Raven Reader is a cross-platform, open source RSS feed aggregator that supports podcasts

Ashwin
Dec 30, 2020
Updated • Jan 12, 2021
Software, Windows software
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12

RSS Feed aggregators are a great way to stay up-do-date with the latest articles from your favorite websites. Some prefer online services, others browser add-ons while some, like me, rely on offline readers such as QuiteRSS.

Raven Reader is a cross-platform, open source RSS feed aggregator that supports podcasts

Raven Reader is a cross-platform, open source RSS feed aggregator that supports podcasts. The program's installer does not allow you to customize the location where you want to install the application to; in fact it is a one-click silent installation.

Raven's interface is clean and visually pleasing. You don't need to register for an account to use the application. Click on the Add button at the top of the screen, or on the last item in the sidebar Subscriptions, you can also access this from the menubar. A small pop-up appears, where you can paste a website's RSS feed URL.

Raven Reader add feed

It also supports web search, so you don't have to enter the full URL of the site. Type something partial like ghacks.net and Raven Reader will fetch the feed and display the result. You can choose which feed to subscribe to and give it a name.

Raven Reader category

Choose the "Add new category" option, to create a new folder and keep your feeds organized. Hit the Subscribe button, and you will see the list of articles available in the middle pane of Raven Reader.

If you are coming from a different RSS reader, click on the Import or Export menu option and select an OPML feed. Raven Reader will add your subscribed feeds, while preserving the folder structure.

Raven Reader export import opml

The program displays the posts in chronological order, if you want to change this, head to the menu: Raven Reader > Settings. Toggle the "Oldest articles first" option to see the latest articles at the top of the list.

And while you're on the settings, you may want to set how long the articles should be kept, the refresh interval, and select a theme for the application.

Raven Reader Settings

Right-click on an article in the list pane to copy its link, mark it as read, favorite or to save the article for offline reading. The Search bar at the top can be used to quickly find articles that contain the keyword. Fetch new articles, mark all posts as read by clicking the buttons next to the search bar.

Raven Reader RSS feed options

The name Raven Reader should give you an obvious hint, but yes, you can read articles directly from the program. Select an article in the middle pane, and it will be loaded in the reader pane that's to the right edge of the window.

Raven Reader view article partial

The Reader pane has a few buttons on the toolbar. The Full Content option displays the entire article, even if the feed doesn't support it.

Raven Reader view full content

The program loads articles in the "Reading mode" view sans images, ads, etc. Load the full article by clicking the Globe icon. The Share icon is handy for sending the link to the topic via Email, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Raven Reader view original article

Ctrl + Click opens the article in a new window. If you just want to get the headlines in Raven Reader, and read articles in your preferred browser, you can do that by using the shortcut Ctrl + B or by selecting the option from the Item menu. Read articles in full-screen view with the F11 hotkey. Save an article for offline reading using Ctrl + O or the struck out Wi-Fi button on the toolbar. Set the font type, size by clicking on the gear cog icon in the top-right corner.

Raven Reader format options

Here's the best part. Raven Reader supports Podcasts, so you can use it to listen to your favorite shows directly from the app. It's pretty basic though, and only lets you control the playback, adjust the volume, and the speed.

Raven Reader podcast

Let's check the sidebar. The All Feeds option displays articles from all of your subscriptions. If you've starred a post, it will appear in the Favorites section, while Unread Articles, Recently Read, Saved Articles and your Recently Played (podcast episodes) are listed in their corresponding sections.

Raven Reader sidebar options

Manage a feed by right-clicking on it, this allows you to rename it, unsubscribe, copy a feed's link. Raven Reader allows you to connect your Instapaper, Pocket and Feedbin accounts, you can do this from the Settings.

Raven Reader notification

The program runs in the background and stays in the system tray, and displays notifications when new articles are available. The tray icon looks odd if you're using a light theme.

