News Explorer
Newsreader with iCloud sync
$4.99
1.20.5for iPhone, iPad and more
Age Rating
News Explorer Screenshots
About News Explorer
News Explorer is a powerful yet remarkably easy-to-use RSS, JSON, Atom and Mastodon newsreader with iCloud based synchronisation between iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV.
FULL iCLOUD SYNC
• News Explorer syncs your RSS, JSON, Atom, YouTube, Reddit and Mastodon feeds, folder setup, news items, read statuses and favorites across all your Apple devices.
• Synchronisation is based on iCloud, so there is no need to login or to sign up into any other service, it just works out of the box.
• Built-in high speed RSS, RDF, Atom, JSON, Reddit and Mastodon feed engine.
PRODUCTIVE INTERFACE
• Clean, 100% native, distraction-free user interface
• Article list with resizable thumbnails
• Feed level option to automatically open articles in Reader view
• Size, alignment and visibility of the thumbnails are adjustable.
• Built-in browser for viewing inline links and other references
• Themes, adaptable to your taste and mood
• Widgets for Home Screen and Today View
STREAMLINED READING
• Use automatic Reader view to read the full version of articles in a clean and easy-to-read format
• Mark items as favorite for later reading
• Navigate with one tap to the original content
• Timeline view shows your news articles in an attractive newspaper-like way
• Full text search
• Built-in image viewer to browse through all images of news articles
• Share news items via email, Messages, Notes and more
• Built-in support to share articles with Instapaper and Pocket
EASY CONFIGURATION
• Add new RSS, Atom and JSON feeds directly from Safari, using the 'Add to News Explorer' share extension
• Add RSS and Mastodon feeds via the built-in search form
• Support to add manually RSS, Atom, JSON, Reddit and Mastodon feeds
• Dedicated YouTube channel feed support
• Group your subscriptions with collapsible folders
• Rename and reorder folders and feeds, using drag-and-drop
• OPML import and export.
USABILITY FEATURES
• Article reader with adjustable title and body font settings
• Global filters let you filter all feeds and related news on unread items and favorites
• External keyboard support
• Perform quick actions with horizontal swipes
• Pull subscription list to start a sync session
• App icon badge with unread articles count
• Navigate to the next or previous article with animated swipe gestures
CUSTOMISATION OPTIONS
• You can set a default primary article view, such as Mercury Reader view, for all feeds.
• The default primary view can be overruled on feed or article level.
• Custom storage period for each item status (read, unread and favorite)
• Syncing with iCloud can be disabled, to use only the built-in high speed RSS engine
• And much more!
STATE OF THE ART
• Supports RSS 2.0, RDF, ATOM, JSON Feed, Reddit and Mastodon news feeds
• Supports RSS feeds with HTTP digest and basic authentication
• iCloud sync with CloudKit
• Multiple Reader view engines
• Supports RTL articles
• Background app refresh
• Spotlight indexing with images
• Handoff support
• Notifications with images
• Quick Notes support
MULTI-PLATFORM
You only need to buy two apps to cover all Apple platforms:
• News Explorer for Mac is available on the Mac App Store.
• News Explorer for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Apple TV is a universal purchase app, available on the App Store of the mentioned devices. Universal purchase allows you to purchase News Explorer once, and then access it on all connected platforms.
SUPPORT AND FEEDBACK
If you have any questions or need support on News Explorer, then browse to https://betamagic.nl/support/newsexplorer/help.html or email us at support@betamagic.nl.
If you like News Explorer then feel free to leave a review or a rating in the App Store or to recommend it to a friend. It helps a lot!
FULL iCLOUD SYNC
• News Explorer syncs your RSS, JSON, Atom, YouTube, Reddit and Mastodon feeds, folder setup, news items, read statuses and favorites across all your Apple devices.
• Synchronisation is based on iCloud, so there is no need to login or to sign up into any other service, it just works out of the box.
• Built-in high speed RSS, RDF, Atom, JSON, Reddit and Mastodon feed engine.
PRODUCTIVE INTERFACE
• Clean, 100% native, distraction-free user interface
• Article list with resizable thumbnails
• Feed level option to automatically open articles in Reader view
• Size, alignment and visibility of the thumbnails are adjustable.
