This review originally appeared within iLounge’s iOS Gems series within the compilation article, iPhone Gems: Every RSS Reader, Reviewed. Additional details may be found in the original article.

Review: azRSS NewsReader by VirtueSoft.com

As a simple RSS reader, azRSS NewsReader ($2) falls short of the competition due to a questionable interface and a lack of common, user-friendly features. The app’s main screen lists subscribed feeds along with a “Feeds Directoy” containing roughly 45 different feeds which the user can choose to subscribe to; users may also add individual feeds. The app lacks any sort of feed auto-detection, meaning that users wanting to add feeds not listed in the directory need to remember and type in the complete feed URL (including “http://”), or the app will bring up an invalid URL error. The app’s interface is neither pretty nor offensive, but simply okay.

Tapping on a subscribed feed brings the user to the Articles view, where each item is listed with its title and a star for unread or a checkmark for read items; there is no way to mark all unread, or to mark previously-read items as unread. The individual item view page is plain, with text presented in a reasonably-sized serif font. Links clicked from within this view open in the app’s built-in browser. Limited by its inability to automatically find feed URLs, lack of syncing, lack of a flagging option, and hampered by relatively infrequent but still annoying crashes, azRSS would be hard-pressed to garner a recommendation even at the free price level. The addition of any of the above features would help improve this app, which at $2 falls well short of our recommendation. iLounge Rating: D.

Our Rating

D
Poor

Company and Price

Company: VirtueSoft.com

Website: www.virtuesoft.com

Title: azRSS NewsReader

Price: $2

Compatible: iPhones, iPod touches

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Charles Starrett

Charles Starrett was a senior editor at iLounge. He's been covering the iPod, iPhone, and iPad since their inception. He has written numerous articles and reviews, and his work has been featured in multiple publications.