Integrate offline support from NewsRob source (now under MIT license)

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Now that NewsRob has shut down and published source under the MIT license (http://newsrob.blogspot.com/2013/06/g…), do you have any plans to use its existing offline functionality in the NewsBlur Android app? It seems like this could give you a leg up on offline support as this is one of the biggest missing features, and I consider NewsRob to have the best offline support of any Android readers.

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I think that would be cool, though I note that there is already a build (b4) which synchronizes with Newsblur - bringing the number of second-party Android apps for Newsblur to two…

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!top…

Early days.

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There is, but aside from hedging bets, I think with the continued paid support of NewsBlur there’s more upside to getting the NewsBlur app in proper shape. I believe the NewsBlur app will continue to expand and modernize.

I love love love NewsRob, but with unknown developers taking it over we really don’t know how much time and effort they’ll be able to put in on modernizing it. NewsRob is unquestionably the best offline reader, but it’s way behind in several UI aspects.

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Thanks for the tip about the source! We will definitely have to examine the license and see if there are goodies we can integrate.

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Mariano, the developer, has been very open and active on the NewsRob Google Groups forum recently (linked above by esinclai). It seems like he would be willing to answer questions about the source as well. You shouldn’t have any problems with using pieces of the source under MIT license.

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Geoff, yes - I do agree that it’s a good hedge to try and incorporate the ideas and thinking into the ‘mainline’ Newsblur application.

I confess that some of my earlier offline use had migrated from Newsrob (which I used with joy for some time, shared bug reports, etc etc) to Press. I haven’t seen any movement from them yet on incorporating support for Newsblur (though would be thrilled to see such). This move was - as you note - because of the modernization of the interface shown in Press.

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I tried Press when it first came out, and for some reason the article text extraction for offline didn’t seem as robust as NewsRob. I’m usually function over form, though I do enjoy a clean modern UI. :slight_smile: