# 4RSS

> A minimalist RSS reader app for iPhone. 4 feeds. No accounts. No tracking. Just news.

4RSS is a free iOS app that lets users follow up to 4 RSS or Atom feeds in a clean, focused reading experience. It is built entirely with Apple's native frameworks (SwiftUI, WebKit) and stores all data locally on the device. There are no accounts, no analytics, no tracking, and no server-side components.

## Key Facts

- **Developer**: Robert Poetzsch (Indie Developer, Germany)
- **Platform**: iPhone only (iOS, SwiftUI)
- **Price**: Free
- **Current Version**: 2.2 (April 2026)
- **App Store**: https://apps.apple.com/app/4rss/id6756433329
- **Website**: https://4rss.app.robspace.de
- **Contact**: support@robspace.de

## Core Features

- 4 configurable RSS/Atom feed slots (intentional limit by design)
- Dark amber/gold visual design derived from the app icon
- Unread article count badges with cycling colored indicators
- Mark articles as read individually or all at once
- Favorite articles with persistent data storage
- Pull-to-refresh with automatic badge count updates
- Built-in article browser (WKWebView)
- Share articles via the iOS share sheet
- Default startup feed selection
- Long-press context menu for editing and deleting feeds

## AI Article Assistant (Beta)

4RSS includes an optional AI-powered article summary feature. Users bring their own API key from one of four supported providers:

- Claude (Anthropic)
- OpenAI
- Google Gemini
- Mistral

AI capabilities include: summarize full articles, generate mini-summaries for sharing, summarize today's news, and summarize this week's news for any feed. API keys are stored in the iOS Keychain and never leave the device except to call the selected provider.

## Privacy

4RSS collects zero user data. There are no analytics frameworks, no crash reporting SDKs, no advertising identifiers, no fingerprinting, and no usage tracking. All data (feeds, read states, favorites, settings) is stored locally using iOS UserDefaults. The only network requests are: RSS/Atom feed fetching (to the feed provider), favicon loading (via Google's public favicon service), article viewing (loads the web page), and optional AI summary requests (to the user's chosen AI provider with their own API key).

## Design Philosophy

The 4-feed limit is a deliberate design choice, not a limitation. It encourages users to curate only the news sources that matter most. The app prioritizes speed, simplicity, and privacy over feature density. The dark amber/gold aesthetic is the permanent brand identity, not a theme option.

## Version History

- **V2.2** (April 2026): Auto-refresh when returning to the app after 10+ minutes, more reliable pull-to-refresh that always fetches the latest articles, smoother and snappier UI
- **V2.1** (March 2026): Fixed article list not updating after pull-to-refresh, added refresh token mechanism
- **V2.0.1** (March 2026): Cancellation-safe refresh, stale error fixes, optimized refresh logic
- **V2.0** (March 2026): Complete visual redesign with dark amber/gold palette, permanent favorites storage, cycling unread dots, forced dark mode
- **V1.3** (February 2026): AI Article Assistant with 4 provider support, 7-day article cache, secure Keychain key storage
- **V1.2** (January 2026): Favorites feature with star toggle and filter
- **V1.1** (January 2026): Share sheet for articles, edit dialog bug fix
- **V1.0** (January 2026): Initial release with 4 feed slots, glass bottom bar, themes, pull-to-refresh

## Technical Architecture

- Single-file SwiftUI architecture
- Data persistence via UserDefaults and iOS Keychain (for API keys)
- Custom XMLParserDelegate for RSS and Atom feeds
- Support for 15+ RSS/Atom date formats
- No third-party libraries or SDKs — pure Apple-native frameworks only