Despite a few complaints by me over the years, Reeder is still my favorite RSS reader on iOS and the Mac. I use it on my iPhone, my iPad, and my Mac. Recently, as have many others, I ditched Google Reader, but Reeder as an app will fortunately live on.
Today, Reeder developer Silvio Rizzi, announced some big changes for Reeder. The big news is the fact that support and development for Reeder will still continue, despite Google Reader’s demise on July 1st. The other big news is that the current versions of Reeder on the Mac and iPad are now free.
That is actually a very smart move for Rizzi, because potential users have likely been hesitant to purchase the app with Google Reeder’s sunsetting scheduled in the near future. Now, any potential fence sitters have no reason to not at least try Reeder to see if they like it on these platforms. If they do, then perhaps they’d be willing to purchase a future version with added support for Google Reader alternatives.
The iPhone version has always been the version of Reeder that’s stayed ahead of the curve, hence this price change won’t impact that version. As it stands now, you can use the iPhone version with an alternative RSS service called Fever. I’m currently using Fever, and I love it. Even more support for services like Feedbin will be added with version 3.1.
Here’s what Rizzi had to say about the move on a recent update to Reeder’s official website:
As most of you probably know by now, Google Reader will be closed on July 1st. What does this mean for Reeder? Unfortunately, it’s still too early to have answers to all questions I got the last couple weeks. Probably most importantly, one thing that’s clear:
Development of Reeder will continue after July 1st.
Awesome news for current Reeder fans. He continues with details on an upcoming update for the iPhone app and iPad/Mac apps:
Reeder for iPhone
The iPhone version already has support for other services than Google Reader. I’m currently working on integrating Feedbin and adding support for standalone/local RSS (still experimental). You’ll get these features with the next update (3.1) which should be ready soon. That’s just the beginning, the plan is to add more services you can choose from in the next weeks and months.Reeder for Mac and iPad
Reeder for Mac and iPad will be updated to 2.0 in the coming months. Version 2.0 will add all the features of the iPhone version, including all sharing and syncing services. Until then, Reeder for Mac and Reeder for iPad will be free, starting today.
If you’re one of the few that hasn’t already purchased Reeder on the Mac or iPad, then head over to each respective store and download Reeder for free today. Also, be sure to check out Cody’s awesome post highlighting the best Google Reader alternatives.