Frequently Asked Questions « NetNewsWire App

Frequently Asked Questions

This page is a work in progress, please excuse the dust.

If you can’t find an answer here, please try searching the forums.
Limited support is available via email: submit a ticket, make an inquiry or file a bug report at support@blackpixel.com.

Questions (click on one to jump to the answer):

General (about all versions of NetNewsWire)

How do I get support?

There are Google Groups set up just for NetNewsWire — one each for Mac, iPhone, and iPad.

The lists, with a wealth of knowledge and cadre of long-time users, can be found here:

NetNewsWire for Mac
NetNewsWire for iPhone
NetNewsWire for iPad

Our new, official support channel is simply: support@blackpixel.com

Do you do support via Twitter?

While we listen to and monitor Twitter, it’s difficult to do support 140 characters at a time; there just isn’t enough room for the questions and answers.

There are Google Groups dedicated to NetNewsWire support with subscribers that are long-time users as well as Black Pixel staff, oft one and the same. We encourage you to poke around, your question may have been answered in the archives.

What versions of NetNewsWire are there, and what are the differences?

Mac: one version

You can use the Mac version for free. If you do, an ad from the Deck network appears in the lower-left corner of the window.

If you’d like get to rid of the ad, you can buy a serial number for $14.95.

iPhone: two versions

There’s a free version that displays ads from the Deck network. It’s just called “NetNewsWire” on the App Store.

There’s a for-pay premium version that does not display ads from the Deck network. It’s called “NetNewsWire Premium” on the App Store.

iPad: one version

The iPad version is called “NetNewsWire for iPad” on the App Store. There is one version (no free version). It costs $9.99 currently and may change upon further release.

When will you add ________ (a feature that I want)?

It’s impossible to say for sure if and when, so we won’t make promises in advance.

But we get a lot of great feature requests all the time, and we have a very good idea of what people would like to see.

As always, as with everybody who writes software, we have to balance time and resources and we have to use our best judgment about when to do what. And we change our mind from time to time, as things come up and the world changes. Sometimes a feature gets bumped down in priority, sometimes bumped up.

Who owns NetNewsWire?

Black Pixel of Seattle, Washington owns NetNewsWire in all it’s various forms. NetNewsWire was previously owned by NewsGator Technologies.

Who writes NetNewsWire?

NetNewsWire was predominately written by Brent Simmons. With the iPad version Brent had additional people working on NetNewsWire: Bradley Ellis of RogueSheep designed it, and Nick Harris of NewsGator helped write the code.

Brent began NetNewsWire in 2002 and still contributes to the application’s successes but is no longer working on NetNewsWire full time.

The development team at Black Pixel are working on updating and integrating new services and features. We can’t wait to show you.

Why can’t NetNewsWire access my feeds with my Google Apps account?

While Google Apps now features access to the Google Reader service, some accounts have been caught in limbo where NetNewsWire can’t reach. A fair many users have found that updating their passwords was all it took to resolve the issue. The Google suggested method for resolving this issue is by using 2-step verification. More information on this process can be found here.

NetNewsWire for Mac

Do clippings sync?

They don’t. However, flagged items sync. (They appear on Google Reader and on NetNewsWire for iPhone and iPad as starred items). And you can send articles to Instapaper, to Twitter via Twitterrific, delicious.com, and other places.

Can I sync authenticated feeds? Or private feeds from behind my firewall?

Google Reader doesn’t sync authenticated feeds, and it can’t read feeds it can’t reach (such as private feeds behind your firewall).

However, when you’re adding a feed, you can tell NetNewsWire not to sync it. There’s a checkbox in the subscribe sheet. (For authenticated feeds, it automatically decides not to sync. But for private feeds you should tell NetNewsWire not to sync those feeds.)

More to come, this is very much a work in progress.

Where does my Google Reader password get stored?

In your user Keychain in the Keychain Access application.

I’m on 10.5, what’s the latest version supported?

You can run 3.2.15 which is available here: 3.2.15.

NetNewsWire for iPhone

NetNewsWire is crashing. What should I do?

See the page on what to do if NetNewsWire crashes.

NetNewsWire for iPad

NetNewsWire is crashing. What should I do?

See the page on what to do if NetNewsWire crashes.

Can I add feeds?

To add feeds, add them via Google Reader, NetNewsWire for Mac, FeedDemon for Windows, or other applications that sync with Google Reader.

How do I mark an item as unread?

There isn’t a way currently. It’s a common feature request, however, and we recognize that.

In the meantime, you can save articles by starring them, sending to Instapaper — or even sending via email or posting to Twitter.

Will there be a universal (iPhone + iPad together) version?

We don’t rule anything out. However, we don’t have plans for this. Our plan is to continue iPhone and iPad versions as separate.

This makes it easier for us to update one app when it’s ready, rather than making one version wait on another. It’s simpler, and the end result is quicker updates for you.

Will there be a free, ad-supported version?

We have no plans to create a free version. But, again, we don’t rule anything out for the future.

More to come and soon.