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I have just submitted a bugfix update for NewsRack 2.5 that should help with the most common problems that users reported for the new version; specifically:

• Fixes compatibility issue with iPhone 3G and iPod touch 2nd generation, running iOS 4
• Improved performance for opening articles and the sharing menu
• Fixes an issue with hosted Google accounts

I apologize if you experienced any of these problems in 2.5 and I hope that Apple makes the new version available as soon as possible.

I’ve just been notified of a bug in NewsRack 2.5 that leads to crashes on the iPhone 3G, running iOS 4. An update to fix this will follow as soon as possible. Please don’t update NewsRack yet if you’re running iOS 4 on an iPhone 3G. If you’re still on iPhone OS 3.x or have a newer iPhone, the problem should not occur. Thanks!

After a long wait, a new version of NewsRack is now available in the App Store. There are a lot of improvements, as you’ll see in the iTunes release notes and I’d like to highlight just a few of them here:

Support for iOS 4: While the previous versions did also work on iOS 4, they did not take full advantage of its new features, specifically fast app switching and background task completion. Version 2.5 can now complete synchronization in the background, so you don’t have to wait for articles to be marked as read in Google Reader before switching to another app. You can also start a synchronization, hit the home button and watch the unread articles counter on the home screen go up (if you have the icon badge option enabled). Another benefit of fast app switching is that when you come back to NewsRack, you’ll find it exactly as you left it – whether you have scrolled down in an article or navigated to a specific dialog in the settings.

On a related note, the iPhone 4’s Retina display is now also supported, so that icons and other interface elements look crisp.

Faster sync: If you synchronize NewsRack with Google Reader, you’ll notice that refreshing your feeds is a lot faster now. 2.5 contains an entirely new sync engine that is designed to improve both speed and accuracy. There is one compromise though: NewsRack no longer automatically downloads articles you’ve already read. If you want to read a blog’s archive however, you can download as many older articles as you like manually, which wasn’t possible before. Just open a feed, scroll down and select “Load More…”, just like in the Mail app.

Mark as unread: This is probably one of the most-requested features. You can now mark articles as unread by either tapping the light gray dot in the list of articles or the circle icon when viewing an individual article. Please note that if you sync with Google Reader, it’s possible that this option is unavailable for older articles.

Slideshow: On the iPad, you can now start a gorgeos anagram-style slideshow from a list of articles. Tap the “images” button to get started.

Improved sharing interface: The interface for sharing articles on the iPad gets a lot less in the way than before. Most sharing dialogs now open in non-modal popovers, obscuring a lot less of the article you’re about to share. Also, the progress indicator for sending to Twitter, Instapaper etc. no longer blocks touches, so that you can continue to browse while an article is being sent.

Another new feature of the sharing interface is the ability to easily share just part of an article. Simply select some text and it will automatically be used as the email body or as notes for delicious and Instapaper.

These are just a few of the new features and improvements and I hope you’ll like them. As always, you can use the contact form to leave feedback.

As of the latest update (2.4), NewsRack is now a universal app. This means that it will run on both iPhone/iPod touch and iPad in full resolution with no pixels doubled. If you already have NewsRack and get an iPad in addition to your iPhone, you can use the same app on your new device without paying again.

NewsRack on iPad should feel familiar if you used Apple’s included Mail app before. In landscape view, you’ll see your lists of feeds and articles on the left and a big reading view with iPad-optimized layout on the right. When you rotate the device to portrait, you’ll have a full-screen reading view with the list always available in a popover. I hope you enjoy reading your feeds on this new category of computer.

After the latest update (2.3.2) we received numerous serious bug reports from our customers. The issues included the Google Reader password not being saved, crashes after entering feed URLs and the unread counter not showing the correct number of unread articles after refreshing feeds.

We have investigated these issues and sent another update to Apple on the same day 2.3.2 was published. However, as you all know, it can take a little while for an update to get approved by Apple and it is not possible for us to go back to an earlier version. We therefore decided to remove NewsRack from sale until said bugfix update is available.

We apologize for any inconvenience this update caused for you and we hope that Apple makes the new version available soon.

I just received an email from Apple that NewsRack 2.3.1 (formerly Newsstand) is now ‘Ready for Sale’, so it should be available shortly in an App Store near you.

This update does little more than changing the name, which I was forced to do due to a trademark complaint. Also, feeds that use basic authentication should work better in some cases.

I’m still working on resolving a specific problem some users are experiencing with Google Reader sync, so another bugfix update will probably follow shortly. In the meantime, I recommend to re-enter your password in NewsRack’s settings if your feeds don’t refresh.