• Built-in browser for viewing inline links and other references
• Themes, adaptable to your taste and mood
• Widgets for Home Screen and Today View
STREAMLINED READING
• Use automatic Reader view to read the full version of articles in a clean and easy-to-read format
• Mark items as favorite for later reading
• Navigate with one tap to the original content
• Timeline view shows your news articles in an attractive newspaper-like way
• Full text search
• Built-in image viewer to browse through all images of news articles
• Share news items via email, Messages, Notes and more
• Built-in support to share articles with Instapaper and Pocket
EASY CONFIGURATION
• Add new RSS, Atom and JSON feeds directly from Safari, using the 'Add to News Explorer' share extension
• Add RSS and Mastodon feeds via the built-in search form
• Support to add manually RSS, Atom, JSON, Reddit and Mastodon feeds
• Dedicated YouTube channel feed support
• Group your subscriptions with collapsible folders
• Rename and reorder folders and feeds, using drag-and-drop
• OPML import and export.
USABILITY FEATURES
• Article reader with adjustable title and body font settings
• Global filters let you filter all feeds and related news on unread items and favorites
• External keyboard support
• Perform quick actions with horizontal swipes
• Pull subscription list to start a sync session
• App icon badge with unread articles count
• Navigate to the next or previous article with animated swipe gestures
CUSTOMISATION OPTIONS
• You can set a default primary article view, such as Mercury Reader view, for all feeds.
• The default primary view can be overruled on feed or article level.
• Custom storage period for each item status (read, unread and favorite)
• Syncing with iCloud can be disabled, to use only the built-in high speed RSS engine
• And much more!
STATE OF THE ART
• Supports RSS 2.0, RDF, ATOM, JSON Feed, Reddit and Mastodon news feeds
• Supports RSS feeds with HTTP digest and basic authentication
• iCloud sync with CloudKit
• Multiple Reader view engines
• Supports RTL articles
• Background app refresh
• Spotlight indexing with images
• Handoff support
• Notifications with images
• Quick Notes support
MULTI-PLATFORM
You only need to buy two apps to cover all Apple platforms:
• News Explorer for Mac is available on the Mac App Store.
• News Explorer for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Apple TV is a universal purchase app, available on the App Store of the mentioned devices. Universal purchase allows you to purchase News Explorer once, and then access it on all connected platforms.
SUPPORT AND FEEDBACK
If you have any questions or need support on News Explorer, then browse to https://betamagic.nl/support/newsexplorer/help.html or email us at support@betamagic.nl.
If you like News Explorer then feel free to leave a review or a rating in the App Store or to recommend it to a friend. It helps a lot!
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What's New in the Latest Version 1.20.5
Last updated on Jan 17, 2024
Old Versions
• Replaced OneSignal with a self-hosted solution.
• Fixed a serious issue when running the app in ‘Designed for iPad’ modus on visionOS.
• Fixed a serious issue when running the app in ‘Designed for iPad’ modus on visionOS.
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Version History
1.20.5
Jan 17, 2024
• Replaced OneSignal with a self-hosted solution.
• Fixed a serious issue when running the app in ‘Designed for iPad’ modus on visionOS.
• Fixed a serious issue when running the app in ‘Designed for iPad’ modus on visionOS.
1.20.4
Oct 19, 2023
• Fixed a compatibility issue with iOS 17, when using the ‘Add to News Explorer’ share extension in Safari.
• Fixed another compatibility issue with iOS 17, when sharing to Pocket or Instapaper via the Share Sheet.
• Fixed a parsing issue with feeds without ‘lastPubDate’ and with articles dated in the future.
• Fixed an issue with feed articles containing HTML without any closing tags with forward slashes.
• Fixed an issue with HTML images with referrer policy sub tags.
• Fixed another compatibility issue with iOS 17, when sharing to Pocket or Instapaper via the Share Sheet.
• Fixed a parsing issue with feeds without ‘lastPubDate’ and with articles dated in the future.
• Fixed an issue with feed articles containing HTML without any closing tags with forward slashes.
• Fixed an issue with HTML images with referrer policy sub tags.
1.20.3
Aug 15, 2023
• Fixed an issue where article summaries were downloaded as main content.
• Fixed a feed parser issue with self closing HTML tags.
• Fixed a feed parser issue with self closing HTML tags.
1.20.2
Aug 9, 2023
• Fixed a crash caused by malformed ATOM feeds.
• Fixed a crash when parsing articles ending with truncated HTML elements .
• Improved support for feeds with non standard date formats.
• Restored parsing card data of Tweets.
• Fixed a bug related to auto contrast.
• Fixed a crash when parsing articles ending with truncated HTML elements .
• Improved support for feeds with non standard date formats.
• Restored parsing card data of Tweets.
• Fixed a bug related to auto contrast.
1.20.1
Jun 26, 2023
• Fixed alignment of RTL text in the article list.
