Simple RSS App Sputnik Stays Out Of Your Way So You Can Read

Simple RSS App Sputnik Stays Out Of Your Way So You Can Read

Still looking for an RSS reader? Try something simple. Sputnik (free, donationware) is a Windows and Mac RSS reader that focuses on your feeds and little else. Set it up and start reading.

Kannon put together a complete manual for Feedly, because we feel it’s the best Google Reader alternative out there right now – it’s feature filled, fast and syncs to all major platforms.

But after Google Reader’s shutdown some RSS users are (understandably) afraid to ever trust a web-based service again. It’s why we’ve been pointing out desktop alternatives, and even self-hosted, web-based RSS readers like TinyTinyRSS. This lets you set up your own Google Reader alternative in the cloud

Sputnik is a desktop app, and a lot easier to use than all that. It doesn’t currently sync with anything, but it’s still worth checking out if all you want is a quick way to go through your feeds.

Reading Your Feeds

Start up Sputnik and you’ll immediately see something to read. Feeds are found on the left, article at the right, and everything looks great:

The program is built on node.js and webkit, meaning it is on some level a website running on your computer. It’s kind of weird, sure, but the result is fast and beautiful so it’s hard to complain.

Adding a feed is simple:

Note that you can create categories, something every decent RSS reader includes. This means you can read all of (for example) your Technology blogs at once. You can also import your existing list of feeds, if you have an OPML file:

There’s no built-in support for pulling in full-text version of articles, and clicking a headline just opens the link in your default browser. Those looking for a more integrated rendering experience should use a service like FiveFilter’s Content Only RSS service, which provides a full-text version of any RSS feed.

Getting To Know The App

Using the app isn’t complex, but if you’re not sure which keys to use don’t panic: just click the keyboard icon at bottom-left to review the controls:

Support for the traditional jk controls is lacking, but the shortcuts used here aren’t hard to learn. You’ll get used to it.

Settings aren’t complex:

You can pick how many articles to show and how long archived articles should hang around on your computer.

Like I keep saying: this app is simple. I think that’s why I like it, though.

Alternatives

If you’d prefer something more complex, however, you do have options. I outlined the best RSS readers for Mac, and my favorite choice for power users is stillReadKit ($6.99).

For Windows users, I recommend NextGen Reader ($2.99), which I think is the best Windows 8 RSS reader. Sure, it’s a Metro app, but it’s so useful you’ll forgive it.

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