Due to a trademark complaint that was forwarded to us by Apple, we had to change Newsstand’s name on short notice; it is now called NewsRack. Because we had to remove the app from sale immediately, it is currently not available, but an updated version with the new name is already in review, so you should be able to get it from the App Store soon.

Customers who bought Newsstand before will of course receive NewsRack as a free update.

Thanks to everyone who suggested names!

I’m aware that a lot of users are experiencing problems with Google Reader sync at the moment, so that all feeds are showing error indicators.

You can usually resolve this issue by just entering your Google Reader password in Newsstand’s settings dialog again (tap the ‘gear’ button). This will cause Newsstand to get a fresh login and clear all errors that have accumulated. As Newsstand has to download everything again, this may take a little while, but downloading feeds should work normally again afterwards.

I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause for you.

In other news: Newsstand 2.3 is on its way to the App Store (currently in review) and will bring facebook sharing and compatibility with Yahoo accounts for delicious bookmarks.

I just received an email from Apple that Newsstand 2.2 is now ready for sale. It might take a few hours until it shows up in your App Store, but this time, it got through review a lot faster than I expected (just 6 days).

There are two new features that aren’t mentioned in the release notes yet:

• Recommended Feeds: If you sync with Google Reader, you can now add feeds that GR thinks might be of interest to you.
• Compress Database: This new entry at the very bottom of the settings dialog allows you to optimize the internal database for better performance and lower memory consumption. It depends on how heavily you use Newsstand if and when optimization is necessary, so your mileage may vary.

You can read about the other new features and improvements here. I hope you’ll enjoy the update.

Just a short information on the state of the upcoming Newsstand update: After a second rejection, it’s now in review again.
Here is the text of the rejection email and the attached screenshot (which looks exactly the same as in the current version in the App Store).

Dear Mr. Zorn,
Thank you for submitting Newsstand 2.2 to the App Store. We’ve reviewed Newsstand 2.2 and determined that we cannot post this version of your iPhone application to the App Store because of an Apple trademark image. We want to remind you of the importance of following Apple’s posted Guidelines for Using Apple’s Trademarks and Copyrights: .
Screenshots of this issue have been attached for your reference.
If you believe that you can make the necessary changes so that Newsstand 2.2 does not infringe on Apple trademarks, we encourage you to do so and resubmit it for review.
++++++++++++
Apple Logo and Apple-owned Graphic Symbols:
You may not use the Apple Logo or any other Apple-owned graphic symbol, logo, or icon on or in connection with web sites, products, packaging, manuals, promotional/advertising materials, or for any other purpose except pursuant to an express written trademark license from Apple, such as a reseller agreement.

I have changed the URL and feed directory icons in the version that is now in review again. Thanks for your patience! I’ll keep you posted.

Since Newsstand 2.0, it’s been possible to subscribe to your own Twitter timeline with just one tap. If you read Twitter primarily for interesting links though, you might be interested in Readtwit. This web application extracts an RSS feed of links in your Twitter timeline. Instead of cryptic shortened URLs, you get the full article titles in the feed and even a snapshot of the linked website’s content – all without using the integrated browser. Getting your feed and adding it to Google Reader is straightforward and presented in a lovable UI.

I’m honored to see that Newsstand is once again featured in iLounge’s list of 100 Essential iPhone and iPod touch Apps.
You can download the massive PDF guide with lots of information on accessories and software for iPhone and iPod here. There’s also a mobile version to view directly on the iPhone.

A few weeks back, I wrote here about the new features and improvements in Newsstand 2.2. Shouldn’t it be out by now? – Yes, it should; unfortunately, it isn’t. After two weeks of waiting, I received a rejection email from Apple, stating that Newsstand 2.2 could not be posted to the App Store until two issues are resolved:

• A rare crash that could occur when you try to add a new feed in airplane mode

• The icon of the sharing menu must be changed. So far, it has been the standard iPhone OS ‘action’ icon, but with the new, custom design of the sharing menu, the use of this icon is not allowed.

Both are, to a certain extent, valid complaints, but I would have preferred to be informed about them earlier.
I’m currently working on resolving these issues, so the new 2.2 should be there soon.

Thanks for your patience!

Newsstand 2 has been out for over a month now and I’d like to thank everybody who has sent in feedback and bug reports. I’ve been working on this new version for over four months, basically rewriting and redesigning everything from scratch.

The 2.1 update has mostly been about bugfixes and minor usability enhancements, so let’s move on to what you can expect in version 2.2.

First of all, this update introduces a new sync method for Google Reader: Instead of refreshing every feed individually, you can optionally refresh categories as a whole, which results in fewer network requests and typically a much faster synchronization. You will still be able to sync individual feeds to load older news, but the new default is to download the latest articles across all feeds within each category.