• Improved detection of deleted app data in CloudKit storage settings.
• Improved detection of deleted app data in CloudKit storage settings.
1.20
Jun 15, 2023
• Added native support for Mastodon feeds, including beautifully rendered ‘Toots’.
• Replies, parent posts and cards of Mastodon posts are automatically downloaded.
• Mastodon feeds can be added via the Search New Feeds or Add New Feed dialogs.
• Unfortunately, Twitter integration has been removed due to recent Twitter API limitations.
• Already downloaded Tweets remain available in the app and iCloud.
• Improved reliability of initial sync with iCloud.
• Replies, parent posts and cards of Mastodon posts are automatically downloaded.
• Mastodon feeds can be added via the Search New Feeds or Add New Feed dialogs.
• Unfortunately, Twitter integration has been removed due to recent Twitter API limitations.
• Already downloaded Tweets remain available in the app and iCloud.
• Improved reliability of initial sync with iCloud.
1.11.3
Oct 5, 2022
• Auto high contrast when using Dark or System theme with max screen brightness.
• You can now search within an article with the new ‘Find on Page’ share sheet action (iOS 16).
• Restored the Print share sheet action in the Article viewer.
• An iOS 16 specific crash has been fixed related to incorrectly encoded feeds.
• You can now search within an article with the new ‘Find on Page’ share sheet action (iOS 16).
• Restored the Print share sheet action in the Article viewer.
• An iOS 16 specific crash has been fixed related to incorrectly encoded feeds.
1.11.2
May 24, 2022
• Fixed missing sound of non-YouTube videos in Reddit feeds.
• Improved resetting of the default icon in the App icon selector.
• Changed default for setting 'Auto-switch themes', to prevent unexpected theme changes.
• Improved resetting of the default icon in the App icon selector.
• Changed default for setting 'Auto-switch themes', to prevent unexpected theme changes.
1.11.1
May 16, 2022
• Full text search now includes the title, summary, content and reader view text.
• The Reddit parser now supports search feeds.
• Improved detection of videos with the Reddit parser.
• Opening the website of a subreddit opens now the correct page.
• Fixed a custom icon issue.
• Improved handling of offline feed deletions.
• The Reddit parser now supports search feeds.
• Improved detection of videos with the Reddit parser.
• Opening the website of a subreddit opens now the correct page.
• Fixed a custom icon issue.
• Improved handling of offline feed deletions.
1.11
Apr 18, 2022
• Data snapshots speed up syncing with iCloud when syncing on a new device or one that has not been used for a while.
• Standard initial syncing performance has been improved as well.
• Browse through all images of a feed by using the new Slideshow context menu item in the Feeds list.
• Reddit feeds are now parsed by a dedicated parser, resulting in cleaner and better looking articles.
• Articles marked as Favorite are now stored forever locally and in iCloud.
• New alternative app icons in the Viewing section of the preferences.
• Standard initial syncing performance has been improved as well.
• Browse through all images of a feed by using the new Slideshow context menu item in the Feeds list.
• Reddit feeds are now parsed by a dedicated parser, resulting in cleaner and better looking articles.
• Articles marked as Favorite are now stored forever locally and in iCloud.
• New alternative app icons in the Viewing section of the preferences.
