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RE: Unread Only?

Brent Simmons — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:05:11 GMT

For case (a), it's obvious it should just make an exception for the current item, and not get rid of it, even if it's read.

A Mark-Unread is already planned for 1.1. As is a more general solution to the issue of keeping read items.

RE: Unread Only?

guylegend — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:02:04 GMT

the clipping function would be nice, but it doesn't guard against accidental closings of the item or application. here are real examples that happened to me:

a) in the middle of reading an item i got a call. upon ending the call, rather than being back at the item i was reading, i was put back in the feeds selection list. and guess what? the item i was reading was gone.

b) while reading an item i got an email indicator. being the anxious emailer that i am, i pressed the home button to see what emails i was sent. upon returning to NNW, my item was gone yet again.

c) while in the waiting room for my dentist appointment, i was reading a feed item to fill in the time. when the nurse called for me, my instinct was to turn off the phone but rather than hitting the top silver button, i pressed the home button by mistake. yet again, my item was gone.

cases b and c may just be UBD ;), but come on, case a is legitimate.

RE: Unread Only?

TwiceNightly — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:57:50 GMT

I think if only we could see the clippings folder then there would be no need to see your read items. Then if you think you want to re-read something later just clip it and look at it later in the app.

RE: Unread Only?

Brent Simmons — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:29:56 GMT

I guess I figured I'd already given my take on this.

I understand what people want, and, with my beta testers, I'm working on a solution. I can't say what the solution is yet, because it's still in progress.

RE: Unread Only?

guylegend — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:40:30 GMT

brent, can you please give us your take on this? it seems there is enough users concerned about this feature at the moment to garner a response. what is the fundamental reasoning behind not adding an option? is it really a philosophical decision based on simplicity over functionality?

the only reason i can think of in hiding *all* read items is because there is no way to remove a single item from a feed. i mean, if we introduced a way for people to delete specific items from a feed and always show read items, there wouldn't even be a need for an option.

one suggestion to delete an item from a feed is to handle the "apple standard" swipe gesture then provide a delete button to the right side of the item. another suggestion would be to add a "delete all read" button at the bottom when the user is inside a feed.

RE: Unread Only?

soundsgoodtome — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 00:43:19 GMT

I, too, came here and registered specifically to request the ability to read unread items -- as an optional preference, of course.

I'm only following 5 or 6 feeds on the iPhone, yet NNW crashes on me frequently. I'm not here to complain about that, as I'm not sure if NNW's the culprit or the iPhone OS (2.0.2). But every time it happens (at least once or twice a day), or every time I tap the wrong button and lose my place, I'm SOL because the article I was reading is lost forever (at least until I get home).

I don't care whether the unread are listed with read (when called upon), or if there's a separate button to "show read articles" on a separate page. I just need the option to access them, one way or another.

This is just basic functionality that every newsreader should have. Not having it is like having an email or text app without a backspace key. Do you need it, every time you compose a message? No; but it still ought to be there.

RE: Unread Only?

LordSauce — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 10:41:07 GMT

Brent - any chance you could tell us your latest thinking on this?

It's clear that some people want it, some don't - isn't an option the obvious solution? If you're prepared to add an option for the unread badge then why not this?

Jon.

RE: Unread Only?

gmanyru — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:09:25 GMT

I STRONGLY agree with this post. In fact, I came all the way to the forums just to gripe about this one "feature" which I originally assumed was a bug.

I can see that some people like this behavior, but I am just irritated by it. I want to be able to control the availability of my articles please. If I want an article out of the way, I'd like to be able to "swipe" it with my finger as if I were deleting an email out of my inbox. (An additional button allowing me to "delete all unread" would also be handy for those times that I do want it to.)

This should really be a per user option to disable or enable.

Other than that, however, NNW is still my favorite RSS reader for iPhone and/or Mac.

Thank you!

-gmanyru

RE: Unread Only?

guylegend — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:10:05 GMT

brent, i beg you to add read items back!!! please, please, please!!! i really love this program but this is a huge issue for the types of feeds i read. i definitely wouldn't mind paying for this feature alone. adding an option in settings can't really be the end of the world, right?

RE: Unread Only?

AdamJRed — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 11:11:15 GMT

Count this as 2 votes for somehow having the ability to view read items. (2 since my wife and I both use the app).

I just don't see any point in enforcing limits when a preference allows a user to set their own 'limits'. Where not talking about a bloating feature, we are talking about the basic fundamental of the application, to allow me to read information.

RE: Unread Only?

spradling — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 05:30:13 GMT

I agree on seeing read items, especially because of the "oops" factor, but also because I like having my feeds even though I've read everything and because I sometimes want to look for something I already read.
Just make the feeds with no unread items go to the bottom of the list and problem resolved.

RE: Unread Only?

