[Unbiased Tech]

I am looking for a high quality news app for my Playbook and here are some of my requirements

Portrait Mode
Able to add custom feeds via url (similar to Xprss app for bb phones)
nice interface
smooth scrolling
categories
Possible offline reading mode

Note: app can be free or paid

Much appreciation for anyone who replies

[rkennedy01]

I tried GeeReader and WebReader but found them both to be slow and feature poor. Since moving to OS 2.1, I've been using gReader Pro, which works great in the updated Android player. In fact, I've gone all-Android for my daily comms and news reading: TapaTalk, gReader and the official Android Twitter app. Work great together and are actually better integrated than most native PB alternatives.

RCK

[torndownunit]

Pulse works fairly well sideloaded. Not as well as the iOS version, but well. Much better than Taptu, which I have found to be horrible (lags, crashes etc.).

[rkennedy01]

Pulse works fairly well sideloaded. Not as well as the iOS version, but well. Much better than Taptu, which I have found to be horrible (lags, crashes etc.).

I tried Pulse but couldn't stand the lack of a "mark all as read option." I like my reader full of stuff I haven't read yet when I first start it, not stuff I may have already read mixed with the new.

RCK

[Herve5]

I tried GeeReader and WebReader but found them both to be slow and feature poor. Since moving to OS 2.1, I've been using gReader Pro, which works great in the updated Android player.

Thanks for this - gReader indeed looks interesting.
Do I understand correctly that it isn't in the BB appstore but has to be sideloaded?
If yes, can you tell me (newbie) how to install it?
(is there for instance a way to sideload the google android market too, without rooting the PB?)
TIA!
Hervé

[rkennedy01]

Thanks for this - gReader indeed looks interesting.
Do I understand correctly that it isn't in the BB appstore but has to be sideloaded?
If yes, can you tell me (newbie) how to install it?
(is there for instance a way to sideload the google android market too, without rooting the PB?)

No way to do Android Market post-OS 2.x, but you can grab gReader from the following website. Note that they also provide instructions on how to sideload the apps listed in their "app store":

Good e-Reader - Your online destination for e-reader, Digital Publishing and Tablet PC News

Enjoy!

RCK

[rcm1301]

Blackberry News meet all the requirements you listed, except it does not allow offline drill down into articles.

[midnightrambler108]

The Republic reader is pretty good

[snufkin]

News Republic, Flipboard(latest version still slightly laggy), Economist,

[Ninjatogo]

Feedwheel is a pretty good reader.

[Herve5]

I am currently interested in the very recent Read It Offline, which is quite well described there:
Read It Offline: An RSS reader and Readability client for the BlackBerry PlayBook

[sportline]

blackberry news are not available in indonesia. i wish the playbook have it, plus social feeds a la bb7

[indautxu]

I use Taptu (free).
An android app but pretty stable.
The blackberry News felt laggy.
From Basque Country.

[Ninjatogo]

blackberry news are not available in indonesia. i wish the playbook have it, plus social feeds a la bb7

Not to worry my friend, I have made a tutorial on how to get the Blackberry News apps (and more) regardless of your geographical location.

Get all default Playbook apps

[yllus]

I am currently interested in the very recent Read It Offline, which is quite well described there:
Read It Offline: An RSS reader and Readability client for the BlackBerry PlayBook

Hurray! I just uploaded a new version to BlackBerry App World and it's waiting for approval. Should make the RSS feed loading even more bulletproof.

I have a full website as well: Read It Offline: An RSS reader and Readability client for the BlackBerry PlayBook

[torndownunit]

Hey, I was just wondering if anyone could give some updated experiences with newsreader apps. I had Pulse sideloaded and running great... until the last PB OS update. Now it runs brutally slow and freezes frequently on me. There are a couple of more recent newsreader apps in the store, but they have very few or none reviews. Anyone running anything else sideloaded that works well?

I LOVE Pulse, but every update seems to produce a different result. So I'd like to find something else. I love how I don't have to manually enter feeds in Pulse, I can just search for them and add them.

[rkennedy01]

Hey, I was just wondering if anyone could give some updated experiences with newsreader apps. I had Pulse sideloaded and running great... until the last PB OS update. Now it runs brutally slow and freezes frequently on me. There are a couple of more recent newsreader apps in the store, but they have very few or none reviews. Anyone running anything else sideloaded that works well?

I LOVE Pulse, but every update seems to produce a different result. So I'd like to find something else. I love how I don't have to manually enter feeds in Pulse, I can just search for them and add them.

Side load gReader. It's an Android app but runs great on the PB. I prefer it to Pulse which I always found to be a bit twitchy.

RCK

Sent from my A200 using Tapatalk HD

[Bj Mac]

Was using Pulse sideloaded but now switched to Taptu as my main newsreader.

The latest version works pretty well and fully supports portrait and landscape. I can also sync feeds between Z10, PB and web. CB10 and Taptu are my favorite apps right now.

Posted via CB10

[pronomad]

Side load gReader. It's an Android app but runs great on the PB. I prefer it to Pulse which I always found to be a bit twitchy.

RCK

How does Android gReader compare to native gReader Pro? I, for one, would love a reader with the ability to sync to Pocket/Read It Later. Newspile app can do it, but I find it clunky, slow, and harder to use than gReader PRO.

[torndownunit]

Was using Pulse sideloaded but now switched to Taptu as my main newsreader.

The latest version works pretty well and fully supports portrait and landscape. I can also sync feeds between Z10, PB and web. CB10 and Taptu are my favorite apps right now.

Posted via CB10

I'll have to give Taptu another change. It was horrid last time I tried it.

pronomad, Pulse syncs to pocket which is one of the many reasons I liked it. I had both sideloaded and working great. But as of the last Playbook OS update, Pulse runs super laggy.