Back to reading feeds. Here is a brief review of the Reeder app.

For somewhat different reasons that evolved over time, I stopped using a feed reader, then never looked back due to lack of native applications that were either enjoyable and/or providing the necessary feed tracking functionalities that I was looking for (and probably inadequate queries on Google). I knew where to find interesting posts and I was just browsing them on Safari. Thanks to Twitter, I also get in touch with the “rest of the world”, whatever it means given that I no longer have any public conversation these days. This all started with Google Reader shutting down back in 2013. Then it was Prismatic that stopped working, and I was left like many others with Feedly. Feedly is really great, as it allows a smoother experience compared to the built-in Safari RSS reader. I used to use a combination of both during two years. Now, with the latest version of OS X (High Sierra), Safari RSS reader is dead. Yeah, what else?!

However, I never really liked web application (especially the iPython notebook or other web-powered editors), and I have always preferred native app when one was available and not too expensive. Reeder is not free, it costs money, but it remains affordable if you prefer truly native look’n feel and settings like me.

First of all, you don’t have to start again from scratch and you can import the feeds you stored on Feedly without any problem. This also applies to other popular reader like Instapaper or Feedbin. Unfortunately, there is no way to synchronize Medium articles at the time of this writing. Also, there is no iCloud syncing. Anyway, here are some of the benefits from using this tiny application instead of spending too much time opening dozens of tabs in your Safari (or Chrome or whatever) browser:

• You can star and (un)mark as read all of your posts, and of course there is a little badge that indicates how many unread or starred items you have.
• You can manage multiple sources, like Feedly and Feedbin, and each source will have a dedicated view panel.
• It is possible to look for a specific thread thanks to the embedded search engine.
• As standard Mac application, in addition to mouse/trackpad gestures, there is a “Share” button that allows you to send the current post to various places: Safari or your default browser, your Safari reading list, Notes and Reminders, Twitter, your Mail application or iMessage, to name a few.
• You can manage your Feedly flags easily: this is just a key press to add an existing tag or create a new one.
• You can also change the default theme and switch to black or grey-black theme if this is more of your liking.

After one week of using Reeder, I feel like I am done with web UIs, at least for the next few months.¹