Been a while since I updated my RSS aggregator, NetNewsWire. Went to do that today only to find that it had been purchased by NewsGator. Great, I thought – here goes another simple/fast/excellent tool, about to be ruined by upstream acquisition. Stoked to find that not only is NNW basically the same product as ever, but NewsGator has done a brilliant job of integrating desktop code into their online service.
First launch required me to create an account on newsgator.com, then allowed me to sync my locally stored feeds to them. At home, was able to do the same and merge my subscriptions into the same collection, giving me access to one constellation of feeds from both work and home.
Icing: NewsGator’s web UI lets me browse the same collection from any browser. The power and smoothness of desktop apps, the universal access of a web app. Nice to see a merger gone right for a change.
I’ve been beta’ing this latest version of NNW for a few months now, and it’s been a godsend. Now what I read at work is in sync with my home feeds, and I don’t have to read 80 stories over and over again…
NG also allows you to obscure certain feeds from certain locations, so feeds that are inappropriate for work will be waiting for me, unread, at home.
Previous versions had Bloglines syncing, but it never worked right for me with 200 feeds…
Tidbits has a NNW discussion in this week’s issue and notes that NewsGator hired the original NNW developer, Scott Simmons when it purchased the product. Looks as if that was a good move.
Read Tidbits #829
JA
Asheville, NC
Ooh, I love the “sort by attention” feature, which pushes things you’re most interested in to the top.