With Google’s move to shut down its popular RSS service Google Reader, users and developers have been considering alternatives to keep on top of the latest news updates from their favorite sources.
NetNewsWire has long been one of the most popular RSS readers for Apple users, having a long-standing presence on the Mac before expanding to the iPhone and iPad, but development on the software had stagnated in recent years. Hope for a revival of NetNewsWire came in mid-2011 when the project was acquired by Black Pixel, but there has been relatively little news since that time.
Black Pixel’s Daniel Pasco now shares word that the firm is indeed moving forward with plans to revive NetNewsWire, having already completely rewritten the iOS apps and now moving forward with plans for syncing across Mac, iPhone, and iPad apps now that Google Reader is no longer an option.
As far as sync is concerned, we knew we would likely need an alternative to Google Reader as early as last year. At the time, the option that seemed to make the most sense was to embrace iCloud and Core Data as the new sync solution of choice. We spent a considerable amount of time on this effort, but iCloud and Core Data syncing had issues that we simply could not resolve.
iCloud hasn’t worked out for us and Google’s announcement solidified and accelerated our plans. We love NetNewsWire and its users and we are working hard to provide an update on par with the quality of work you’ve seen from us in Kaleidoscope 2.
Pasco has not committed to a timeline for relaunch of NetNewsWire, but will continue to provide updates as development proceeds.
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