Mr. Reader for iPad Review

I gave up on traditional RSS readers on the iPad quite a while ago. I've tried multiple, multiple variants - from those that emulate a traditional newspaper to those that are a bare-bones translation of the Google Reader experience. Nothing impressed me, so I surrendered reading my rather sizable Google Reader feeds except for occasional glaces at them via Pulse or Flipboard or some other app out there. But I missed many, many articles this way - though I resigned myself to the fact that, unfortunately, this was my only option.

Not anymore. Not since I met Mr. Reader.

A quick glance at Mr. Reader is deceiving. Sure, it may briefly LOOK like any of a dozen other RSS readers on the App Store right now, but looks are only screen deep. Mr. Reader has a collection of features that is unrivaled, but it't not really the features that sold me on the app. It's the speed!

Yep. Mr. Reader is FAST. Amazingly fast, in fact. It takes only a matter of seconds to load thousands of articles. Gone are the days of waiting countless minutes (or longer, particularly if the app crashes or locks during the process) while an app catalogues and lists all of the articles available. I didn't think I could be impressed by an app's speed until I experienced Mr. Reader loading almost 10,000 (!!!) articles in just a few moments. It's one of those astonishing moments that rarely occurs for someone who has seen as many apps as I have.

Mr. Reader is more than just speed, however. Every article can be read in its original RSS form, as a traditional web page, or via Instapaper, Readability or Read It Later (now Pocket - but the name has not been updated within the app) mobilizers. These mobilizers are available from the top of the page with just a quick click, and, again, there's little to no wait time as the full article is rendered. Mr. Reader also includes a large number of services that can work in tandem with the app - everything from the already-mentioned Instapaper and Readability to more obscure choices like Buffer, Things, Pinboard and OmniFocus. There's also a large degree of customization available within the app, including visual themes that can be changed (and updated via a "Download New Themes" link). Plus (and this is a big plus), it's easy to manage feeds from within Mr. Reader.

The bottom line is, while there are many apps that have bits and pieces of what Mr. Reader has to offer, none have the features and, most importantly, the speed of this app. Anyone who reads RSS feeds, or (like me) misses having ready and quick access to Google Reader news on the iPad, needs to buy this app. It won't keep you waiting.