I just installed this and I'm pretty impressed with the GUI and it sort of reminds me of iTunes. Compared to FeedDemon which uses 60K of memory, this only uses under 50K. The best part is, its integration with Google Reader. This is better than what I expected.

the menace

For those that try it, is it worth breaking my self-imposed "No installing Adobe products if at all avoidable" policy? Does this bog things down as bad as Reader does?

StrangeTikiGod

I said in the previous post that I hadn't used any other reader except GReader but I've always wanted to try a desktop one. Sometimes you just don't feel like going online. I'm definitely going to give this a try.

SA

I use Google Reader every day but it hurts my eyes, literally. All that blue on white is terrible. The interface is horribly ugly. This, at least, starts to address the aesthetics of reading and I will probably check it out. Is there a setup tutorial or something? What is up with all this Adobe Air stuff???

eroq

@Nu Digi: I might use this just because it saves time. Now, if it's a ram hog, than forget about this.

TheManator

@Sensai: This AIR app may be worth trying but get youself the real Goolge Reader as well. Your internets browsing will never, ever, ever be the same. I can't image surfing the web without one. Streamlining information that is of interest to you is one of the better things to ever happen to the internet. Just do yourself a favor and try a few RSS readers out.

HMGS

@tasselhoff76: You can use the offline mode. This may sounds redundant, but the guy who coding it is only doing it for the heck of it.

But I think one advantage is of course the fact that you don't have to install Gears (what you need to get it offline).

@Sensai: Er... Google Reader has the loudest members. You might start a fire you can't put out, dude.

Nu Digi

Umm ... isn't the whole point of Google Reader the fact that it doesn't tie you down to one desktop?

adumbguy

OK, I'm tired of seeing all the stories about RSS readers and feeds. I'm going to try it and this is going to be my first reader.

Any other suggestions? I'm jumping on the bandwagon that has the loudest members.

Sensai

Couldn't you just use the Google Reader Offline mode? I have never tried it, but I am assuming it works.

tasselhoff76

I don't know, with NetNewsWire being free, is there really a good reason to use anything else? My search says no. NNW syncs between multiple computers, has a super stable, fast, customizable interface, and doesn't require installing system level Adobe stuff. The only advantage I can see to using a GReader based program is that if you're on a computer that's not yours you could access the web version. That might be important to some people.

jollyllama

It looks near-identical to NetNewsWire. A little more rough and not as pretty but the layout is basically the same. I just discovered NNW and have fallen in love with it. Not only do you have a very smooth desktop app, but it automatically syncs with Newsgator so your feeds can be accessed from any Internet-connected computer.

nathangimpel

I really liked this application. However, some of the feeds I subscribe to don't give you the entire post. So you have to go to the website to view it. Better GReader has the Preview option which allows you to open the web page right in Google Reader. I've gotten so use to using that option that it's hard to read all my feeds without it. Other than that, I really like ReadAir. Would recommend it for a desktop reader.

xious

so, i installed it and it was pretty cool. went to uninstall it and it failed. had to delete it myself.

the program was really nice and worked well, i'm just really suspicious of AIR

natenovs

@Sensai:

"And I had no idea that NetNewsWire was Mac only. It made me a little sad."

Don't be sad! Be excited! Just another reason to make you smile when you switch over! =)

Alicemagic

Wow. I eat my words.

This RSS thing is really cool. For every bit of clunky that the GReader was, this is much more streamlined and a lot more...I dunno, accessable.

I like this ReadAir a lot. Definitely going to keep it around.

Any other suggestions for RSS readers? I've tried GReader (which I guess I'm stuck using for ReadAir, but only in the background) and Opera's built in Feeds (which I discovered completely on accident).

And I had no idea that NetNewsWire was Mac only. It made me a little sad.

Sensai

I know that this is a google reader post, but searching for AIR apps I found muxmaster.

It's a really good front end for the muxtape.com using coverflow for previewing tapes.

[dougmccune.com]

f0vela

Well, trying Google Reader right now...and it's ok. It's really cluttered. It's ok...not nearly as good as it's made out to be.

Additionally, I couldn't even get ReadAir to work. I load it up and have it synced with my GReader account, but no dice. I'll attempt to uninstall/clean up/reinstall...but doesn't look like this is gonna cut it.

I suppose I'll try NetNewsWire next.

Sensai

Maybe it's just cynical old me but what's the point of having this if you use the web version of Google Reader? Don't they both pretty much accomplish the same thing?

MarkONeill

Once again Lifehacker brings you the latest news on the most wasteful software, from RAM "optimisers" for windows, executable torrents aka malware-a-go-go, and now a fat client offline RSS-Reader-Reader, that's right you can now read your RSS reader offline on an RSS reader.

teatime

On the topic of using Google Reader offline, I have a major problem with it. It doesn't seem to save the pictures of the feeds. You should be able to config this, and it would download the pictures to your HD.

guibom

Slow LH is slow. Saw this on download squad yesterday.
Tried out this air app, didn't like it much (probably the reason being I _wanted_ a web experience with my gr.

some comments on ds led me to Prism and I liked it a lot. Since my default ff profile is loaded with extensions, browsing through gr with Prism was great.

phoood

Now, I wonder if there'll be a Gmail desktop client that's fast and responsive and lets you do your email offline? That continues to be a pretty big gap.

Torley

Is it just me or can you not use the arrow keys or j, and k to go through items?? AHH, and you cant change the user preferences once you have submitted them. Make sure to get it right the first time!

AustinS

I don't know if anyone else had this problem, and I know this sounds weird, given that AIR is intended to be totally cross-platform, but ReadAir didn't work for me on Ubuntu Hardy Linux. The user preferences screen never appeared on the first startup, which meant no user account could be entered.

yehoni