frostcube / just-rss

A simple RSS reader made with TypeScript, Angular and Ionic

Just RSS

Just RSS was created so that people would have a RSS client that could run on their smart phone. Designed for people with less than 50 feeds but still want to use RSS without self hosting or a subscription (You can add more feeds, it may just be slow depending on your phone).

Core pillars:

• Open Source (Yah!)
• All processing done on-device
• No Ads
• No Subscription
• Distraction free

The intention is to keep Just RSS a simple app with as few features as possible, however the open source nature means that you are able to fork it and add your dream feature if that's what you want and that's cool too.

Beta Access

Developer Getting Started

npm install -g @ionic/cli native-run cordova-res
npm install -g @angular/cli

Building

Web

The local proxy currently re-writes address such as https://www.theverge.com/ and makes them available with debugging CORS headers and then remaps them to local address. For instance the verge is available here: http://localhost:8100/verge

Command to run with proxy enabled for debugging:

ionic serve -- --proxy-config proxy.conf.json

RSS local feeds:

http://localhost:8100/polygon/rss/index.xml
http://localhost:8100/verge/rss/index.xml

Android and iOS

To rebuild assets (icon and splash screen) run:

npx capacitor-assets generate

For naming details see the relevant Capacitor Guide

Sync web bundle (www) to platform:

ionic cap copy

Changes to native plugins:

ionic cap sync

Android

Open project in Android Studio:

ionic cap open android

iOS

Open project in XCode:

ionic cap open ios

RSS Feed Samples

https://derme.coffee/index.xml
https://news.ycombinator.com/rss
https://www.polygon.com/rss/index.xml
https://www.theverge.com/rss/index.xml
https://feeds.megaphone.fm/vergecast

just-rss's Issues

Native RSS Parser

Older devices are a bit slow with downloading feeds, if needed consider a custom capacitor plugin that replaces the JavaScript RSSParser library.

Entry disappears from bookmark list on refresh

Historical Feed Support

Instead of wiping the feed clean each refresh, keep the most recent articles as long as it doesn't exceed the configurable feed limit.

Sliding list buttons are unreliable

Consider migrating to the new Angular @list format

Roadmap for Open Beta

Currently the app is in open beta, this is a non-exhaustive list of items that need to be completed before removing the beta label.

Global App

• Profile Performance and Review
• #8

Feed

List

• Top news/Focus News
• Natural groups for articles
  • Trending topics? With only on-device processing
• Tag support
• Easy to read, nice font, configurable?
• Allow for different configuration of time. Date vs How long ago (e.g. 2 hrs ago)

Preview

• Easier next/previous article navigation on source preview

Sources

• #3
• Combine search and add buttons
• Implement modal for source config
• More suggested sources
• Break feed into a sub-component for the list of entries

Saved

• Use feed sub-component for entries

Keyboard obscures Input in menus

Consider adding keyboard padding.

Links in iOS should open in Reader mode

Pending upstream PR: ionic-team/capacitor-plugins#1865

International Support

Tracking better international support.

• Include more time zones #31
• Include international suggested sources
• Consider breaking apart countries and languages

rebuildEntriesFromCache() should only update new entries

Instead of rebuilding the whole feed this function should only add new entries to the list and resort.

Add support for feed groups/tags

Currently the feed can be viewed as a whole or by a specific source. Consider adding support for feed groups/categories.

HTTP Support

Currently the parser doesn't support http links.

Example feed:

• http://rss.dw.com/rdf/rss-en-top

Currently the plan is to leave this unfixed as browsers like Firefox are moving to https only and adding support for this would require making a security exception in the capacitor config.

Improve Onboarding Experience

• For onboarding, landing page should be sources
• Feed should auto refresh when there are no entries
• Suggest maybe a “last updated” for main feed

Same feed can be added twice

OPML Import/Export Support

Consider support for OPML: http://opml.org/

The suggested component should be expanded into a generic import component with the ability to select different sources.

Debounce issue on filter list

Currently items in the filter list will activate several times, which causes glitches with app

Sources page doesn't respect padding

Currently the sources page doesn't respect padding on the URL bar:

Main feed should be updated when new source is added

This is a bug as the current way that a feed is added results in unintended/buggy behavior.