Ecosyste.ms: Awesome

An open API service indexing awesome lists of open source software.

https://github.com/relikd/barss

Menu Bar RSS reader for macOS
https://github.com/relikd/barss

atom feed macos menu-bar rss rss-reader

Last synced: about 1 month ago
JSON representation

Menu Bar RSS reader for macOS

Lists

README 

        
[![macOS 10.12+](https://img.shields.io/badge/macOS-10.12+-888)](#download--install)

[![Current release](https://img.shields.io/github/release/relikd/baRSS)](https://github.com/relikd/baRSS/releases)

[![All downloads](https://img.shields.io/github/downloads/relikd/baRSS/total)](https://github.com/relikd/baRSS/releases)

[![GitHub license](https://img.shields.io/github/license/relikd/baRSS)](LICENSE)



baRSS – *Menu Bar RSS Reader*

=============================



![screenshot](screenshot.png)



What is it?

-----------



A RSS & Atom feed reader that lives in the system status bar.  

Very much inspired by [RSS Menu](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rss-menu/id423069534); go ahead and check that out.



*baRSS* will automatically update feeds for you, and inform you when new content is available.

The new articles are just a menu away.



### Features



*baRSS* is unobtrusive, fast, and built from scratch with minimal footprint in mind.

The application uses less than 30 Mb memory and has a ridiculous file size of 1 Mb.



Speaking of reducing web traffic.

In contrast to other applications, *baRSS* does not save any cached web sessions or cookies as a matter of fact.

But it will reuse `ETag` and `Last-Modified` headers to avoid unnecessary transmissions.

Further, tuning the update frequently will decrease the traffic even more.



Download & Install

------------------



Requires macOS Sierra (10.12) or higher.



### Easy way

Go to [releases](https://github.com/relikd/baRSS/releases) and downloaded the latest version.  

Searching for the App Store release? Read this [notice](#app-store-notice).



### Build from source

You'll need Xcode, [RSXML2] \(required), and [QLOPML] \(optional).



```sh

git clone https://github.com/relikd/baRSS

git clone https://github.com/relikd/RSXML2

git clone https://github.com/relikd/QLOPML

```



Alternatively, you can simply delete the `QLOPML` project reference without much harm.

`QLOPML` is a Quick Look plugin for `.opml` files.

It will display the file contents whenever you hit spacebar.



That's it. 

Open `baRSS/baRSS.xcodeproj` and build the project. 

Note, there are some compiler flags that append 'beta' to the development release. 

If you prefer the optimized release version go to `Product > Archive`.



Hidden options

--------------



### Launch on start / reboot



baRSS has no option to launch it on start.

However, you can still add the application to auto boot by adding it to the system login items:



`System Preferences > User > Login Items`



### CLI options



The following options have no UI equivalent and must be configured in Terminal. 

Most likely, you will never stumble upon these if not reading this chapter.

**Note:** To reset an option run `defaults delete de.relikd.baRSS {KEY}`, where `{KEY}` is an option from below.



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.



2. When holding down the option key, the menu will show an item to open only a few unread items at a time. 

This number can be changed with the following Terminal command (default: 10):

```

defaults write de.relikd.baRSS openFewLinksLimit -int 10

```



3. In preferences you can choose to show 'Short article names'. 

This will limit the number of displayed characters to 60 (default). 

With this Terminal command you can customize this limit:

```

defaults write de.relikd.baRSS shortArticleNamesLimit -int 50

```



4. Limit the number of displayed articles per feed menu.

**Note:** displayed unread count may be different than the unread items inside. 'Open all unread' will open hidden items too.

```

defaults write de.relikd.baRSS articlesInMenuLimit -int 40

```



5. You can change the appearance of colors throughout the application. 

E.g., The tint color of the menu bar icon and the color of the blue unread articles dot.

```

defaults write de.relikd.baRSS colorStatusIconTint -string "#37F"

defaults write de.relikd.baRSS colorUnreadIndicator -string "#FBA33A"

```



6. To backup your list of subscribed feeds, here is a one-liner:

```

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"

```



ToDo

----



The following list is a collection of ideas that may be added if people request it.



- [ ] Localizations

- [ ] Feed generator for websites without feeds

- [ ] Automatically choose best update interval (e.g., avg)

- [ ] Sync with online services

- [ ] Feeds with authentication

- [ ] Notification Center

- [ ] Distraction Mode

	- [ ] Distract less: Sleep timer. (e.g., disable updates during working hours)

	- [ ] Distract more: Automatically open feed items

- [ ] Add support for media types

	- [ ] music / video? (open media player)

	- [ ] Pure image feed? (show images directly in menu)

- [ ] Per feed / group settings

	- [ ] select launch application (e.g., for podcasts)

	- [ ] exclude unread count from menu bar (e.g., unimportant feeds)

- [ ] ~~Infinite storage. (load more button)~~



FAQ / Q&A

---------



### App Store Notice



If you find this app somewhere on the App Store, you can be sure that it is a counterfeit.

As long as you can read this very notice, I am not responsible for the publication.

Further, I can't guarantee the App Store version wasn't modified by a malicious actor to spy on you.



### Why create something that already existed?



First, open source is awesome!

Second, RSS Menu made some design decisions I didn't like.

For example, the new integrated browser window.



One thing I liked most, was the fact that feeds were opened in the default browser.

Not like 99% of the other feed readers on the market that show a separate HTML viewer window.

No rendering issues, no broken links, no content that is different from the actual news article.



I know, the whole purpose of RSS is to deliver content without the need of opening a webpage.

But for me RSS is more about being informed whenever a blog or news feed has updated content.

E.g, subscribing to video channels without having to have an account.



### Why is this project not written in Swift?!



Actually, I started this project with Swift.

Even without adding much functionality, the app was exceeding the 10 Mb file size.

The working alpha version, written in Objective-C, had only 500 Kb.

The reason being that Swift frameworks are always packed into the final application.



Sadly, this was before Swift 5 and ABI stability.

Had I only started the project a year later…

But on the other hand, now it is macOS 10.12 compatible.



### 3rd Party Libraries



This project uses a modified version of Brent Simmons' [RSXML] for feed parsing. 

[RSXML2] is licensed under a MIT license (same as this project).



##### Trivia



- Start of project: __July 19, 2018__

- Estimated development time: __1970h+__

- First prototype used __feedparser python__ library



[QLOPML]: https://github.com/relikd/QLOPML

[RSXML2]: https://github.com/relikd/RSXML2

[RSXML]: https://github.com/brentsimmons/RSXML