 

Raven Reader is an Electron application. The program is open source and available for Windows, Mac and Linux. The memory usage was usually in the 200-400MB range (with 100+ feeds), when running in the foreground or background. While that is not a lot of memory usage for a modern computer, it shows Electron apps are still resource hogs. In comparison, Quite RSS with the same feeds used about 200-300MB of RAM in the foreground, and about 10-20MB of RAM while minimized.

Note: Don't download the latest alpha that's available on GitHub, it's outdated and a bit buggy, it wouldn't import my OPML. The GitHub repo is up-to-date, but the latest installer (v1.0.18) is only available on the official website, and it works perfectly. The program doesn't follow the system theme accurately, when my computer was in Dark mode only the menubar of Raven turned dark.

Summary
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4 based on 1 votes
Software Name
Raven Reader
Operating System
Windows, Linux, Mac
Software Category
Internet
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Comments

  1. blackmojo said on January 1, 2021 at 4:44 pm
    Reply

    Sorry, I forgot to thanks for every comments here with more others possiblely readers ! THx x 10000!

  2. blackmojo said on January 1, 2021 at 4:40 pm
    Reply

    Half of my RSS feeds don’t work in Raven (I use Opera newsfeed reader) The reason I’ve tried Raven is the possibility to search in news, Opera don’t have this, and it’s a pity. PLus Electron, sorry, but not sorry …. I will search for another reader FREE in first and on Linux, of course.

    Do you have good resolutions for 2021 ? Like more Linux apps, tricks …etc ? :D

  3. Anonymous said on January 1, 2021 at 1:50 pm
    Reply

    Sorry, I won’t support Electron apps.

  4. OmkAR said on January 1, 2021 at 3:07 am
    Reply

    Switched from Inoreader and QuiteRSS to FeedBro only and never looked back.

  5. White said on December 31, 2020 at 9:03 am
    Reply

    I use inoreader but i’ll give it a try.

    1. Anonymous said on January 1, 2021 at 12:56 am
      Reply

      This uses Electron. No difference from just open Inoreader in your browser.

  6. Ryan F said on December 30, 2020 at 11:04 pm
    Reply

    Looks like a rather nice feed reader and one that I’d probably really like using. Unfortunately for me, I use RSS on my computer as well as my phone so I have to stick with a solution that can sync between the two and isn’t cumbersome to use. I used to rely on Google Reader many years ago – the mobile app was great, and Feed Demon was an excellent desktop app that synced up with the service. Of course, after Google killed it off (as Google is wont to do with all good things), I tried a number of replacements and settled on NewsBlur. I don’t think they offer a desktop app, but the web app works pretty well and so does the Android app. I never saw a particular need to switch away from it but I’m always open to trying out other things.

  7. Krös said on December 30, 2020 at 7:18 pm
    Reply

    I’m currently using RSS Guard without QtWebEngine and memory usage is reeeally low. And I know you guys already made an article on it years ago, but RSS Guard has matured so much since then, that I think it deserves a new one. Thanks for the article!

  8. Clairvaux said on December 30, 2020 at 6:42 pm
    Reply

    Great find, Ashwin. Now the question everybody wonders about : does it have at least the same functionality as Quite RSS ?

    1. DrKnow said on January 2, 2021 at 6:24 am
      Reply

      Ashwin doesn’t really review software. He screenshots the basic screens and puts together a ‘review’ seemingly based on 30 mins of playing with software.

      Ashwin please start comparing software you review against the ‘leading’ competition.
      Sure, that takes more but is way more useful the ‘basic’ this is what it does review.

  9. Anonymous said on December 30, 2020 at 5:17 pm
    Reply

    Thanks for the Review. Also to add the above podcast playing, in the recent version i.e 1.0.23 it would also play videos in-app if you subscribe to Youtube channels.

  10. Anonymous said on December 30, 2020 at 5:15 pm
    Reply

    Bloated Electron app. Ill stick with QuiteRSS.

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