Low-Spec RSS Feed Viewer for Mobile Devices

Posted on behalf of UKeiG member Steve Burgess:

In my frustration at not finding a simple RSS Feed Reader that supports HTTP Authentication, I have developed a mini-RSS Feed Reader that I can use on my mobile device. It does work on Firefox/I.E. etc on a standard desktop - but looks a bit rubbish on there as it is really designed for mobile devices. Having said that, it is easier to set up your list of feeds on the PC than it is on the PDA/Mobile.

This is not a full featured application - all it does is display the current feed items with links where relevant. The stylesheet has been optimised for mobile devices (e.g. PDAs and XHTML compliant browsers on mobile phones). It is not a WAP service (if anyone knows how I could make it WAP compliant, I'd be very interested to hear from you). I've tried it on my O2 XDA Mini S and my Nokia N70 and it works fine - haven't tested it on any other devices. Feedback about how (if) it works on other devices would be appreciated.

The system is linked to the My-RSS Feed Generator website (http://www.my-rss.co.uk/). To use the mobile feed reader you must sign up to My-RSS.co.uk - though you don't have to create a feed or log in again after first signing up if you don't want to. If you already use My-RSS, you can easily import a) your own feeds and b) "associated" feeds from My-RSS into your Mobile account by choosing the relevant option from the drop down select box. You can also import OPML profiles produced by other feed reading software.

I developed this because I need to keep track of password protected RSS feeds (non-protected feeds work too, btw) at work and on the move. If you want to make use of it, please feel free.

As I say, I would be interested in hearing from any WAP experts about whether it is a) possible to host WAP sites on a bog standard apache webserver (I do have full root access) and b) whether it is worth doing in any case.

The address for the site is: http://mobile.my-rss.co.uk/ but remember, you
need to be a member of, or become a member of, http://www.my-rss.co.uk/ first.

Any questions, comments or other feedback, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

stevepburgess at gmail dot com