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Conditional GET Issues
On his blog, Brent writes about NetNewsWire and Conditional GET issues.
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NetNewsWire Turns 21
Thanks so so much to everybody who’s supported the app over the years!🎩🎉 Let’s do 21 more!
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On NetNewsWire Not Being on Vision Pro
On his blog, Brent writes about why NetNewsWire isn‘t available — at least not yet — on Vision Pro, and what would have to happen to get it there.
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Mastodon and NetNewsWire
On his blog, Brent writes up his thoughts about Mastodon support in NetNewsWire.
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NetNewsWire to End Reddit API Use by End of June
NetNewsWire includes special integration with Reddit. A user can add their account and allow NetNewsWire to use the Reddit API, which provides more and better data than Reddit’s RSS feeds.
Unfortunately, we will have to stop using the Reddit API on June 30, 2023 because use of the Reddit API will cost money starting July 1.
While the free tier won’t go away, it will be limited to “100 queries per minute per OAuth client id” (per app).
That means we’d be limited to 100 queries per minute across all NetNewsWire users. While we don’t have metrics on Reddit use in NetNewsWire, it’s a safe bet that we would exceed that limit frequently.
Without metrics we can’t speculate on what this would cost us, but any amount is too much: NetNewsWire has no bank account.
While it might be technically possible for us to support users providing their own Reddit API key, this would not be in good faith on our part. It’s clear that Reddit CEO Steve Huffman wants apps like NetNewsWire to either stop using their API or pay for the privilege. Which is his right, of course, even though it hurts Reddit users.
Existing feeds will remain
We’re not going to remove your existing Reddit feeds. Your starred articles will remain. Articles you’ve already downloaded will remain as long as they would have anyway (old, non-starred articles get deleted eventually).
Note that Reddit does provide RSS feeds, and we’ve read nothing suggesting that they plan to stop. You will still be able to follow Reddit activity in NetNewsWire by using their RSS feeds.
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NetNewsWire 6.1.2 for Mac and iOS
NetNewsWire 6.1.2 for Mac is out — you can do a check for updates or download it directly.
NetNewsWire 6.1.2 for iOS is available via the App Store, though it may take a few hours to propagate. If you don’t see it yet, you’ll see it soon.
Both of these releases remove Twitter integration, since Twitter has suspended NetNewsWire.
Also, the iOS app icon now gets the same cool golden wings that the Mac app has. And there are a few other small bug fixes in both apps.
We’re now working on 6.2 for Mac and iOS. More goodness to come! 🎸
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Twitter Has Stopped Working in NetNewsWire
Twitter suspended NetNewsWire today because, according to Twitter, “This App has violated Twitter Rules and policies. As a result, it can no longer be accessed.”
We knew that Twitter access would stop working in NetNewsWire later this month anyway, as Twitter is removing the free tier access to the Twitter API.
The upshot: this just means that Twitter has stopped working a little sooner than expected. We’ll have updates to NetNewsWire soon that stop trying to connect to Twitter.
Reminder: we won’t delete your Twitter feeds. Whatever you’ve downloaded you’ll still be able to read. And any starred posts will remain (unless you delete those feeds). The feeds just won’t update.
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There Is No NetNewsWire for Android
If you see a page offering a download of NetNewsWire for Android, please remember that it’s a scam and you should definitely not install it.
We’ve seen one such page, and heard there may be more. We haven’t searched.
To be absolutely, 100% clear: there is no NetNewsWire for Android. There is no NetNewsWire for Windows. There is no NetNewsWire for Linux.
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On Not Taking Money
On his blog, Brent explains why we don’t take any money, not even tips, for NetNewsWire.
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Twitter API Change Delayed Again
Twitter has just announced that it’s delaying launch of the updated Twitter API for a few more days.
Reading Twitter feeds in NetNewsWire will keep working until then.
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Twitter Feed Ending To Be Feb. 13
Twitter has added a few extra days — instead of on the 9th, Twitter feeds will stop working in NetNewsWire on Monday, Feb. 13.
We also intend to have updates to NetNewsWire on that day. But, regardless of whether or not you upgrade, Twitter feeds will stop working in NetNewsWire.
