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Member Since: 1/2006Last Seen: 7/05/2007

endo - The Newest RSS Aggregator for Mac OS X

News Type: Opinion — Tue Mar 7, 2006 9:00 PM EST

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As soon as I profess my undying love for FeedLounge, Adriaan births an RSS aggregator called endo. What sets endo apart from what I've used in the past is the following:

  • Quicksilver like keyboard interaction - The way it works is that you start typing a RSS feed group name and it automatically moves to that group. Neat.
  • Smart groups - It's not new, but it is definitely useful. It looks similiar to what PulpFiction does.
  • "Smart" downloading - endo includes a helper application called "endoBot" which handles enclosure downloads. It even supports bittorrent!!
  • Extensibility - (FeedLounge, are you listening?) "There are plugins to create del.icio.us, Flickr, and Technorati subscriptions. There is also a plugin that can run your own scripts. These scripts can be in AppleScript, Bash, Perl, PHP, Python, or Ruby, and should generate feeds." Adriaan included a nice perl script that gets the latest Boondocks comic.
  • Growl-like notification - On a per-feed basis, you can configure endo to notify you when a feed is updated. It's a snazzy looking semi-transparent that pops up briefly and then fades away nicely.
  • Attention.XML support - This is by far my favoritest feature of endo. Attention.XML allows you to synchronize your feeds to a server. It synchronizes subscription lists, read status, group settings, and subscription settings. You can use your .Mac account for synchronization or use Adriaan's server for free. This feature has got me on the fence on whether to drop FeedLounge. This is the primary reason why I use web based RSS aggregators over clients like this one. If I can find a way to utilize this feature to it's fullest, I may have to say farewell to FeedLounge.

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{"commentId":53088,"authorDomain":"binro"}
Binro

is it crazy to feel I'd be disloyal to the iPodderX guys if I switched? :-)

{"commentId":53088,"threadId":"29171","contentId":"124427","authorDomain":"binro"}
    Reply#1 - Tue Mar 7, 2006 9:35 PM EST
    {"commentId":53110,"authorDomain":"joshpeek"}
    Josh PeekDeleted
    {"commentId":53124,"authorDomain":"sean"}
    Sean S

    I'm a NewsFire guy myself, but this does pique my interest ... Especially with the synchronization support.

    {"commentId":53124,"threadId":"29171","contentId":"124427","authorDomain":"sean"}
      Reply#3 - Tue Mar 7, 2006 10:04 PM EST
      {"commentId":53131,"authorDomain":"seitanguy"}
      seitanguy

      Maybe I'm too set in my ways with NetNewsWire. Every time I try to switch I come back. I just gave this a try, and I didn't really like it. Maybe it takes time to get used to, but I'm quickly reverting back to nnw.

      {"commentId":53131,"threadId":"29171","contentId":"124427","authorDomain":"seitanguy"}
      • 2 votes
      Reply#4 - Tue Mar 7, 2006 10:09 PM EST
      {"commentId":53260,"authorDomain":"dave"}
      Dave

      I love Shrook.
      The app syncs with their servers so you can check it online anywhere, much like IMAP email. Shrook has a built-in browser so you don't have to leave the program if you want to read the whole article (unless it is more than one page). They also have "distributed checking" which speeds up updates by checking feeds on their servers then it updates everyone that subscribes to that feed.
      I just recently noted that Newsvine was faster than RSS, but I wouldn't give up Shrook.
      I tried all the other RSS apps and found Shrook the only one that surpassed mediocrity.

      {"commentId":53260,"threadId":"29171","contentId":"124427","authorDomain":"dave"}
      • 2 votes
      Reply#5 - Wed Mar 8, 2006 12:08 AM EST
      {"commentId":53299,"authorDomain":"alexd"}
      alexd

      I'd rather stick with a free newsreader like Vienna...

      {"commentId":53299,"threadId":"29171","contentId":"124427","authorDomain":"alexd"}
      • 1 vote
      Reply#6 - Wed Mar 8, 2006 12:58 AM EST
      {"commentId":53331,"authorDomain":"DWNews"}
      Misguided

      Great review. I wasn't aware of this new aggregator. I will definitely give it a spin.

      {"commentId":53331,"threadId":"29171","contentId":"124427","authorDomain":"DWNews"}
      • 1 vote
      Reply#7 - Wed Mar 8, 2006 1:51 AM EST
      {"commentId":53350,"authorDomain":"adin"}
      Adin

      Just remember that this isn't your father's 3-pane feed reader. I think it's an innovative fresh view on an aggregator...and....for those of us with large OPMLs, the interface might need a little more time to bake.

      But, I already registered 'cause this is a great app that is only going to get better. Adriaan's definitely on the right path.

      {"commentId":53350,"threadId":"29171","contentId":"124427","authorDomain":"adin"}
        Reply#8 - Wed Mar 8, 2006 3:03 AM EST
        {"commentId":53365,"authorDomain":"adin"}
        Adin

        I can't believe that I forgot this--it has the best application icon since Shiira. :)

        {"commentId":53365,"threadId":"29171","contentId":"124427","authorDomain":"adin"}
          Reply#9 - Wed Mar 8, 2006 3:37 AM EST
          {"commentId":53376,"authorDomain":"standsolid"}
          standsolid

          I've been waiting for a review of endo.

          Very nice article. Downloading now

          {"commentId":53376,"threadId":"29171","contentId":"124427","authorDomain":"standsolid"}
            Reply#10 - Wed Mar 8, 2006 4:03 AM EST
            {"commentId":53433,"authorDomain":"jsuplido"}
            Joel Suplido

            I've been playing around with endo and it has instantly become my new favorite aggregator. Configuring areas such as the groups bar, subscriptions list, and even reading "About endo" uncovered new but welcome features and enhancements.

            Check out endo. It's the RSS experience done right.

            {"commentId":53433,"threadId":"29171","contentId":"124427","authorDomain":"jsuplido"}
              Reply#11 - Wed Mar 8, 2006 6:18 AM EST
              {"commentId":53434,"authorDomain":"rhymonde"}
              Rhymonde

              Well,should I support as well,that would be Protopage.

              {"commentId":53434,"threadId":"29171","contentId":"124427","authorDomain":"rhymonde"}
                Reply#12 - Wed Mar 8, 2006 6:20 AM EST
                {"commentId":53474,"authorDomain":"andr3"}
                André Luís

                Gee.. all the cool aggregators are for mac os only! If I was paranoid, I'd say this is a conspiracy to make me switch.. but since I already want to, this is just pure cruelty. You evil, evil people.

                ;)

                {"commentId":53474,"threadId":"29171","contentId":"124427","authorDomain":"andr3"}
                • 2 votes
                Reply#13 - Wed Mar 8, 2006 7:56 AM EST
                {"commentId":53610,"authorDomain":"binro"}
                Binro

                André Luís - So, our plan is working? (Moowaahaha! Mine is an evil laugh!)

                {"commentId":53610,"threadId":"29171","contentId":"124427","authorDomain":"binro"}
                  Reply#14 - Wed Mar 8, 2006 9:49 AM EST
                  {"commentId":54291,"authorDomain":"Paradox460"}
                  Paradox460

                  Just use Google Reader. Free, has all the features of Endo (including quicksilver like search) and more.

                  {"commentId":54291,"threadId":"29171","contentId":"124427","authorDomain":"Paradox460"}
                  • 1 vote
                  Reply#15 - Wed Mar 8, 2006 4:40 PM EST
                  {"commentId":54318,"authorDomain":"joshpeek"}
                  Josh PeekDeleted
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