Tuesday, August 26, 2008 -- 9 a.m. -- on my couch

Wow. I'm blown away by Newsstand ... a new RSS reader app that appeared last night in the App Store.

It's gorgeous. It's a feature-rich RSS app that looks good ... it offers feeds in a cover-flow style so it's not only easy to read, it's fun. You actually read as though your newspapers and magazines are on a shelf. You have to see it and use to appreciate it.

Adding feeds is easy and there's even a bunch of popular ones already in the program to help you get started. Darn it, not iPTIB, but maybe the author would be willing to put us in there for the next revision.

And you can view the article at the Web site without leaving the application. Like a mini-browser built in. NetNewsWire has something similar, but I've had problems with it crashing.

I truly believe I have found my new RSS app. If something better comes along, well, then I'll worry about it then. But for now, this is hands down the best RSS app in the store. There's no contest.

It costs $4.99. It's worth more. If you love RSS on your iPhone, you should check this out. Here's a direct link that opens right in iTunes

Let me know what you think.

Thanks for calling.

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I gotta have integration with Google Reader (starring and sharing). Only one of 'em does it (byLines) but it doesn't have the views I want (by labels/feed, just one mega-list). It seems I'm doomed to walk the planet using google's own mobile interface. :(

SCOTT'S REPLY: I'm surprised how many people really depend on the integration with Google Reader. I understand it, I'm just surprised by it.

Hey scott thanks for the helpful app..also wanted to congratulate you one your weight loss. I too started walking 30 mins a day 5x a week about a year ago, and the weight came right off about 40 lbs.

SCOTT'S REPLY: That's fantastic!! Great job. And thanks for the kind words.

Yeah, the problem is that you won't have any syncing between your Google Reader and this app -- so you'll constantly be playing catchup on your phone! Argh!

SCOTT'S REPLY: See, I don't really use google reader all that often so I don't really notice the problem, but ... for folks who do ... sure. That's a concern, so I understand where you are coming from, Jordan.

Scott, I agree this is by far the best looking RSS reader application for the iPhone. However, it seems like there is a lot of flipping for no reason. The landscape to see the images then vertical for reading the articles. My biggest concern is that there is no way to back up the application, no online or desktop counter part. I have had to restore my iphone several times and and lose all my data each time its not making me love the iPhone 3G. I have had the 2G since day one and its been an ongoing battle since then. Several application do retain data in itunes such as Aura Feint, Last.fm, Pandora Radio, Twinkle, they all retain the data after a clean install or restore

I sent an email to the company asking if they back up data if they do I will buy it if not then I will have to sick with netnewreader for now.

PART2
I received an email back from the makers of NewsStand:

There is no online backup included, but iTunes backs up Newsstand's data automatically when you sync. You can manually backup and restore by right-clicking your iPhone in iTunes' source list. These backups should include all of Newsstand's data too.

SCOTT's REPLY: Excellent information, Greg. That's good to know and I"m glad you found out first so I can post it for all to know.

PART3
This is the same Greg that emailed you a week or so ago with the problem with digg slowing your site, I used my disposable email not knowing if you post the email address on the web.

I sent and received more information about NewsStand and there are a few helpful tips on backing up the RSS feed incase you have to preform a restore due to iPhone Wonkyness!

Okay, it seems in your case, the usual iTunes backup won't do it.

I'd recommend managing your list of feeds outside of Newsstand, so you can restore it very quickly by importing it back in case you have to erase your phone.

Basically every RSS reader on the Mac, PC or even online (like Google Reader etc.) can export your list of subscriptions to a so-called OPML file (which can also include your folder structure). Newsstand can then import this file from the web. You can upload it to any private webspace you might have or use opmlmanager.com which provides free storage for your list of feeds. You also have the option to use Bloglines.com as the storage space for your feeds (you can import from OPML there too). In this case, you'll just need to enter your Bloglines username and password into Newsstand and are basically done.

I hope this helps to clarify.

SCOTT'S REPLY: It helps a lot!! Thank you, Greg. I usually take off the e-mails, to answer your question.

Is this an offline RSS reader as well as one that would require some sort of connection? I spend a considerable amount of time (unfortunately) in the subway commuting everyday in Manhattan, so knowing that this would pull in all the full-text of the feeds for later reading would make it spectacular.

SCOTT's REPLY: It appears that you can download it with an internet connection and not need a connection to go back later and read the feeds.

Honestly, I wish there was a way that I could sync my read/unread status of my RSS feeds in Mail.app with my iPhone. I would assume Apple would have to bake a reader in to get that kind of functionality tied with Mail, but maybe they could do something with MobileMe. I don't see it happening any time soon, but it would be nice.

For now I've just got a few feeds set up for NetNewsWire to use on my iPhone, and have those plus maybe ten more queued up in Mail. There's just something about having my email and RSS feeds in the same place that I like, which is weird because I never subscribed to any newsletters or anything via e-mail, even before I discovered RSS.

Anyway, I don't think I'm going to pay for a reader as longs as I'm satisfied with NNW, which could be a week, month, or year, who knows! But, thank you for the recommendation, Scott - definitely tempting.

SCOTT's REPLY: I agree -- a syncing RSS reader in MobileMe? Gold!! And while I don't mind NetNewsWire and appreciate that it's free, the fact that the counter is messed up when a feed hits the top line drives me batty.

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