Wish — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 21:23:31 GMT

I am weighing in on the side of "PLEASE let us see read items" :). It is totally annoying to miss an article because my finger accidentally hits the next button. It would be "workable" if we can at least see the read items while the application is active, and then if necessary, delete them when exiting.

RE: Unread Only?

Aytee — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 03:21:18 GMT

I'd like to register my vote for retaining read items. I didn't realise that they disappeared when I first used the iPhone App :) and spent ages looking for an item to show someone thinking I was going doolallytapper (UK = mad).

I'd like the option to delete read items if I want to, and I *really* don't like it when the News Feed Titles disappear totally if there are no unread items in them; I like to keep tabs on what feeds I've subscribed to. Couldn't they just 'grey out' or something instead?

Just to close by saying that this App is definitely the best RSS Feed reader on the iPhone (I've deleted all the others!) so please keep up the good work.

Cheers

RE: Unread Only?

teacher24_70 — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 17:51:29 GMT

I would like it to work this way too.

I actually moved from using the iPhone/iPod Touch NNW app to using the Newsgator Mobile version. It seems to work like this. I can read the summary, click on the link to read the entire article, then be back to the list and can choose whether to click the "Read" and have it disappear or NOT click the "read" and know that it will still be there for me to go back to later.

This is about as close to the "Mark as Unread" behavior that I use on the NNW desktop version.

[quote][b]Daniel Merriott (7/29/2008)[/b][hr]I agree with earlier comments about keeping the iPhone app slim as possible - normally I wouldn't want to re-read a feed item whilst on-the-go (that can wait till I get back to my desk). However, numerous times I've accidentally moved on to the next unread item and then found I couldn't get back to the previous/originalitem that I was reading.

Rather than add some complicated way to view read items, and have more items than necessary sync to my iPhone, I'd be happy to manually mark my items as read and have them disappear. This could be as simple as replacing the 'Next Unread' button with two buttons - one to mark the item as read and move on, and one to just move on.

Thanks for giving us NNW - combined with the desktop reader and online access it's simply the best solution out there right now.

Cheers,
Daniel[/quote]

RE: Unread Only?

musterknabe — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:31:41 GMT

1 up for keeping unread items.

It doesnt hurt anyone if this is an option, right? It would be nice to choose how many unread items are being kept in the list before they are replaced by newer unread items. That way it wouldnt be a resource hog.

Another reason than the aforementioned (accidentally skipping an item, wanting to read it again later) is that i really dont like my feed overview to rearrange every time some feed is updated. It makes me feel at home if i know where my favorite feeds are positioned without searching first.

RE: Unread Only?

Daniel Merriott — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 04:03:31 GMT

I agree with earlier comments about keeping the iPhone app slim as possible - normally I wouldn't want to re-read a feed item whilst on-the-go (that can wait till I get back to my desk). However, numerous times I've accidentally moved on to the next unread item and then found I couldn't get back to the previous/original item that I was reading.

Rather than add some complicated way to view read items, and have more items than necessary sync to my iPhone, I'd be happy to manually mark my items as read and have them disappear. This could be as simple as replacing the 'Next Unread' button with two buttons - one to mark the item as read and move on, and one to just move on.

Thanks for giving us NNW - combined with the desktop reader and online access it's simply the best solution out there right now.

Cheers,
Daniel

RE: Unread Only?

Brent Simmons — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:46:41 GMT

Both are on the to-do list.

RE: Unread Only?

kira — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:04:02 GMT

I prefer the unread-only mode (where read items vanish), but I do wish there were a "mark unread" option. I often read stories on the go that I'd like to look at later when I get back to my main mac.

It'd also be nifty if there were some way to view my clippings on the phone. Not sure I understand why you can add an item to clippings without being able to view them. :)

-j.

RE: Unread Only?

Spyder — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 16:44:00 GMT

[quote][b]MrWoohoo (7/26/2008)[/b][hr]Does this accurately describe the situation that prompted you to ask for this change?[/quote]Nope :P

I wanted unread only because I've trained myself to not be OCD about reading every little thing that comes through my feed reader (several hundred items per week). If I accidentally bump the "next unread" button I don't care about losing the item I was reading; I care more about opening an item I didn't want to (really want that mark as unread feature requested elsewhere ;))

RE: Unread Only?

Jereboam — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:21:33 GMT

My vote remains for a lean, mean reading machine. I don't want:

1. Complex feed management, unsubscribing, folders, etc. I'll do that in one of the desktop apps or online.
2. Permanence of any kind. Unless I've clipped it I don't want feeds using hundreds of megs of space on my already storage-limited device. Image caching for a limited time would be nice though.
3. Searching. I just want to read my feeds on the go, not burrow through them looking for something specific.
4. Hundreds of read feeds cluttering my tiny display, ie I've already SEEN and READ them or dismissed them as uninteresting and they should be gone.