1.10.2
Sep 21, 2021
• Quick Notes support with iPadOS 15
• Improved robustness of feed list data refreshes
• Optimised article list loading logic
• Improved Mark All as Read performance
• Fixed a clipping issue when zooming in with image viewer
• Fixed a crash when using arrow key navigation
• Restored group header update after using Rename function
• Improved robustness of feed list data refreshes
• Optimised article list loading logic
• Improved Mark All as Read performance
• Fixed a clipping issue when zooming in with image viewer
• Fixed a crash when using arrow key navigation
• Restored group header update after using Rename function
1.10.1
Jul 4, 2021
• Fixes a bug which could result in reappearing read articles and notifications
• Fixes a refresh issue with 'Mark All as Read' while the article list is still scrolling
• Fixes a refresh issue with 'Mark All as Read' while the article list is still scrolling
1.10
Jul 1, 2021
• Improved article list performance
• Improved image processing in articles
• Date headers are now being refreshed on day change
• Improved podcast detection
• New option to delete internet cache
• Twitter settings now shows the account name
• Restored missing icons in the watchOS app
• Fixed list refresh after reordering folders
• Improved image processing in articles
• Date headers are now being refreshed on day change
• Improved podcast detection
• New option to delete internet cache
• Twitter settings now shows the account name
• Restored missing icons in the watchOS app
• Fixed list refresh after reordering folders
1.9.17
Jan 11, 2021
• Fixed compatibility with JSON Feed version 1.1
• Fixed generating notifications based on Feed Manager settings
• Fixed generating notifications based on Feed Manager settings
1.9.16
Dec 30, 2020
• Fixed some article list update issues
• Fixed overlapping icons issue after a cancelled swipe back action
• Fixed cleaning interval setting in the Preferences
• Restored icons in the Preferences start view when using iOS 13
• Improved support for feeds with invalid response header metadata
• Fixed overlapping icons issue after a cancelled swipe back action
• Fixed cleaning interval setting in the Preferences
• Restored icons in the Preferences start view when using iOS 13
• Improved support for feeds with invalid response header metadata
1.9.15
Dec 21, 2020
• Fixed implementation of setting 'Subscription badges
• Improved search performance
• Improved reliability of arrow key navigation
• Improved search performance
• Improved reliability of arrow key navigation
1.9.14
Dec 7, 2020
• Print and 'Export to PDF' share sheet actions
• Improved unread counters update logic
• Improved Twitter Cards parsing
• Improved feed icon selector
• Fixed initial data load of small size Home Screen widgets
• Fixed disappearing navigation buttons
• Fixed sync with iPhone when opening items on the Apple Watch
• OPML import now retains original feed sorting
• Improved unread counters update logic
• Improved Twitter Cards parsing
• Improved feed icon selector
• Fixed initial data load of small size Home Screen widgets
• Fixed disappearing navigation buttons
• Fixed sync with iPhone when opening items on the Apple Watch
• OPML import now retains original feed sorting
1.9.11
Nov 30, 2020
∙ Extensive Widget support for iOS 14 users!
∙ Full-width article option, ideal when using Dark Mode.
∙ Tweets with Twitter Cards are now properly displayed.
∙ New option to group articles on feed, instead of date.
∙ You can now select a custom font in the Reading settings.
∙ New ‘Show on Apple Watch’ option in the Subscriptions list.
∙ New Apple Watch Complication to easily start News Explorer.
∙ Unread badge in the navigation bar, just like the Mail app.
∙ Relocated navigation buttons in the Article viewer.
∙ Added system font option ‘New York’ to the Article viewer.
∙ Option to disable navigation by swiping in the Article viewer.
∙ Improved performance of the Feeds and Articles list.
∙ Improved ‘Mark as read while scrolling’ performance.
∙ Option to automatically delete notifications of read items.
∙ Spotlight indexing is now disabled by default, to save battery.
∙ Extended Low Data support for thumbnails.
∙ SVG feed icons are now supported.
∙ Minimum version is now iOS 13.
∙ Full-width article option, ideal when using Dark Mode.
∙ Tweets with Twitter Cards are now properly displayed.
∙ New option to group articles on feed, instead of date.
∙ You can now select a custom font in the Reading settings.
∙ New ‘Show on Apple Watch’ option in the Subscriptions list.
∙ New Apple Watch Complication to easily start News Explorer.
∙ Unread badge in the navigation bar, just like the Mail app.
∙ Relocated navigation buttons in the Article viewer.
∙ Added system font option ‘New York’ to the Article viewer.
∙ Option to disable navigation by swiping in the Article viewer.
∙ Improved performance of the Feeds and Articles list.
∙ Improved ‘Mark as read while scrolling’ performance.
∙ Option to automatically delete notifications of read items.
∙ Spotlight indexing is now disabled by default, to save battery.
∙ Extended Low Data support for thumbnails.
∙ SVG feed icons are now supported.
∙ Minimum version is now iOS 13.
1.9.10
Jun 20, 2020
Fixes a crash with iCloud sync
Fixes large title setting sync of subscription list with article list
Fine-tuned color of the unread counter when using Dark Mode
Fixes large title setting sync of subscription list with article list
Fine-tuned color of the unread counter when using Dark Mode
1.9.9
Jun 17, 2020
∙ Improved keyboard and mouse pointer support in iOS 13.4
∙ Support for opening links in third party browsers like Chrome and FireFox
∙ Twitter feed options are now synced across your devices
∙ Restored iCloud sync when using more than 1000 feeds
∙ Support for opening links in third party browsers like Chrome and FireFox
∙ Twitter feed options are now synced across your devices
∙ Restored iCloud sync when using more than 1000 feeds
1.9.8
Apr 1, 2020
• You can now configure a default primary view for all feeds, for example Mercury Reader.
