RSS readers are useful programs that can read special web pages and display the content as lists. Usually such technology is used in newsreader apps, which collect feeds generated by websites. Those feeds allow readers to track updates. (For example, here is ijailbreak’s RSS feed.) RSS feeds can also be used to follow forum conversations, handle direct messages, and even set up custom alerts. An RSS reader on the Notification Center would be handy for more than just keeping tabs on your favorite website throughout the day.
How iRSS Widget is supposed to look.
Unfortunately the recently released Cydia plugin designed for the task, iRSS Widget For Notification Center, does not seem to work. I attempted to run the plugin on my iPhone 4 and third generation iPad, in both Notification Center and in Dashboard X. The plugin shows up, but it won’t display RSS feeds. The box with the iRSS icon appears, but there’s nothing in it. This is despite entering several different feeds into the dialog and many resprings.
Worse for the iPad, iRSS Widget For Notification Center seems to cause bugs with the digitizer. At least in my setup, with the RSS reader installed, it was very difficult to make selections in my web browser. I thought that I might have physically damaged the screen, but the issue went away upon uninstalling the plugin. It didn’t seem to cause the same issue on my iPhone, though this could be an interaction with the more exotic interface tweaks currently loaded onto my iPad.
A currently working (and similarly named) alternative is RSSwidget For Notification Center, which we have previously reviewed. iRSS has similar functionality, but I had absolutely no trouble getting RSSwidget to work on my iPad with Dashboard X. RSSwidget caused no issues. Both apps are available for free in the BigBoss repository, but as of right now I’d go with the one that I can actually use.
RSS Widget displaying iJailbreak’s RSS feed.
What’s your favorite use for your RSS readers? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
What’s the Messages and compose button on the first picture? How to add that?
Thanks?
bitesms in cydia
rss widget is good but it doesnt update automatically when it is used as a widget in dashboard x