http://simonwillison.net/2026-06-17T03:36:09+00:00Simon Willison2026-06-17T03:36:09+00:002026-06-17T03:36:09+00:00https://simonwillison.net/2026/Jun/17/netnewswire-status/#atom-tag

<p><strong><a href="https://inessential.com/2026/06/15/netnewswire-status.html">NetNewsWire Status</a></strong></p> I find this inspiring. Brent Simmons retired a year ago, and his retirement project is making one piece of software really, <em>really</em> good - free from any commercial pressure.</p> <p>The software is <a href="https://netnewswire.com/">NetNewsWire</a> - "it's like podcasts, but for <em>reading</em>" - first released in 2002 and <a href="https://netnewswire.com/history.html">made open source</a> in 2018.</p> <p>I've been using it on Mac and iPhone for several years now and I'm finding it indispensable. <p><small></small>Via <a href="https://lobste.rs/s/0mximk/netnewswire_status">Lobste.rs</a></small></p> <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/brent-simmons">brent-simmons</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/netnewswire">netnewswire</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/open-source">open-source</a></p>

2025-10-08T16:12:14+00:002025-10-08T16:12:14+00:00https://simonwillison.net/2025/Oct/8/why-netnewswire-is-not-a-web-app/#atom-tag

<p><strong><a href="https://inessential.com/2025/10/04/why-netnewswire-is-not-web-app.html">Why NetNewsWire Is Not a Web App</a></strong></p> In the wake of Apple <a href="https://daringfireball.net/2025/10/iceblock_removed_from_app_store">removing ICEBlock from the App Store</a>, Brent Simmons talks about why he still thinks his veteran (and actively maintained) <a href="https://netnewswire.com/">NetNewsWire</a> feed reader app should remain a native application.</p> <p>Part of the reason is cost - NetNewsWire is free these days (<a href="https://github.com/Ranchero-Software/NetNewsWire/blob/main/LICENSE">MIT licensed in fact</a>) and the cost to Brent is an annual Apple developer subscription:</p> <blockquote> <p>If it were a web app instead, I could drop the developer membership, but I’d have to pay way more money for web and database hosting. [...] I could charge for NetNewsWire, but that would go against my political goal of making sure there’s a good and <em>free</em> RSS reader available to everyone.</p> </blockquote> <p>A bigger reason is around privacy and protecting users:</p> <blockquote> <p>Second issue. Right now, if law enforcement comes to me and demands I turn over a given user’s subscriptions list, I can’t. Literally can’t. I don’t have an encrypted version, even — I have nothing at all. The list lives on their machine (iOS or macOS).</p> </blockquote> <p>And finally it's about the principle of what a personal computing device should mean:</p> <blockquote> <p>My computer is <em>not</em> a terminal. It’s a world I get to control, and I can use — and, especially, <em>make</em> — whatever I want. I’m not stuck using just what’s provided to me on some other machines elsewhere: I’m not dialing into a mainframe or doing the modern equivalent of using only websites that other people control.</p> </blockquote> <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/apple">apple</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/brent-simmons">brent-simmons</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/macos">macos</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/netnewswire">netnewswire</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/ios">ios</a></p>

2008-01-29T12:16:05+00:002008-01-29T12:16:05+00:00https://simonwillison.net/2008/Jan/29/inessentialcom/#atom-tag

<p><strong><a href="http://inessential.com/?comments=1&amp;postid=3468">On the design of the first-run assistant</a></strong></p> NetNewsWire’s Brent Simmons explains the in-depth thinking behind the new first-run assistant. <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/brent-simmons">brent-simmons</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/netnewswire">netnewswire</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/usability">usability</a></p>

2004-12-01T13:07:24+00:002004-12-01T13:07:24+00:00https://simonwillison.net/2004/Dec/1/virtues/#atom-tag

<p><strong><a href="http://inessential.com/?comments=1&amp;postid=2991">The virtues of XML-RPC</a></strong></p> Brent Simmons advocates. <p><small></small>Via <a href="http://daringfireball.net/linked/">Daring Fireball: Linked List</a></small></p> <p>Tags: <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/brent-simmons">brent-simmons</a>, <a href="https://simonwillison.net/tags/xml-rpc">xml-rpc</a></p>