I want the iPhone/touch reader to be absolutely focussed on looking at unread feeds on the go, with clipping allowing me to save feeds for later or if I want to "archive" them. The UI should allow me to whip through feeds with minimum tapping and input from me, preferably one-handed.

The mobile experience is always going to be a subset of a desktop or online reader. That doesn't mean it's totally limited, but rather optimised for the device and probable usage scenario.

That's my thinking anyway.

RE: Unread Only?

MrWoohoo — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 14:48:58 GMT

In my experience end users often ask for features that don't make sense but for very good reasons, and I think we have that situation here. I've been trying to think of a use-mode that prompted people to ask for this and I think I figured it out.

Let's say you have a feed that produces a lot of entries per day. You are only able to ready a few of them at a time. Then when you come back there are new entries, then entries you've read, followed by more unread entries from your previous session. You'd like to scan the new entries and the previous unread entries in one fell swoop but those pesky previously read entries are getting in the way and cluttering things up.

Does this accurately describe the situation that prompted you to ask for this change?

[b]I think the correct solution to make everybody happy would be to first sort entries into two bins: read and unread. Then sort entries in those two bins by date. Then present the entire thing in one big list like before. Thus any entries that haven't been read yet cluster together and previously read entries are still available and the two groups maintain a consistent chronological order.[/b]

Is there anybody who this scheme wouldn't satisfy?

My short feature request list:

1) preference for how long articles remain available. I've got a 16 gig iTouch and wouldn't mind being able to burn a few gigs to keep things available.

2) Is it possible to load images from the feeds and keeps those handy for off-line browsing? I used NetNewsWire in offline mode A LOT

3) font and size prefs. I started using NNW for two reasons a) offline browsing and 2) font sizes on a lot of blogs are barely legible. NNW does good by using a nice legible size but I would personally like it if they were a little smaller, I'm sure others would prefer something larger or a different typeface. Sounds like a good thing to stick on in a preference.

4) searching would be nice.

EDIT: For clarity and a typo.

RE: Unread Only?

echo7 — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 11:57:48 GMT

I NEED to see Read items. It's a very import feature. I downloaded the new version, and POOF! all my feeds keep disappearing. They say you can't make everyone happy all the time, but if you give people the ability to choose to view or hide Read items on their own, I think that would be the best. But as it is, it's an unusable app for me. Can I downgrade?

RE: Unread Only?

MrWoohoo — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 11:09:16 GMT

I found this new "feature" (read items disappear) using the exact "I accidentally hit the next button" method described above. I hate this new feature with a passion. If the first version I downloaded had worked like this I would have deleted the application. I just hope it'll be fixed in the next update.

RE: Unread Only?

Jereboam — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 02:13:57 GMT

Seeing only unread is SO much better.

But it would be great to have access to clippings, which is apparently on the future feature list.

I think if a single tap clipping button (rather than the current two-tap) was added it would alleviate most of people's issues with the new behaviour. There is plenty of space for another button.

A tiny bit of visual feedback (Exposure gives you a small transparent slide-down under the top menubar to confirm actions have completed) would also be great.

RE: Unread Only?

wussman — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:53:37 GMT

Just voting for bringing back the ability to re-read feeds. I always go back and re-read. Not to mention when you accidentally hit the "next unread" button your screwed and don't get a second chance to go back.

RE: Unread Only?

FCA — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 17:45:49 GMT

Hey Brent, thanks for the reply. I do think you are doing the best choice and that you shouldn't hear all the voices off the critics, because just some are useful sometimes.
See, I believe in adding this into the preference pane into Settings that you have already there because people shouldn't complain if a behavior is already done, let's say its predetermined to display unread only, the biggest crowd as you said.
BUT those people (including me btw), again, not a huge crowd as you point out, can simply go to Settings and in your apps' preference pane change it into our right way, because for me right now this app is pretty useless if I can't use it as the Leopard RSS apps (Mail or Google Reader or NetNewsWire, ironically)
anyway, thanks for listening to us, I personally don't like been a pain you know where, but I loved this app for my iPhone 3G since it came out and now I don't seem to find it useful, so thanks if you can make it work and just don't hear the critics-for-everything people and do as a wise developer would do :)
peace
-Fernando

RE: Unread Only?

Brent Simmons — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 17:28:59 GMT

"Whatever I do people will protest!" Yes, it's true. ;)

Here's the thing -- if I add a preference for this, people will also protest that. They'll say that I should have decided how it should work and just made it work that way.

Well, I got tons of feedback from people asking me to show unread items only. I've had just a little feedback from people asking me to also show read items.

Now, it may be that I'll add a preference for this after all. I don't like the idea, but it may be best.

I'm thinking about it.

