Why Netnewswire Is Not a Web App

Posted3 months agoActive3 months ago

frizlab

56 points

11 comments

inessential.comTechstory

supportivepositive

Debate

40/100

Rss ReadersNative AppsWeb Apps

Key topics

Rss Readers

Native Apps

Web Apps

The author of NetNewsWire explains why they chose not to make their RSS reader a web app, sparking a discussion about the benefits and drawbacks of native vs web apps.

Snapshot generated from the HN discussion

Discussion Activity

Moderate engagement

First comment

Peak period

0-6h

Avg / period

2.8

Comment distribution11 data points

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Based on 11 loaded comments

Key moments

01Story posted
Oct 4, 2025 at 3:40 PM EDT
3 months ago
Step 01
02First comment
Oct 4, 2025 at 3:42 PM EDT
2m after posting
Step 02
03Peak activity
8 comments in 0-6h
Hottest window of the conversation
Step 03
04Latest activity
Oct 8, 2025 at 3:12 PM EDT
3 months ago
Step 04

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Analyzing up to 500 comments to identify key contributors and discussion patterns

Discussion (11 comments)

Showing 11 comments

frizlabAuthor

3 months ago

1 reply

If NetNewsWire becomes a web app it would make me immensely sad. There’s no way a web app would feel as good as a native app, particularly this one.

(To be clear, I would immediately change my RSS reader.)

EmmEff

3 months ago

2 replies

I dunno, Google Reader was actually pretty good. I am also a NetNewsWire user…

raw_anon_1111

3 months ago

And when Google decided to shut down Reader, you immediately couldn’t use it.

pavel_lishin

3 months ago

I use both Newsblur & NetNewsWire, and they both solve different problems that neither one could for me.

kh_hk

3 months ago

1 reply

There are browser apis that could make it work as an app. Web app does not imply server side app

cosmic_cheese

3 months ago

1 reply

Technically true, but when no server is involved (running on localstorage, etc) everything gets dramatically more flaky. The user experience would suffer.

CharlesW

3 months ago

1 reply

Out of curiosity, is this take informed by relatively recent personal experience? I experimented with storing a bunch of data locally using OPFS with DuckDB/Wasm, and it seemed to work fine in Safari and Chrome.

cosmic_cheese

3 months ago

1 reply

It's more aggregated experience over time. These issues often don't surface in the short term but instead show up over time with bugs in implementations in particular browser versions and whatnot. In some cases data just gets wiped and in others it gets corrupted, and with no server component and any backups stored in the same medium as primary storage you're left without recourse.

em-bee

3 months ago

i built a "local" webapp once where the save button produced a file to download, in addition to keeping things in local storage. then if your localstorage got wiped, you changed browsers or whatever, you could load that savefile to restore your data.

not--felix

3 months ago

My RSS reader is the main way i connect to the internet, most things in my reader are web links. I think a web RSS reader is a good, I can just open the links in the same app.

rufus_foreman

3 months ago

"I was 12 years old when I got my first computer, an Apple II Plus, and I’ve never stopped loving the freedom of having my own computer and being able to run whatever the hell I want to."

Pretty much the same here. Kick against the pricks, as difficult as it is, it's the only way.

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ID: 45476071Type: storyLast synced: 11/20/2025, 1:48:02 PM

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