App review: Reeder

New in iProng Magazine: a hands-on review of Reeder, the news reader app for iPhone and iPod touch, available for $1.99 in the App Store…

RSS is not dead. If anything, it’s becoming more and more popular, if the amount of RSS apps in the App Store are not enough, and with Google Reader becoming the norm. But it takes a lot to be a great RSS app, one that looks great and syncs fast and has all the features you have grown to love about Google Reader. Well look no further, Reeder is the only RSS app you’ll need.

The interface of Reeder is one of the best around – it’s sleek, simple, and yet beautiful at the same time. It resembles textured paper with scotch tape, to give it the feeling of reading clippings, or something to that extent. Whatever the reasoning for this design, it is still effective regardless to create a beautiful interface for the user. The menu bar of the device disappears when it is syncing with your Google Reader account, and adds a unique feel, and puts away the distraction of time and allows you to be somewhat enveloped in the reading experience. Unfortunately the menu bar returns after it is done syncing, so you’re only in that feeling for a quick few moments.

Syncing with Google Reader accounts is very fast, perhaps one of the fastest I’ve seen so far for an iPhone RSS app. It syncs automatically upon launching the app, and can be done manually with the refresh button if you’ve gone through all the items since last refresh. The app is completely in tune with your Google Reader account, so whatever items you’ve left unread since the last time using Reader will load, along with anything new since. The interface provides a minimal yet sleek package that makes syncing unobtrusive, as you can also view items while it’s loading, so there’s no waiting.

On the main screen, you can view Starred items, New Items, and All Items. Switching between these views is easy and intuitive, and features an animation that is similar to what Tweetie 2 has when switching between tabs. The All Items view lets you view any old items, as long as you set the limit to how long old items are kept in the app settings.

When you view an item, the interface remains deliciously simple and intuitive. The date, title, site, and post author are displayed at the top, with a link to the original page in the title bar. The post will display perfectly even without the in-app browser, depending on how the blog or site chooses to display RSS feeds. Everything is displayed in an easy-on-the-eyes interface.

On the bottom menu bar of reading items, you can do several things. You can add notes on the item, send it to Delicious, Instapaper, or ReadItLater (whichever flavor suites you best), and even mail link or entire article via in-app email, thanks to iPhone OS 3.0. There’s even a Share button to broadcast the story to your friends on Google, or a Star button to bookmark it in your Google Reader account. The arrows allow you to easy jump to the previous or next item in your reading list.

Now what if you have too many posts to go through, and you just want to get rid of the number badge on the app’s icon? Don’t worry, Reeder has you covered with a ‘Mark All Read’ button that can be found in the Unread view or individual Folder/Feed views.

Overall, this is one of the best RSS apps on the iPhone yet, truly pushing aside long-time champion, Byline by Phantom Fish. It’s simple and sleek, super fast, and has all the features of Google Reader. The only bad thing is that it doesn’t save your spot in the app, but maybe this can be addressed in a future update. Even without that, this app is well worth your $2.

Editor’s note: Reeder has just been updated to version 1.2 with support for Twitter, Pinboard and other various updates.

Reeder is currently available for $1.99 in the App Store.