202 lines
7.2 KiB
Markdown
202 lines
7.2 KiB
Markdown
[](#download--install)
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[](https://github.com/relikd/baRSS/releases)
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[](https://github.com/relikd/baRSS/releases)
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[](LICENSE)
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baRSS – *Menu Bar RSS Reader*
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=============================
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What is it?
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-----------
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A RSS & Atom feed reader that lives in the system status bar.
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Very much inspired by [RSS Menu](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rss-menu/id423069534); go ahead and check that out.
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*baRSS* will automatically update feeds for you, and inform you when new content is available.
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The new articles are just a menu away.
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### Features
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*baRSS* is unobtrusive, fast, and built from scratch with minimal footprint in mind.
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The application uses less than 30 Mb memory and has a ridiculous file size of 1 Mb.
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Speaking of reducing web traffic.
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In contrast to other applications, *baRSS* does not save any cached web sessions or cookies as a matter of fact.
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But it will reuse `ETag` and `Last-Modified` headers to avoid unnecessary transmissions.
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Further, tuning the update frequently will decrease the traffic even more.
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Download & Install
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------------------
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Requires macOS High Sierra (10.13) or higher.
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### Easy way
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Go to [releases](https://github.com/relikd/baRSS/releases) and downloaded the latest version.
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Searching for the App Store release? Read this [notice](#app-store-notice).
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### Build from source
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You'll need Xcode, [RSXML2] \(required), and [QLOPML] \(optional).
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```sh
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git clone https://github.com/relikd/baRSS
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git clone https://github.com/relikd/RSXML2
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git clone https://github.com/relikd/QLOPML
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```
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Alternatively, you can simply delete the `QLOPML` project reference without much harm.
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`QLOPML` is a Quick Look plugin for `.opml` files.
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It will display the file contents whenever you hit spacebar.
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That's it.
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Open `baRSS/baRSS.xcodeproj` and build the project.
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Note, there are some compiler flags that append 'beta' to the development release.
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If you prefer the optimized release version go to `Product > Archive`.
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Hidden options
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--------------
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### Launch on start / reboot
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baRSS has no option to launch it on start.
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However, you can still add the application to auto boot by adding it to the system login items:
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`System Preferences > User > Login Items` (macOS 10-12)
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`System Preferences > General > Login Items & Extensions` (macOS 13+)
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### UI options
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1. If you hold down the option key and click on an article item, you can mark a single item (un-)read without opening it.
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2. To add websites without RSS feed you can use the regex converter.
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Hold down the option key in the feed edit modal and click the red regex button.
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Though, admittedly, this is for experts only.
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I still have to find a nice user-friendly way to achieve this.
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### CLI options
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The following options have no UI equivalent and must be configured in Terminal.
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Most likely, you will never stumble upon these if not reading this chapter.
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**Note:** To reset an option run `defaults delete de.relikd.baRSS {KEY}`, where `{KEY}` is an option from below.
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1. When holding down the option key, the menu will show an item to open only a few unread items at a time.
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This number can be changed with the following Terminal command (default: 10):
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```
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defaults write de.relikd.baRSS openFewLinksLimit -int 10
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```
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2. In preferences you can choose to show 'Short article names'.
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This will limit the number of displayed characters to 60 (default).
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With this Terminal command you can customize this limit:
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```
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defaults write de.relikd.baRSS shortArticleNamesLimit -int 50
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```
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3. Limit the number of displayed articles per feed menu.
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**Note:** displayed unread count may be different than the unread items inside. 'Open all unread' will open hidden items too.
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```
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defaults write de.relikd.baRSS articlesInMenuLimit -int 40
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```
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4. You can change the appearance of colors throughout the application.
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E.g., The tint color of the menu bar icon and the color of the blue unread articles dot.
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```
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defaults write de.relikd.baRSS colorStatusIconTint -string "#37F"
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defaults write de.relikd.baRSS colorUnreadIndicator -string "#FBA33A"
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```
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5. To backup your list of subscribed feeds, here is a one-liner:
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```
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open barss:backup && cp "$HOME/Library/Containers/de.relikd.baRSS/Data/Library/Application Support/baRSS/backup/feeds_latest.opml" "$HOME/Desktop/baRSS_backup_$(date "+%Y-%m-%d").opml"
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```
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ToDo
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----
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The following list is a collection of ideas that may be added if people request it.
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- [ ] Localizations
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- [x] Feed generator for websites without feeds
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- [ ] Automatically choose best update interval (e.g., avg)
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- [ ] Sync with online services
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- [ ] Feeds with authentication
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- [ ] Notification Center
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- [ ] Distraction Mode
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- [ ] Distract less: Sleep timer. (e.g., disable updates during working hours)
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- [ ] Distract more: Automatically open feed items
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- [ ] Add support for media types
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- [ ] music / video? (open media player)
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- [ ] Pure image feed? (show images directly in menu)
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- [ ] Per feed / group settings
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- [ ] select launch application (e.g., for podcasts)
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- [ ] exclude unread count from menu bar (e.g., unimportant feeds)
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- [ ] ~~Infinite storage. (load more button)~~
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FAQ / Q&A
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---------
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### App Store Notice
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If you find this app somewhere on the App Store, you can be sure that it is a counterfeit.
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As long as you can read this very notice, I am not responsible for the publication.
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Further, I can't guarantee the App Store version wasn't modified by a malicious actor to spy on you.
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### Why create something that already existed?
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First, open source is awesome!
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Second, RSS Menu made some design decisions I didn't like.
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For example, the new integrated browser window.
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One thing I liked most, was the fact that feeds were opened in the default browser.
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Not like 99% of the other feed readers on the market that show a separate HTML viewer window.
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No rendering issues, no broken links, no content that is different from the actual news article.
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I know, the whole purpose of RSS is to deliver content without the need of opening a webpage.
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But for me RSS is more about being informed whenever a blog or news feed has updated content.
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E.g, subscribing to video channels without having to have an account.
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### Why is this project not written in Swift?!
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Actually, I started this project with Swift.
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Even without adding much functionality, the app was exceeding the 10 Mb file size.
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The working alpha version, written in Objective-C, had only 500 Kb.
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The reason being that Swift frameworks are always packed into the final application.
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Sadly, this was before Swift 5 and ABI stability.
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Had I only started the project a year later…
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But on the other hand, now it is macOS 10.12 compatible.
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### 3rd Party Libraries
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This project uses a modified version of Brent Simmons' [RSXML] for feed parsing.
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[RSXML2] is licensed under a MIT license (same as this project).
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##### Trivia
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- Start of project: __July 19, 2018__
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- Estimated development time: __2020h+__
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- First prototype used __feedparser python__ library
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[QLOPML]: https://github.com/relikd/QLOPML
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[RSXML2]: https://github.com/relikd/RSXML2
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[RSXML]: https://github.com/brentsimmons/RSXML
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