• Option to skip feeds with full articles, when using Mercury Reader or Arc90 Readability as default primary view.
• New option to use silent push notifications for background data refresh in the Syncing section of the Preferences.
• Play audio podcasts uninterrupted in the background using the new play toolbar button.
• Picture-in-picture support for videos.
• Improved punctuation for right-to-left languages
• The Add new feed dialog now supports iTunes podcast links.
• You can now create new folders in the Add new feed dialog.
• Add to Reading List leading swipe action option.
• Restored swipe back gesture for iOS 13.4 users.
• Option to skip feeds with full articles, when using Mercury Reader or Arc90 Readability as default primary view.
• New option to use silent push notifications for background data refresh in the Syncing section of the Preferences.
• Play audio podcasts uninterrupted in the background using the new play toolbar button.
• Picture-in-picture support for videos.
• Improved punctuation for right-to-left languages
• The Add new feed dialog now supports iTunes podcast links.
• You can now create new folders in the Add new feed dialog.
• Add to Reading List leading swipe action option.
• Restored swipe back gesture for iOS 13.4 users.
1.9.7
Oct 9, 2019
• Fixed non-working iCloud update notifications in iOS 13
• Restored old background app refresh implementation in iOS 13
• Added experimental support for Mark as read while scrolling
• Added option to hide feed icons in the article list
• Added support for YouTube playlist feeds
• Added a new action 'Save as Web Location' to the Share sheet
• You can now move a feed to another folder by using the long press context menu in iOS 13
• Reader view support on the Apple Watch app has been improved.
• Restored old background app refresh implementation in iOS 13
• Added experimental support for Mark as read while scrolling
• Added option to hide feed icons in the article list
• Added support for YouTube playlist feeds
• Added a new action 'Save as Web Location' to the Share sheet
• You can now move a feed to another folder by using the long press context menu in iOS 13
• Reader view support on the Apple Watch app has been improved.
1.9.6
Sep 19, 2019
• Full support for iOS 13 and iPadOS Dark Mode
• Preferences are now integrated in the app
• Restored Instapaper and Pocket support with new context menu options
• Improved background sync in iOS 13 and iPadOS 13, based on background tasks
• New mobile data settings
• New article list tap gestures
• Preferences are now integrated in the app
• Restored Instapaper and Pocket support with new context menu options
• Improved background sync in iOS 13 and iPadOS 13, based on background tasks
• New mobile data settings
• New article list tap gestures
1.9.5
Jul 11, 2019
• On startup, the app will reopen the last selected feed or folder. If you don't want this, disable setting “Restore last list on startup’ in the Viewing section of the News Explorer preferences.
• New sub option 'Request desktop site' when using primary view 'Website Article' with the embedded web viewer.
• Scrolling the article list without thumbnail images no longer consumes network data.
• Compatibility improvement with setting popups on small devices like iPhone SE.
• New sub option 'Request desktop site' when using primary view 'Website Article' with the embedded web viewer.
• Scrolling the article list without thumbnail images no longer consumes network data.
• Compatibility improvement with setting popups on small devices like iPhone SE.
1.9.4
Jun 11, 2019
• The Article viewer now contains 26 new fonts with excellent legibility characteristics.
• Option to combine serif body font with sans serif titles and headers.
• Improved support for title-less articles commonly found in micro blogs.
• Removed warning when there is no internet during a standard sync session.
• Fixed flashing white line glitch when using the standard light theme.
• You can now navigate back by swiping from the left edge to the middle, even when the navigation bar is hidden.
• The navigation bar in the article viewer is now default hidden when you scroll upstairs.
• The Apple Watch app doesn't warn anymore for a missing internet connection when you open an article offline.
• Option to combine serif body font with sans serif titles and headers.
• Improved support for title-less articles commonly found in micro blogs.
• Removed warning when there is no internet during a standard sync session.
• Fixed flashing white line glitch when using the standard light theme.
• You can now navigate back by swiping from the left edge to the middle, even when the navigation bar is hidden.
• The navigation bar in the article viewer is now default hidden when you scroll upstairs.
• The Apple Watch app doesn't warn anymore for a missing internet connection when you open an article offline.
News Explorer FAQ
Click here to learn how to download News Explorer in restricted country or region.
Check the following list to see the minimum requirements of News Explorer.
iPhone
Requires iOS 14.7 or later.
iPad
Requires iPadOS 14.7 or later.
Apple TV
Requires tvOS 16.4 or later.
Apple Watch
Requires watchOS 6.2 or later.
iPod touch
Requires iOS 14.7 or later.
News Explorer supports English