Reminder: we won’t delete your Twitter feeds. Whatever you’ve downloaded you’ll still be able to read. And any starred posts will remain (unless you delete those feeds).
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Feedly Maintenance Sat. Feb. 4
If you’re using NetNewsWire with Feedly syncing, this will affect you: Feedly will be conducting maintenance tomorrow (Sat, Feb. 4) starting at 6 am Pacific, for up to six hours.
For more information, and to monitor status, see status.feedly.com.
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Twitter Integration To Be Removed
Because of Twitter’s announcement that free access to the Twitter API will end February 9, we will be removing Twitter integration from NetNewsWire in the next release (6.1.1) for Mac and iOS.
You might think we’re reading RSS feeds from Twitter, but Twitter removed RSS feeds from the service something like ten years ago. We rely completely on the Twitter API.
We’re planning, with this new release, to have some kind of message on first run that explains what’s happening. The plan is that it would appear only for people currently using Twitter integration.
Here’s the current draft of the message that will appear in the app:
Title: Twitter Integration Removed
Body: On February 1, 2023, Twitter announced the end of free access to the Twitter API, effective February 9.Since Twitter does not provide RSS feeds, we’ve had to use the Twitter API. Without free access to that API, we can’t read feeds from Twitter.
We’ve left your Twitter feeds intact. If you have any starred items from those feeds, they will remain as long as you don’t delete those feeds.
You can still read whatever you have already downloaded. However, those feeds will no longer update.
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We have a new TestFlight build for iOS that, we believe, fixes some crash bugs — and we could use your help testing, if you’re willing. Here’s where to sign up.
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NetNewsWire users are pretty quick to adopt the latest iOS releases. Not a surprise.
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Active users in the past 30 days for NetNewsWire include 9K iPhone users and 4.6K iPad users. We’d bet that most iOS apps don’t see such a high rate of iPad use.
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How to Subscribe to a Twitter List in NetNewsWire
Though the UI doesn’t expose it (we should fix that, yes), you can subscribe to a Twitter list in NetNewsWire.
(Note: this works with iCloud and “On My…” accounts.)
First make sure you’ve added your Twitter account to NetNewsWire in Settings > Extensions.
Then go, in your browser, to the Twitter list you want to add as a feed. Copy the URL. Then, in NetNewsWire, add it as a web feed (not as a Twitter feed). That’s it.
(Note: you can subscribe to other types of Twitter feeds too.)
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So great to be included — with great company — in Cult of Mac’s top apps of 2022!
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Feedle: Blog Search with RSS Feeds
Back in the days of yore, there were search engine services that 1) searched the blogosphere, and 2) let you subscribe to your searches via RSS. Each search query had its own feed.
These services were great because you could get articles from outside the feeds you’ve subscribed to. Let’s say you like cats — you could have a search feed on
catsand hear about cats from all quarters of the web.It was a great idea! And super-useful. But these services all went away.
Until now — we’ve just learned about a new one called feedle.
To get a feed: go there, run a search, then click the orange RSS icon near the upper-right side of the page, then copy the RSS feed URL that appears on the left side of the screen to get something like https://feedle.world/rss/?query=cats, then add it to your RSS reader (NetNewsWire or otherwise).
Nice, right?
(The service appears to be new and ramping up. We’d bet that their index of sites to search is still growing.)
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On his blog, Brent writes about life after Twitter.
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A few people have asked how to follow Twitter feeds in NetNewsWire. Here’s the help page. (This particular page is for the Mac app, but it’s the same process for iOS.)
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And… another reader app — maybe the last we’ll hear about today, and maybe not — is Readwise Reader, which bills itself as an “app for power readers.”
Power readers are our favorite people. :)
Looks like it’s in private beta right now, but you can ask to get on their beta train.
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Another new and interesting feed reader we’ve just learned about is FeedLand, which has a social component for sharing and discovering feeds.
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You Can Follow Us On Mastodon
Thanks to Micro.blog’s Mastodon integration, you can now follow us there @NetNewsWire@micro.blog.
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Just learned about a reader app called Matter — looks like it could be good. Not sure if it does RSS or not, but it looks like it does.
(Reminder: our goal is to get people using RSS. Doesn’t have to be NetNewsWire!)
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