There are a lot of news / RSS readers available for the Windows Phone platform. However, there are only a few who are feature-rich and offer great user experience. So, I decided to test some of top selling RSS app available at the Windows Phone Marketplace.
This is the newest app of the bunch and naturally comes with the most pleasing user interface. It lets you download feeds using OPML feeds and has offline reading mode. It also has live tile support that lets you instantly see what is new. You can also sync across devices and actions you made on phone will show on PC.Feed Reader (v2.12): 2 dollarsThis app claims to be the ‘most full featured Google Reader client” for WP7 smartphones. Immediately when you start the app, it asks you for your Google Reader user name and password. To move between articles, you swipe either to the left or right. Off line mode is not enabled by default but you can enable it by going into the settings. Keep in mind that it only downloads the unread items(+) It can cache all the contents in one go = content offline available
(+) Takes 3-4 seconds to resume.
(+) Can lock orientation to portrait mode
(+) Can run under lock screen
(+) Downloaded all my 23 feeds, each containing 20 items on average in less than 10 seconds over Wi-Fi. Now, I can read my content even in the areas where signals are weak.
(+) Instapaper integration
(-) No option to mark all as readRSS Central: 1.30 dollars.This offers similar feature set as Feed Reader except for the fact it does not have Google Reader integration. Other than that, it is an excellent app.(+) Takes just a second to resume.
(+) Can lock orientation to portrait or landscape mode
(+) Can run under lock screen
(+) Only App with “Mark all as Read” and “Mark all as unread” option.
(+) Downloaded all my 23 feeds, each containing 20 items on average in less than 10 seconds over Wi-Fi.
(+) Instapaper integration
(+) Searching and adding new feeds is easy
(+) Automatically caches data for offline use.
(-) No Google reader integrationNewsReader: 5 dollars(+) Uses Windows Tile Interface
(+) Very quickly resumes
(+) Intelligent search function.
(+) Can mark a particular feed as read.
(+) “Read” makes the background white and text black which is perfect for reading when reading under bright light.
(-) No option to mark all feeds as read
(-) No Google reader sync
(-) No offline support.
(-) No Landscape Mode.
(-) 5 dollars? 🙁NextGen Reader: 1 dollarThis app also has Google reader integration. When you fire it up for the first time, it asks you if you would like to get acquainted with the features offered by the app. By default, it syncs only unread articles. However, you can easily change it in its settings.(+) Excellent Google reader integration
(+) Instapaper support
(+) Read it Later support
(+) Twitter support
(+) Comprehensive Sync Settings
(+) Can run under lock screen
(+) Light theme also available
(+) Can mark all articles as read of a particular feed
(+) Just one dollar!
(-) I just could not see the links. Blue colored links on black background is not a very neat idea
(-) No offline support.Weave: 1 dollarWeave takes a different approach. It first asks you about your interests and automatically downloads news items from pre-defined set of sites.(+) Quickly resumes
(+) Adding new feeds is easy if the app is able to find the site using “find new feeds” feature.
(+) Can open the full article inside the app itself without leaving the app
(+) Instapaper support
(+) Twitter integration
(+) Offline support
(-) The user has no control on what will be downloaded the first time
(-) The user has no control on which feed item will be displayed after reading one.
(-) No way to manually enter a RSS feed URLWinner: Feed Reader. Why?
It has all the ingredients of what a news reader should be. It does not look as pretty as Weave or NextGen Reader, but it gets the job done. It gives user complete control over the feeds and has excellent Google Reader integration. If you do not require google reader integration, get RSS Central.