FreeRange RSS Reader
No longer works. Service has been shut down.
FreeRange is a stand alone RSS reader application. It used to be a paid app with a $40/year subscription. There was also a free version that was limited to 10 feeds. Last year FreeRange was acquired by Handmark who eliminated the paid option and made the free one unlimited.
FreeRange works pretty well on my i776. It takes a while to download new items if you have a lot of unread ones but you can start reading while it’s still downloading. Unlike the other free RSS readers I’ve tried it displays the images in feeds.
FreeRange comes pre-configured with ten popular feeds including ESPN, CNN, Engadget, BoingBoing and Wired. You can add more feeds by picking them from a list within the app. There doesn’t seem to be anyway to add feeds that aren’t in the list by URL from within the app. A full range of feed management options including; adding feeds by URL, importing a feed list from another reader and linking FreeRange with a Google Reader account are available on the web at FreeRangeinc.com
FreeRange does have a few quirks:
- Like many apps on iDEN phones, the OK key doesn’t work, you need to use the green “Call” button instead.
- When you start up FreeRange, the option to login to an existing FreeRange account is hidden off screen. You can reach it by scrolling down past the “Create a new account” option and pressing the Call key.
- A couple of times while running the app I got a Java connection error that caused FreeRange to go into “Flight Mode” and stop updating. If this happens you can get it working again by backing out to the list of feed, pressing the menu key and choosing “Settings “and then clicking “Turn Flight Mode off”.
If spite of the quirks FreeRange is by far the best standalone RSS reader I’v found that works on iDEN phones.
Type: Freeware
Vendor: Freerange Communications- Product Page, Help Pages, Forum.
Data Connection Required: Yes
Supported iDEN phones: All Falcon Series (i776, i465, i9, i290, etc.)
Downloading uses paid data. Downloads are for Java ME phones only.
To download and install click here: DOWNLOAD (jad)
Dennis-
You may want to take this link down. It does not work on my Incognito after over 1 year of working. I deleted the file, reloaded it, and got a message saying that FreeRange was no longer supporting my type of phone. I think they’re focusing on the Iphone now.
It doesn’t work for me either. Thank you for reporting the problem. I will delete this page in a few days.
has anybody seen freerange website ? looks different from the last time i saw it , is this app not gonna be free anymore? hope not its a great app but it looks like they are upgrading it also looks like another company bought them out
It doesn’t look promising. Enjoy FreeRange while it lasts. If it gets shut down here’s what I use as mobile RSS reader. Open Opera Mini and enable Mobile View (aka single column mode) then go to http://www.google.com/reader/view/?ui=wii It’s the single column Nintendo Wii version of Google Reader. You will probably need to use a PC to add you feeds to Google Reader, unfortunately.
thats gonna suck if they do shut it down odds are wont be free anymore well anyway thanks for the info Dennis
Such a great app! There is almost no more free offline rss readers. Until in my country will be any reliable and payable mobile internet connectivity, offline rss reading is the only way to kill time on bus and train. Thanks a lot!
update to my comment – the delicious people said some third party apps don’t support thier new yahoo sign-in. I’m still having problems with FreeRange updating all feeds regualrly, though – even after checking the settings.
Amyone have any suggestions?
i have the motorola clutch, and some problems with the freerange. it kinda works, and kinda doesn’t! i get communication errors often. it gives me a sign-in error on delicious all the time. and, most frustrating, it hardly ever updates. i mark my feeds as read, i set the auto update – and the menu on the app is easy to follow, so i’m doing that right. anyone else have this problem ?