NetNewsWire RSS Reader Marks 23 Years Amid Active Development Cycle

NetNewsWire, one of the longest-running RSS readers in the Apple ecosystem, reached its 23-year milestone this week. Originally launched for Mac OS X in 2003, the application recently shipped version 7.0 for both macOS and iOS, with developers currently focused on incremental updates to address post-release issues.

The development team is actively working on version 7.0.1 to resolve regressions and interface tweaks discovered after the major release. According to their public GitHub repository, the project maintains an open milestone tracker for these immediate fixes.

Current development priorities include substantial technical debt reduction and UI polish across both platforms. The team notes accelerated progress since core contributor Brent Simmons' retirement last year, enabling more rapid iteration on outstanding issues.

The roadmap outlines version 7.1 as primarily focused on synchronization improvements, while version 7.2 remains undetermined in scope—potentially addressing user experience refinements or other enhancements. Future planning beyond 7.2 depends on multiple factors: outcomes from earlier updates, Apple's WWDC announcements (including potential hardware changes like touchscreen Macs or software framework updates), and evolving user feedback.

All development milestones remain fluid, with tickets regularly added or reprioritized based on emerging needs. Despite celebrating over two decades of operation, the team emphasizes forward-looking development: "The very best versions of NetNewsWire are still to come."

As one of few surviving RSS clients from the early 2000s, NetNewsWire maintains relevance through continued open-source development. The application supports modern RSS standards while preserving its signature keyboard-driven interface, though users should expect ongoing refinements to synchronization reliability and cross-platform behavior in upcoming releases.