Sharing news has always been one of Newsstand’s key features and the new version (finally) allows to use Google Reader’s own sharing feature as well. Shared articles have a special marker in the article list, so you can easily see which ones are public.

Speaking of which, the sharing menu also sees a complete redesign that preserves more screen real estate for the actual content you are about to share. For Delicious, Instapaper and ReadItLater, there’s a new “Save Immediately” option that skips the dialog to enter a title etc. and just saves the article with the default title.

Another feature that you requested a lot is to hide feeds and categories without unread articles. This will also be possible with the new release; just tap the little “Hide read feeds” button at the bottom of the list. The setting also applies to the newspaper view, so you can flip through just the newspapers that you haven’t seen yet.

If you use our new iPhone app Tags to save bookmarks to delicious, you can also do so directly from Safari.

Just drag this link to your bookmarks bar (or some other bookmark folder) in Safari on your Mac or PC and enable bookmark syncing in iTunes.

Tag This!

From now on, when you see an interesting website in Safari Mobile, you can simply select “Tag This!” from your bookmarks and Tags will be launched to save the page to delicious.

After a lot of waiting for Apple’s approval, Tags 1.0 is now available in the App Store for just $2.99 (or 2.39€ if you’re in Europe).

In short, Tags lets you view bookmarks on delicious.com. You can filter your bookmark collection with the animated tag cloud, see what’s new in your inbox or discover related bookmarks by others.

You can download Tags here or visit the Tags page to learn more about it and see a demo video.

We have submitted Newsstand 1.3 to Apple yesterday and, for the impatient, here are the release notes, as they will appear in iTunes:

• New landscape mode for reading articles and browsing feed lists
• Embedded Twitter client for instant sharing of articles
• Mini Browser and article display merged into one view for improved memory footprint
• Font size can now be adjusted in every theme; removed ‘Large Font’ theme
• Delicious.com sharing now uses the embedded browser
• The article list now displays the time instead of the date for today’s articles
• General interface overhaul and scrolling performance improvements
• Option to refresh all feeds at launch
• Removed the ‘Article Zoom’ preference in favor of an improved default behaviour

This release is mostly focussed on improvements to the interface, the most visible of which is the new, more traditional landscape mode. Rotating your device no longer triggers the fancy coverflow-style view, but instead you can read articles and browse feeds similar to Safari’s landscape mode. The ‘newsstand’ mode is of course still available by touching a button.

By popular demand, posting to Twitter is a new way of sharing your articles. You can do so directly from within Newsstand and it features some shortcuts to make it quick and easy. For example, you can insert a TinyURL to the current article just by tapping a button, there’s also a handy counter to make sure you stay within the 140 character limit.

The embedded mini browser sees a refresh too. It is no longer a popup, instead you stay within the article view, just the toolbar changes to make navigation and opening Safari possible. This is not only faster than the previous method, it also conserves memory. This new browser is now also used to post to delicious, so you don’t have to leave Newsstand for that anymore.

While the selection of themes is still the same in 1.3, you can now customize the font size of each theme with a slider in the selection dialog. This makes the ‘Large Font’ theme redundant, so it’s no longer there. Just use the default theme and select a larger font for the same effect.

Hopefully, this new version will be available soon as a free download for existing customers (otherwise still $4.99). We can’t give an exact release date right now, it usually takes Apple about a week to approve an update, but sometimes more. As soon as it’s out, feel free to tell us what you like or don’t like about the new version. Thanks!

With Tags, a new app joins our iPhone lineup. In short, Tags allows you to synchronize, browse and discover delicious.com bookmarks on your iPhone. Among other things it features a slick, animated tag cloud to filter your bookmarks.

You can discover new websites in your network, the hotlist or even your delicious inbox and tag them on the go – tag-autocompletion included.

Be sure to watch the demo video on the new Tags page !

Tags will be available soon in the iTunes App Store.

Update (02/01/2009): The review process seems to be really slow this time. We’re sorry, but Tags seems to be stuck in the App Store queue since about a month… Hopefully it’ll soon get approved, stay tuned!

As the title suggests, version 1.2 of Newsstand is available now as a free download for existing customers or for $4.99 on the App Store . The release notes read like this:

• Import from Google Reader
• Feed search now uses Google instead of Bloglines
• Faster refresh for feeds without changes
• Option to disable auto rotation
• Option not to show the unread articles badge on the icon

Certainly, the most-requested feature was the Google Reader import. Also, due to problems with the Bloglines server, the search feature didn’t work anymore in the previous version and is now replaced by an integrated Google Blog Search which should also yield better search results.

If you don’t like to think of unread articles as ‘todo items’ you can now disable the red badge on the icon. Just look in your iPhone’s Settings app in the Newsstand section.

As always, feel free to contact us if you have comments on the new version.