Top 10 Most Downloaded RSS Reader Apps [Movers & Shakers]

It’s time once again for our featured Movers and Shakers post. Each week, we take one software category and list the top ten most downloaded apps. This week, we are looking at RSS and newsreaders. These are the apps that can be used to read really simple syndication and news feeds from your computer.

1. Xnews
Weighing in at first place, raking in 1,756,385 downloads of all time and 1,875 downloads this week is Xnews news reader. Xnews is a very easy to use and super simple to install news reader. It allows you to add, remove and read your feeds. It also allows for multiple identities, advanced filtering, option headers and article caching.

2. Snarfer
Snarfer is popular for its ease of use and simplicity. It allows for dragging and dropping to its saved folder and is recommended as a first feed reader for users. As you get familiar with it you might start looking for more features but it is a great place to start!

3. GrabIt
Another Usenet news reader that allows for speedy downloads without grabbing the new headers.

4. FeedDemon
This one is my favorite news reader on my office PC. It has all the bells and whistles you might need or want in addition to being very easy to use. It now syncs with Google Reader!

5. RSS Bandit
The RSS Bandit allows for you to group multiple news headlines across multiple feeds on the same page for easy reading. You can also search for new feeds from the application which is a very welcome feature.

  1. ESPN BottomLine

    2. A feed reader just for sports and all the posts originate from ESPN. It has a great collection of posts for sports fans.

  2. BottomFeeder

    3. A solid RSS reader that looks like it was from 1999. But it works well and uses almost no memory at all. I like that it comes with feeds pre-installed.

  3. Tristana RSS Reader

    4. Another lightweight feed reader but this one features forward and back buttons to move through your feeds. It syncs with your iPod and also claims to be “Spam Proof”. Version 5.0.0.45 updates feeds with dynamic URLs and lets you permanently change feed names.

  4. Omea Reader

    5. This is a feed reader that embraces the multi-paned and multi-tabbed way of life. If you love your tabs, you will love Omea Reader. This is an application I tried out years ago and it worked well. Today, it seems that it has been greatly improved and uses little system resources. The publisher describes Omea Reader as a free all-in-one RSS reader, NNTP news reader, desktop search, web bookmark manager, and information organizer. If you’re serious about staying up to date, then Omea Reader is for you. 

  5. Binjet Downloading Engine

    6. If you are a Usenet reader and fan then you know that there is a ton of content to download there. If it is out there on Usenet then Binjet can download it! 

Tagged: • •

Karl L. Gechlik

Karl L. Gechlik here from AskTheAdmin.com doing a weekly guest blogging spot for our new found friends at MakeUseOf.com. I run my own consulting company, manage AskTheAdmin.com and work a full 9 to 5 job on Wall street as a System Administrator.

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  • saumil

    google reader is best …. i dont think a standalone software is required for reading RSS feeds…

  • dann

    My vote goes for Opera. It has the best integrated RSS reader I know of that can easily take on with Google Reader or standalone solutions.
    + Great Keyboard Navigation
    + Easy Feed management
    + Good and fast filter functions

  • http://www.facebook.com/Pablo432 -Pablo-

    I’m really surprised to see so many unknown names in this list! I have only heard about 3 or 4 of them all, while for most others “Movers and Shakers” I tend to have tried out most of the apps mentioned.
    I’m really astonished that there seems to be so many people using these (for me) rather obscure apps.

    I expected to see other names listed!

  • _Pablo_

    I’m really surprised to see so many unknown names in this list! I have only heard about 3 or 4 of them all, while for most others “Movers and Shakers” I tend to have tried out most of the apps mentioned.
    I’m really astonished that there seems to be so many people using these (for me) rather obscure apps.

    I expected to see other names listed!

  • http://www.omertabeyond.com vBm

    FeedReader is the one that does the awesome job for me. Too bad it seems that it is dead project nowdays.

  • http://www.techhamlet.com Pubudu Kodikara

    I thought FeedDemon is the top! :D Know any top RSS readers for Linux? :D

  • Pubudu@TechHamlet

    I thought FeedDemon is the top! :D Know any top RSS readers for Linux? :D

  • Scott_T

    News readers and RSS arent the same thing. For instance, I dont think grabit does rss.

    • http://www.askTheAdmin.com Karl L. Gechlik

      Scott they are not the same thing but they are grouped together into one category. News Readers AND RSS Readers.

  • ops

    @dann I tried Opera and I must say that has a great feed reader integrated! Thanks for your suggestion!

    I really like Greatnews http://www.curiostudio.com/ that should become open source, I think it will be a great desktop feed reader.

  • ops

    @dann I tried Opera and I must say that has a great feed reader integrated!Thanks for your suggestion!

    I really like Greatnews http://www.curiostudio.com/ that should become open source, I think it will be a great desktop feed reader.

  • http://anarm.net/blog/ Anarm

    i’m using FeedDemon.. excellent apps for me..