iPhone: I’ve Fallen In Love With Google Reader Again (Thanks To RSS Flash G)

Ever since the birth of Twitter (and the various Twitter Apps like Twitterific, Tweetie and Twittelator), I have had a falling out with reading news via Google Reader, due to the fact that I could only share items with my fellow gReader geeks (and not my Twitterholic buddies).

While hooking up my Google Reader account with Friendfeed helped solve this issue, I always loathed the “RSS delay” which resulted in 10 tweets posted at once, instead of tweeting whenever I discovered an interesting link.

Thanks to an iPhone app by Ebisu Soft called RSS Flash G, I can easily share interesting links directly with the twitterverse, as well as my Google cultic friends on gReader.

While RSS Flash G does have a limited free version available, you might want check out this review of the Good, the Bad and the Buggy before deciding to part ways with 299 pennies.

The Good

Twitter integration aside, RSS Flash G is a very powerful Google Reader iPhone App, supporting (now) common features such as in browser viewing, landscape mode, mark all as read (a must for political junkies) and the ability to view new items only (as well as all of them too).

While basic navigation between feeds is also supported, what thrilled me about RSS Flash G was the ability to “jump” to the next folder, without having to backtrack to the main screen.

Another feature I loved was the ability to view a site via mobile proxy, which is very helpful if you are using EDGE or on a very poor 3G connection (note: you can activate it by hitting the “funny arrow” below).

Last but not least while RSS Flash G supports sharing and notes within Google Reader (which is a plus as many apps only do one or the other), you can share feeds directly to Twitter (note: you must set this up within the apps settings page).

What I really love about the twitter integration is that RSS Flash G gives you the option to either post the title of the article (which can save time explaining it), the link (via bit.ly), the feed title (usually the name of the blog, but it could differ) or all of the above.

You can also choose to simply add a comment of your own (or edit the tweet yourself).

The Bad

There were a few annoying features that I loathed (yes, I truly hated), which the app leaves as the default settings when you start it up.

The first was the “feature” that automatically sends you to the top of the screen within the reader. This one item made me almost uninstall the app entirely as I was unable to check out folders near the bottom without being thrown up near the top every 15 seconds.

The second (less annoying) feature was the headlines (or item page within RSS Flash G), which makes the app look “cramped” at launch (giving it an information overload feel).

See Also

Hopefully the author is able to update this app and turn these off by default, as these two items will probably annoy a lot of customers (especially in the US).

The Buggy

I only came across two bugs, one minor and one major within this app. The minor one was the status counter outside the app would disappear every once in a while, although this seems to be a common bug throughout most RSS feed readers (so it may be Apple’s fault).

The other one (which is major) is that the app keeps forgetting your Twitter account credentials, which is very sad as its tweet integration is one of the reasons why I purchased this app in the first place.

Hopefully the creator can fix these bugs in a new update (as app reviewers are unfairly becoming more brutal within Apple’s app store).

Conclusion

Overall RSS Flash G is an excellent iPhone app for gReader fans seeking to connect to the Twitterverse. This app rivals both Byline and Feeds, and is worth exchanging $3 for (provided they fix the Twitter bug—hint, hint).

Hopefully the author considers adding additional features such as support for multiple Twitter accounts, Bit.ly account integration via their API, as well as Instapaper and Read It Later support (which are becoming quite popular among Twitter and gReader apps).

Either way I truly did enjoy using RSS Flash G, and I look forward to tweeting all of my favorite blogs without relying upon Friendfeed (or even Twitterfeed).

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Darnell Clayton

Darnell Clayton is a geek who discovered blogging long before he heard of the word "blog" (he called them "web journals" then). When he is not tweeting, friendfeeding, or blogging about space, he enjoys running, reading and describing himself in third person.

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