Feeds - Google Reader client for BlackBerry now available in BlackBerry App World
Always in pursuit of the perfect RSS app to integrate with Google Reader, I can't help but get excited when a new application pops up. Feeds is the latest and I have to say it does not disappoint. It is in fact one of the best RSS apps for BlackBerry I have used to date. The simple interface provides only 4 options (download limit, image display, clear cahce and logout) and has a super clean interface. Enter your Google credentials and Feeds grabs your RSS items in a few seconds -- it even tells you how long it took to get them. Everything is spread out in an easy to read manner and all of your folders can be quickly accessed. In only the few short hours I've been using Feeds it has easily become my favorite RSS reader as it has a very low footprint, doesn't eat much memory and is dead simple to use. Check out more at the link below.
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mechanic_joe Sep 9, 2010 at 9:43 am
By the way, its $2.99... Which is pretty cheap, but google reader mobile on your browser is still cheaper.
Neo17 Sep 9, 2010 at 9:49 am
Using BerryReader now. Expecting a comparison...
tons-q Sep 9, 2010 at 10:29 am
I second that. Does it have star, flag, share features as in BerryReader? They're the main reason I'm using it, though it crash a lot...
Stompy Sep 9, 2010 at 10:46 am
From the description on AppWorld, it says you can "Manage your unread and starred items". As for sharing and emailing articles, it's "coming soon"....
See that's what I mean about the limited description. If I were the dev, I'd have every single detail of the app fleshed out in the description. Especially with no free trial, you're just fishing for suckers.
Stompy Sep 9, 2010 at 9:51 am
What sold me on BeReader more than anything was its ability to leverage the Google Mobilizer, which took most pages that were not formatted for a mobile device and made them really easy to read/download quickly/navigate. I didn't even know that was possible and now it's the only way I'm able to read some of the full articles I'd otherwise miss out on.
BeReader isn't perfect, and given that I'm not sure they're still actively developing (or replying to support requests) I was pretty happy to read this article, but there's no sign of a landscape mode for a Storm (Or Torch, I suppose), no mention of the Google Mobilizer, no real sense of a detailed description. Makes this a $3 gamble for me. I know, that's gonna punch a huge hole in my budget but I'd at least like to make an informed purchase instead of a wild guess.
webmastir Sep 9, 2010 at 9:51 am
yeah. i was hoping this was a free one. oh well, looks pretty good though. best of luck to the dev of this awesome app, but i'm going to continue to use mobile site for the time being
jeffreii Sep 9, 2010 at 9:54 am
I was gonna try this until I saw it was not free...I think the Google Reader mobile site does a pretty darn good job for free.
redwanhuq Sep 9, 2010 at 10:06 am
The BB mobile site has no notifications, clunky interface, limited options and completely limited by the horrible browser. Once we have webkit browsers, I'll try out the other site (google.com/reader/i). BeReader and Feeds is critical for anyone who uses Google Reader. Both are worth every penny.
theninjasquad Sep 9, 2010 at 9:58 am
Except Google Reader mobile kind of sucks unfortunately. I really wish Google would get their shit together and make some improvements to all their BB apps.
mbk_2k Sep 9, 2010 at 10:03 am
agreed
Google Reader
GMAIL
Picasa
in that order
mbk_2k Sep 9, 2010 at 10:02 am
does the app do 2 way sync? or 1 way sync from google reader?
ie. does a 'read' item on the app show up as read on Google Reader's web interface?
mutlus Sep 9, 2010 at 10:11 am
Wouldn't pay a cent for an RSS reader without trial. I've said, "i'd bought every app that BellShare created" But when i try the BerryReader, i understand that i wouldn't pay 10 bucks for sth i don't like. "Unread" is the best GoogleReader RSS client so far... (wish we could try the Feeds)
Ghostnyc Sep 9, 2010 at 10:16 am
FREE, WORKS GREAT!
alexnz Sep 9, 2010 at 10:24 am
But it doesn't sync with Google Reader, even though they promised that feature a LOOONNG time ago
vnssa906 Sep 9, 2010 at 12:34 pm
i agree, i've been WAITING for viigo to sync with google reader... grrrr
womby Sep 9, 2010 at 10:19 am
http://google.com/reader/i
the iphone mobile google reader works better than the mobile version. wish more sites worked like it on non-OS6 phones.
mechanic_joe Sep 9, 2010 at 1:18 pm
I found this WAY slower than the standard mobile version, yes its a bit more pretty, but if your interested in the text and speed of checking incoming RSS I wouldn't recommend it.
Detective M Downs Sep 9, 2010 at 10:21 am
Can I get/try the Google Reader from?
Thanks,
alexnz Sep 9, 2010 at 10:46 am
http://reader.google.com
alexnz Sep 9, 2010 at 10:23 am
This looks just like Reeder on iOS (which is definitely not a bad thing). This is such a blatant clone that they even matched the price point.
I was hoping it was done by the same people, but this looks like a different developer who, I assume, are taking the responsibility of bringing a Reeder style app to BB.