RE: Unread Only?

Rolldothome — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:34:58 GMT

I really liked and miss the ability to go back one step to an item I read earlier and be able to re-read it at leisure. Please could it be re-instated as an option if not the default. You are doing a wonderful job with the program, which was the app I was looking forward too most when the App store launched. I have found it indispensable but this seems like a big step backwards. I spend a lot of time in an area with no coverage whatsoever and the ability to catch up with all the latest news and be able to flick through items both read and unread is the next best thing to having network access. Please reconsider. Keep up the good work ...

RE: Unread Only?

JonoH — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:39:24 GMT

Well we had the same reaction when it showed all read items. People were pretty much in uproar saying they couldn't use it like it was (I was one of them!).

So I guess Brent is thinking "Whatever I do people will protest!' :crazy:

I think eventually it will work as everyone wants (only showing unread items by default, but the option of going back to view already read items when needed). But this is a new UI with limited space to get everything in there & it's early days for the app. So it will take time to fine tune things to everyone's (or most people's) taste, but I think/hope it will happen eventually.

RE: Unread Only?

eddyb64 — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:06:33 GMT

This doesn't work for me for reasons mentioned by others. Really hinders the usefulness of the app. Bit of a, 'What on Earth were they thinking? It wasn't broke, so why did they fix it?' change to me. Make it a preference if you must implement it this way.

Please allow us to keep read feeds.
Thanks

RE: Unread Only?

LousyHat — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:33:52 GMT

Another user joining the camp of, "Please let us see read items!"

It's just frustrating when my finger accidentally glances the "Next Unread Item" button, and the link I wanted to follow is lost to the ages. :(

Other than that, both the desktop and iPhone versions of NNW are the best RSS readers I've ever used.

RE: Unread Only?

JonoH — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:34:51 GMT

Yea, I much prefer the new version. For me it's much more useable.

But it would be handy to be able to get to your past read items in some way. Maybe the action buttons could have to option to show already read items there?

RE: Unread Only?

RaiMan — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:33:51 GMT

For me the new behaviour is the best for this environment. What i'm missing are the flags, which could help in the mentioned situation.

RE: Unread Only?

SeanM — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 02:04:45 GMT

I personally like this new behavior (though I can see your guys complaints) - hopefully it'll be made a preference rather than just reverting it back to how things worked before.

RE: Unread Only?

FCA — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:56:02 GMT

yeah, I updated the app some minutes ago and saw how it failed this way, I can't honestly see a point in the app eliminating the read stuff by itself, imagine if RSS reader into Mail.app from Mac OS Leopard would do that...it'll be pointless...

RE: Unread Only?

alchemy — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:43:13 GMT

it's already happened in 1.0.1

RE: Unread Only?

FCA — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:34:49 GMT

[quote][b]Brent Simmons (7/21/2008)[/b][hr]All I can say is -- when Apple finally lets the update through, try it then, and see what you think. (And let us know, of course.)[/quote]
Hey Brent, can you bring back read items to the app and not just the unread ones?
This was one of the main reasons I used this app, and now I'm so disappointed I can't read the stuff I already read again, for my own info purposes and to share it with people who are not immediately next to me when I read them. I mean, for me it's easier, kinda read some, mark all of them as read sometimes and take them to be shown to my friends, even in some places where I am totally offline, for example my college that has no signal or WiFi whatsoever.... please, I ask you as a total supporter and someone who would buy this app if it was for sale, BRING BACK this feature, I loved the feel of having my already read articles in my pocket and been able to share them to anyone I wanted offline...it was very very cool...for real! :) I don't even get the reason of auto-eliminating read items, it's like, I don't see a point in that...anyway, you rock, hope you can help us out in this...us means me and my 2 other friends who own an iPhone 3G too and think the same thing about your app...
Thanks in advance man! peace!

-Fernando C.

RE: Unread Only?

Brent Simmons — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 18:27:32 GMT

All I can say is -- when Apple finally lets the update through, try it then, and see what you think. (And let us know, of course.)

RE: Unread Only?

Tris — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:18:24 GMT

Yeah I agree with this, I would definitely prefer to be able to read unread items as well as read items. Might this be changed? Thanks

Unread Only?

LordSauce — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 06:32:47 GMT

Hi,

According to the [url=http://forum.newsgator.com/Topic41281-71-1.aspx]development update[/url] post, version 1.0.3 will show unread items only.

Could you please clarify whether there will be an option to show read items as well? At one point Brent said he wanted to avoid options where possible, but I really hope you haven't decided on a blanket ban of read items.

There are times when I like to flick through posts quickly then come back to them later - enforcing an "unread items only policy" will make NNW unusable as far as I am concerned and I will be forced to find an alternative.

Please make this an option, not an enforced decision.

Jon.