Quick Review: NetNewsWire For iPhone
As part of the shipping batch of Apps to celebrate the launch of iPhone Firmware 2.0 and the included App Store, NetNewsWire didn’t come off so hot. It came off more as that stubbornly drunk always crashing the party demanding absurd amounts of Vodka to pacify underlying emotional issues. But its developers have since sent it to rehab and the newest update finally knocked it shitless with a heavy dose of reality and bug fixing.
When I found out NetNewsWire was available for the iPhone I was overcome with joy for the fact that the Mac version is so damn awesome easily beating any RSS Reader and I’ll be able to keep in sync with my computer and iPhone. Every other RSS Reader for the iPhone has failed hard in some form and the idea of slowing down to look through hundreds if not thousands of unread news items does not appeal to me, scrolling through and hitting “Mark All Read” does. I’d rather spend that time finding an overpriced and upscale restaurant to dine at with my girlfriend using Google Maps than deal with a shitty App but now I can thank the latest update to NetNewsWire for eradicating everything that was horrendously bad about the shipping version. It took its sweet time updating unread Feeds and basically said “Fuck You” to every priority I needed on my iPhone like calling or reflecting over my pitiful social life by looking through group photos. The following part would then be a perfect scenario: hundreds of Feeds are updated and I skim through each. The key word in that last sentence being perfect and the end result being my iPhone restarting like it locked itself in a fit of fucking stupidity left me pissed and wanting blood.
Since the most recent update, all of that has been erased but I’m still peeved it took so long even though it was out of the developers hands and into Apple’s lap. They take so long to check each update before allowing it to be pushed out it’s like they were playing polo on the backs of small children before considering the aspect of work. Nonetheless, one of the greatest Feed readers available, now kicks ass on the iPhone and can be kept in sync with other computers as well. Even on EDGE updates are fast and before, that was as a mere pipe dream. What I do like is that an unread badge count is displayed and I’ve since moved it up front so I can always be reminded of my autonomous reading duties and follow suit like everyone else.
Oh and you can even toss news bits into the clippings bin if you’re into that sort of thing. What’s extremely attractive is the simplistic interface, oh you’ll be scrolling and touching it to your heart’s content.