I'm just going to wait and see to make sure this thing stays in active development so I don't get screwed like I did with BerryReader.
And Google's mobile site for Reader is horrendous. It might be ok if you have 1 or 2 inactive feeds, but for the amount of stuff I subscribe to it's unusable.
netposer#cb Sep 9, 2010 at 10:29 am
It's extremely difficult for my to purchase any apps that I can't try first. Most of the time the trial (even it's just a few days) is the determining factor for my purchase.
So please offer a trial version.
thomasye Sep 9, 2010 at 10:35 am
your need to pay $2.99 for the app.
r3g Sep 9, 2010 at 10:36 am
$2.99? I'll stick with Viigo. Has always been great to me.
HuskerTom Sep 9, 2010 at 10:42 am
C'mon Google/BlackBerry, get your **** together.
Give us a reader that has synchronization.
Give it a nice and usable interface.
And make it free.
I pay for books, not news.
alexnz Sep 9, 2010 at 10:48 am
More like pay for convenience
medotaco Sep 9, 2010 at 11:04 am
Does that application gives you push notification?...I am really disappointed that there is no focus on the push fuinctionlity for any if thos RSS reader apps??? anyone knows where I can get that?
batrad Sep 9, 2010 at 11:13 am
Purcashed ARR!SS which no longer works
Tried BerryReader, which crashes..
Don't want to waste another $3 for a client unless I can try it and decide if its worth the money. Hope the developer is listening and can add a trail option
brendonlee Sep 9, 2010 at 11:21 am
I think someone at Crackberry should do a comparison between this and berryreader. I have berryreader - love it, but it's not perfect for the torch. Submitting tech support requests have gotten me nowhere - but spending another $3 on an app that may or may not be better kinda sucks.
alexnz Sep 9, 2010 at 12:01 pm
C'mon Crackberry, we want some hard hitting journalism here!!
We need to make informed decisions
Oneshortsleeve Sep 9, 2010 at 11:30 am
I am looking to replace Unread as my Google reader because of the picture format screwing up, but I am not willing to spend $3 without a chance to try.
tgray04 Sep 9, 2010 at 12:02 pm
I can't get the app to work on my Torch. When I launch the app, I almost immediately get the message, "Error: Google unresponsive." The app then closes and I cant even get in the settings to check to make sure things are set up correctly.
Anyone else seeing this issue?
Bulldawg Sep 9, 2010 at 12:59 pm
I took the leap and bought it. Here's a quick review running on a Storm 2. Forgive the terse wording, I'm in a hurry.
It's a small app--about 141 KB.
On first opening, the first problem is that it's locked in portrait mode. I can't rotate to landscape. I hope you like typing your password on the multi touch keyboard, because that's the only option. Took me about a minute to type my password that way. I hope I only have to do that once.
Took about two minutes to download my feeds over WiFi. By default, it will only download 250 articles at a time and won't display images. You have to go to settings to get images and download more then 250 articles. You have the option to show imagaes always, or only on WiFi.
Speaking of the settings screen, it is a clumsy interface that is slow to respond and hard to navigate. For some reason, a keyboard appears on screen on the settings screens, even though you can't type on anything.
Once it is setup, the interface is quick to respond, has smooth transitions, and is pretty easy to use. Feeds downloads the articles, so when you click on the headline, it is quick to respond and display the article. Articles with pictures are formatted properly. Clicking again on the headline once inside the article will open the native browser with the original article URL, which is formatted for a computer, not a phone, so it can be hard to read. I don't see an option to open the links in Opera Mini.
There are options to star and mark unread if you see an article you want to view later on your computer.
Going back from a feed to the main screen takes a while, for some reason. It says "Updating" for a few seconds before it displays the list of all the feeds.
Problem with pictures...When the picture is too wide for the screen (remember portrait mode only), there is no way to scroll to the right. I can only see the first two frames of my Daily Dilbert cartoon. This is a bit of a problem, IMO.
I can't compare this to any other reader app because I've never used them. This is better than the mobile site for either BB or iPhone.
Oneshortsleeve Sep 9, 2010 at 1:12 pm
Awesome. Thanks for the review!
brendonlee Sep 9, 2010 at 1:55 pm
Sooo sounds like BerryReader is definitely better - at least until some of the issues mentioned are resolved. Thanks for the review!
Stompy Sep 9, 2010 at 3:04 pm
Great review. Guess it's still BerryReader for me for a while longer. Thank you for saving me the trouble!
nmadd Sep 10, 2010 at 3:51 pm
Here is a thorough comparison of BerryReader and Feeds.
http://bit.ly/9Olqea
xleyba Sep 11, 2010 at 4:06 pm
I have tried it with my Storm 2 on Vodafone Spain network and it doesn't work. As someone mentioned above I received the message Error: Google unresponsive. after application open, then it close.
I have tested it using wifi and sometimes work and sometimes don't giving the Error: Google unresponsive. also.
Worst thing is that I payed for the application and could not see a web page or support from the seller.
Don't waste you money on it.