As a Blogger, I am constantly trying new ways to read blogs and news. I have gone through all the typical solutions. I tired reading every blog individually, and that was obviously a poor choice. I tried to use various forms of RSS feeds, and while it was more convent, it wasn’t elegant. I think I have found the solution I have been searching for.

Reeder, the incredibly popular feed reader for iOS, has been released for Mac OS X. While the idea of porting an app from iOS to the Mac may sound like a terrible idea, this one really works. The feature set of Reeder is fantastic, the interface is beautiful, and the whole experience is worth the price. Let’s take a deeper look at Reeder.

Reeder’s Beautiful UI

As RSS readers go, Reeder has to be the most beautiful one I have ever used. In the past, I have used RSS readers that tried to be more function than form, and it didn’t make me want to keep using that program. Reeder has achieved something special with their balance between art and usability.

One really good example of the form and function balance in Reeder is the dock icon. NetNewsWire, the RSS reader I was using before Reeder, had a less than pleasing system for handling unread story notifications. When you had stories to read, NNW would give you an iOS style icon notification. Reeder, on the other hand, does a much better job of blending the notification with the icon.

Reeder’s Features Make It Great

Another aspect of Reeder that separates it from its competition are the additional features that it offers. At the top of the Reeder window, there is a row of icons that will allow you to interact with the current story in various ways. You can link your Twitter account and share stories, you can add them to Pinboard, or you can send them to ReadItLater or Instapaper.

At the bottom of the window is the toggle button for one of my favorite Reeder features. As many of us are aware, there are certain websites that only give partial RSS feeds. While I understand why they may do that, it interrupts my workflow. Reeder offers a “Readability” button that will give you the full story within the app. The screenshot above will show you more of what I mean.

Another great set of features that Reeder comes with is its use of the multi-touch ability of MacBooks and Magic Trackpads. There are various features and things you can access using the gestures. My favorite are the ‘pinch’ gestures. An outward pinch will switch a story to Readability mode, and an inward pinch will disable Readability again.

Reeder: The Best of The Best

As you can see, Reeder is one of the best looking and feature rich RSS readers available today. After spending a few days with it, I have decided that i will be getting it for all my devices. Some may say that $9.99 is expensive for an RSS reader. When you consider all that Reeder does, as well as the great interface, its actually quite a steal.

Score: 5/5 – Techie Buzz Approved
Price: $9.99 in the Mac App Store