Nuper

Available now on the Mac App Store for $4.99

Why Should You Use Nuper?

Do you hate going to a website only to find it hasn't been updated since the last time you visited? I do, and so I wrote Nuper to keep track of all my favorites sites and let me know how long it had been since each of them was updated. No more guessing games of where I can go to find something new to read, Nuper tells me instantly.

How Do I Use Nuper?

Just type or paste in the address for the RSS feed of a website that you want to track and hit return/enter. If you type the address of the site itself (brooksreview.net), an address for the RSS feed will be suggested (http://brooksreview.net/feed/), just hit enter again. Nuper takes care of the rest, automatically tracking the site for you and displaying the most recent headline as well as the time since the most recent update.

Want to visit a site? Just click on it's entry and it will open in your default browser.

Why Doesn't Nuper's Headline Match My Favorite Site?

Nuper uses a site's RSS feed to determine the most recent post. Sometimes a site's RSS feed doesn't exactly match what is displayed on the site itself, and that's when discrepancies occur.

Sometimes a site doesn't display traditional ads in its RSS feed but sponsors it with a post specifically for the RSS feed. This will show up in Nuper and not the website. Sometimes the RSS feed and the site are simply out of sync, and so posts show up earlier in one place compared to the other.

Sometimes the RSS feed address auto-suggested by Nuper might just be different. MacRumors.com has three categories of post these days: Front Page, Mac Blog and iOS Blog. All three are displayed in their default RSS feed, but only the Front Page is displayed on MacRumors.com.

Should I Be Using an RSS Reader Instead?

Maybe - that's entirely up to you. The reason I don't use an RSS reader is that I like visiting websites and I like reading articles in the environment the author intended. Most of my favorites sites are well-designed, beautiful sites and I thorougly enjoy visiting. An RSS reader keeps you away from the site, and that's not my cup of tea. If it's yours, you might want to try Reeder, I've heard a lot of good things about it.