Reeder: Single-handedly the best Google Reader iPad app.

Google Reader is without a doubt my central location for reading RSS feeds. I use it to subscribe, organize and read feeds. I usually alternate between using Gruml (Google Reader client for Mac) or simply using the web-based version.

When it comes to the iPhone, no one does it better than Reeder. This application gathers all of your feeds, folders, starred post…etc —all exactly how you have it setup on Google Reader and presents them beautifully (in a paperback-like sepia colour). Besides looking great, this application has a particular way of allowing you to navigate through post, by either using a set of arrows, or swiping and holding (up or down) to see the next one, and so on.

It is the only application that has ever made it desirable to read RSS feeds on such a small screen. 

Then, the iPad came. With it, came a number of iPad-specific RSS Reader applications (some of them available even before the iPad went out on sale).

Out of the few applications available on launch-day, I decided to try Feedler (free) without being really impressed. Then I purchased Headline ($5).

Worst waste of 5 US dollars. Ever.

I won’t go into much detail  with Headline. I’ll just say that it’s the best example on how to utilize the iPad’s screen real state in the most inefficient of manners.

Quickly, I realized that Google Reader on the web (just using Safari) was my preferred way of reading RSS feeds for a few good reasons. It displays posts nicely, fonts sizes are readable and utilizes the iPad’s screen real state well. When you tap on a post, it snaps to the top of the page and everything else collapses. There is clear visual indication of what has been read and what remains unread —among other things.

But the thing I like the most about using Google Reader on the iPad’s browser is that it allowed me to read feeds by mostly using one hand (more like one thumb).

Generally, I like to read RSS feeds whilst sitting back in a sofa or leaning back on my bed. Often times I have a cup of tea or a Diegoccinno (Soy Latte à la Diego) in one hand as I am trying to navigate through various posts. Sometimes I’m simply leaning back with one hand behind my head…etc.

Whether I’m using a second hand at all whilst reading RSS feeds or not, the key thing is that I usually don’t feel comfortable dedicating both hands to holding the iPad when going through my feeds. It doesn’t feel relaxed. This is part of the reason why I prefer eBooks to regular books: I don’t like having to keep a book open (using both hands) in order to read it.

It was shortly after I had decided to only use Google Reader via Safari when the creators of the Reeder iPhone released the iPad version of the application (iTunes link). 

The creators of Reeder managed to impress me once again with this. Not only it keeps the unique user experience from the iPhone version, but it allows me to do what I could not do before with any other app I had tried: navigate using only one hand.

The following video shows Reeder in action (and why I like it so much):

It is amazing how pleasurable it is to read just about anything using this application. It offers the ability to navigate through post by pushing all the way up or down at the top or bottom of a post to got to the next (or previous) one. This is as easy to do with one hand as it is on the iPhone. Clearly there is more room to “swipe over”.

But this is where the arrows on the left com in. They allow me to grab the iPad with my left hand and simply touch up and down to see all the different posts (as seen on the video above). This is excellent for feeds that are composed of only titles (Craigslist is a good example) or when you simply care about reading the title as well as the first few lines in the first paragraph in a post.

Reeder also add some nice touches to the user interface of this application for the iPad. Tapping and holding on the post’s title offers a great number of ways to share or save the post:

Tapping on the the title alone, opens the post in a browser inside the app. You can click on anything within the browser and navigate as if you were using Safari, whilst only displaying a rather unobtrusive bar on top. When you are ready to go back to Reeder, simply tap on the arrow on the top left:

One of the features I like the most of Google Reader is how it allows me to organize groups of feeds by folders. These folders are represented in Reeder for iPad in a similar manner that Apple displays photo-albums with the iPad’s Photos app (link to Apple’s guided tour videos). Much in the same way the Photos app lets you peek to see what photos are in an album, Reeder allows to see what feeds are inside each folder. You can either tap on the folder to read all the combined feeds, or you can pinch/expand to display all the feeds inside the folder and explore them individually.

(“Lolcats” looks great using Reeder for iPad, by the way...)

Much like anything —nothing is perfect. Reeder for iPad has some very few things I’m not particularly fond of. One of them is how sensible post can be to getting swiped to the left or to the right (in portrait mode) when the finger is trying to swipe up or down. I see the idea behind allowing post to be swiped to the left or to the right only to the right, but it would be nice for this to be a feature that can be switched on/off.

Despite the one or two things I would change on this application, Reeder for iPad is a true joy to use. It has made the iPad my preferred device to use for reading RSS feeds for the way it looks and the way it allows me to interact with the news I want to read.

I like this application so much that I felt compelled to write this (rather long) post to share with you the reasons why I think this is, “single-handedly” the best RSS Reader app available for the iPad.