Excellent desktop RSS reader for Macs

NetNewsWire is a long established RSS reader than many Mac users relied on before Google Reader came along.

It’s easy to see why too. NetNewsWire is free and easy to use and filled with viewing modes and feed reading features that make it feel like a very complete and professional application. Not only can you view full screen, in tabs or combined, but NetNewsWire also lets you sort items by attention or create smart lists to keep your items organized.

The RSS reader previews new items in the interface, which saves you the hassle of opening up your browser. You can also sort items by headline column, depending on the date, title and more. NetNewsWire also integrates perfectly with programs such as Spotlight, iCal and iPhoto and allows you to post items to del.icio.us and Digg.

Perhaps most importantly for many, you can also automatically sync with NetNewsWire with Google Reader and your iPhone meaning you can read feeds from anywhere and not then duplicate them later when reading on your phone or in Google Reader.

Although there are no add-ons as such for NetNewsWire, it can be extended very easily using scripts although this obviously requires a certain amount of scripting knowledge. Most of the time, NetNewsWire works smoothly, however if you’re following a large amount of feeds, it can take some time to load them up.

NetNewsWire is an excellent desktop RSS reader with multiple viewing modes and synchronisation with Google Reader.

Adds Full Screen mode support on both Lion and Snow Leopard. Provides fixes for problems affecting concurrency, stability, and Google Reader sync. NetNewsWire 3.3 require Mac OS X 10.6.8 or later. If you need a version that runs on 10.5.8, you should continue to use NetNewsWire 3.2.15.

Changes

• Adds Full Screen mode support on both Lion and Snow Leopard. Provides fixes for problems affecting concurrency, stability, and Google Reader sync. NetNewsWire 3.3 require Mac OS X 10.6.8 or later. If you need a version that runs on 10.5.8, you should continue to use NetNewsWire 3.2.15.