I am excited to announce that Unread 2 is now available in the App Store.
Automatic Webpage Text
If you are frustrated by feeds that include only article summaries, you will love Unread 2. Unread 2 takes Unread’s Readability view to the next level.
Unread 2 automatically determines which feeds contain only article summaries. When displaying articles from such feeds, Unread displays the full article text from the webpage. For any given feed, you can override Unread’s determination of whether to show feed text or webpage text.
In addition, Unread 2 can cache webpage text ahead of time. This gives you fast offline access to the webpage text and embedded images of such articles.
Finally, the webpage text engine is now powered by a server component. Rather than retrieving bloated webpages, Unread retrieves just the parsed article text from Unread servers. This lets Unread retrieve webpage text using minimal bandwidth and battery power.
Subscription Management
Unread 2 lets you subscribe to feeds and unsubscribe from feeds. You can rename and reorganize existing subscriptions. Unread also provides management of Feed Wrangler smart streams, Feedbin tags, Feedbin saved searches, Feedly categories, Inoreader folders, and NewsBlur folders. This feature is not available for Fever accounts.
iPad Features
Unread 2 adds a variety of new features for iPad. If you use the Smart Keyboard Folio or another hardware keyboard, you can use that keyboard almost exclusively to navigate Unread. Almost every operation has a hardware keyboard shortcut.
Unread 2 also adds support for multiple windows on iPad. To open a new window, drag and drop almost any table cell to the side of the screen. You can also drag and drop either an article in an article list or a link inside an article to Safari or to another app. Doing so will copy the link to the receiving app.
Icons
Unread 2 has a flattened icon. Unread 2 also adds the ability to set an alternative icon. There is one alternative icon option for each theme.
More
Additional features of Unread 2 include:
- Saving to Instapaper, Pocket, and Safari Reading List
- Custom double tap actions on articles in the article list
- A new, more compact, article list layout
A more detailed list of everything new in Unread 2.0 is available in the release notes. There is also a new privacy policy.
Pricing
Unread 2 has a new pricing model, a $19.99/year (USD) subscription. You can download and try Unread 2 for free. With the free trial you can read 50 articles. After reading 50 articles you are limited to 3 articles per day.
Purchasing the subscription removes reading limits, allows caching of webpage text and images, and allows you to set an alternative icon. If you purchased the Unread 1 unlock on or after June 1, 2019 and you subscribe before June 1, 2020, you are eligible to get the first year of your Unread 2 subscription for free.
Unread 2 is a new app in the App Store. If you are happily using Unread 1 and want to continue doing so, you can.
I acknowledge that subscription pricing has detractors, but I firmly believe it is the business model that will best allow me to deliver new functionality on a regular basis. Unread 2 adds frequently requested functionality I finished implementing 18 months ago but that I have held back. I had to do that because I needed a way to sell that functionality as a compelling upgrade. The subscription pricing model avoids the need to hold back functionality going forward.
In return for the recurring payment, I am committed to continuously improving Unread. You can judge whether I am honoring that commitment by monitoring the pace and significance of updates. Unread 2 adds a What’s New section to its home screen, where you can see the release notes for the current version and other recent versions.
I have been working on Unread 2 for almost two years. I am excited to share it with you. Please download Unread 2 from the App Store and try it.
