used to on WM/Palm devices. With the built in wifi connection, and the ability to choose your access point, you don’t need to incur crazy GPRS charges (although you can if you want -if you have an unlimited data plan for example).

I have tried many various RSS readers, both java and sis based, and none of them currently offer an option to download (manually or automatically) feed images.

Wildpalm the creators of “HeadLine” seem to be the best bet going forward. They support offline feed reading and they have stated that they plan to support downloading/caching of images in future versions, but I wanted to know if anyone out there knows of any RSS Reader developments out there to capitalize on new handsets like the E61. Imagine engadget.com or gizmodo.com in all their shiny gadgetry gloriousness with images of new products attached to the relevant feed!

Am I jumping the gun here? Too soon for OS9.1? I don’t think so. Even if they had an option in the built in reader to allow offline reading of previously cached feeds, so I don’t have to constantly connect when I’m out and about, it would be a considerable help.

Ultimately I’m looking for a reader that allows automatic updating of feeds at a preset time, that also downloads images, and has support for enclosures..

Have I missed a 3rd edition app that does the above? How important is the RSS reader to you? Do you echo my sentiments? Let the RSS showdown begin…

11 Responses to RSS Reader Showdown?

i think i am waiting for that too, cost i do check on some of so called RSS thingy, bt none of them can match with those like in PC…hope soon something like tat will be out there.

david | 8:08 am on the 9th of September, 2006
I have been using Mobipocket for downloading RSS feeds and reading offline. Not sure if this is what you are looking for but might be worth a peek.

Rob | 2:13 pm on the 9th of September, 2006
The built-in RSS reader isn’t particularly good, and I wasn’t too happy about Headline either.

An RSS reader that would somehow use Active Standby (”154 unread” etc?) and didn’t feel like a pain in the ass to use would be awesome.

My two cents, I suppose.

johan | 8:02 am on the 9th of September, 2006
I have literally tried everything possibly available as far as RSS readers, from Symbian targetted to Java to Flash lite, and none have been a complete solution with imagery, offline reading, small font, nice GUI.

Widsets is worth checking out, and so is Mobireader (although it requires syncing with a PC). At this point, my preferred RSS reader is still Bloglines Mobile.

kingtaj | 1:30 pm on the 9th of September, 2006
Hello all E61 “lovers”.

I have been using for some months a RSS reader from https://www.widsets.com/ on my E61.

It works very good and it is free. You can use the feeds that are in their library or put in your owns.
A nice function I like is that you can bokmark something you have read in the gsm and then easily find and open it again when you log in on your pc.
Very easy to set up and works over gprs as well as Wi-Fi.

Try it out right now, great software!

Regards

/hocki

Hocki | 3:31 am on the 9th of September, 2006
Widsets has a nice interface but is ultimately impractical.
For example I download the latest feed and then disconnect. Later I open the widsets prog to access the feeds. Any feed which is more than a certain charactor length is not downloaded. Basically it only downloads a certain ammount of large feeds and no more. If you try to scroll it trys to connect to a network. Bottom line, not a good offline reader.
Mobipocket is great…except for the need for PC mediation.
Still waiting for a decent offline viewer…..

Looks like the new S60 browser will support html formatted RSS feeds with images.. though its unlikely that it will be made available to existing phones as an upgrade..

weareborg | 1:03 pm on the 9th of September, 2006
Bloglines is it. I hate reading RSS news articles twice. Bloglines allows me to read news on my office and home PC as well as on my Nokia E70 without ever having to go through through them again a sieve out which ones i have read. And yes…it’s free !

Enjoy,

Jay

Jay | 12:28 am on the 9th of September, 2006
and? any light? i use newscopier but doesn´t works fines…

Guille | 2:02 pm on the 9th of September, 2006
Resco News is the best I’ve come across. Works well.

weareborg | 1:56 am on the 9th of September, 2006
I enjoy using mobireader ; but it requires synchro through PC. Wonder if Nokias rss reader code is open and can be easily completed for offline reading

arnaud | 3:40 am on the 9th of September, 2006
Anyone tried LiteFeeds?

Gregory | 12:27 am on the 9th of September, 2006

RSS Reader Showdown?

11 Responses to RSS Reader Showdown?

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