A new RSS app named Current is making a deliberate break from inbox-style feed readers by presenting news as a flowing stream. Instead of tallying “unreads” like email, it lets stories appear, linger, and fade, turning catch-up into casual browsing rather than a chore. It’s a small design shift with big psychological implications for how people keep up with information.
A River, Not an Inbox: Rethinking RSS Feeds
Current leans into the long-discussed “river of news” model popularized by early RSS pioneers such as Dave Winer. The premise: most news doesn’t demand a response, so treating it like email creates needless pressure. By removing unread counts and bolded badges, Current reframes feeds as ambient flow—dip in, skim what matters, and step away without guilt.
That approach directly counters the inbox metaphors that dominated RSS after the mid-2000s. When social platforms took over real-time discovery, many readers drifted away from RSS, and Google Reader’s 2013 shutdown symbolized the shift. Yet RSS quietly endured, powering podcasts and countless site syndications; what it needed was a calmer consumption model.
How Current Manages Time With Flow-Based Reading
Instead of read and unread states, Current uses time-based visibility. Items brighten when fresh and then gently dim before disappearing from view. The app ships with sensible defaults: fast-moving alerts stay vibrant for roughly three hours, daily news remains prominent for about 18 hours, essays linger for around three days, and durable guides can persist for a week.
Users can set a per-source “speed” to match tone—Breaking, News, Article, Essay, or Tutorial—so a quick-hit feed doesn’t crowd out longform. When you finish something, you swipe it away or tap a release control to return to the stream; crucially, there’s nothing to “clear” to zero. That subtle removal of obligation is the point.
Tools for Power Readers Who Want More Control
Under the minimal surface, Current packs enthusiast features. It can fetch full-text from truncated feeds, enable an image-first view for webcomics, mute noisy sources temporarily, and pin essentials so they surface first. If a site starts flooding, the app nudges you to rate-limit it. And if you constantly skip a feed, it suggests pruning; if you devour one, it suggests pinning.
Current also separates institutional feeds from individual authors in a view called Voices. That makes it easy to follow favorite writers across publications—an acknowledgement of the creator-centric shift driven by blogs, newsletters, and independent journalism. The developer is backing this with a proposed Byline specification that enriches RSS, Atom, and JSON feeds with author context.
Organization is handled through three built-in “currents” out of the box—River, Voices, and Read Later—and you can create your own thematic streams, like Tech or Design. Traditional extras are present too: OPML import for quick onboarding and iCloud Sync across iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
Why This Model Fits the Moment for Modern News
As algorithms increasingly mediate what people see, there’s renewed appetite for tools that restore user control without recreating work. Research from the Reuters Institute’s Digital News Report has charted steady declines in direct visits to news sites as social and aggregators take mindshare, especially among younger audiences. A river model gives readers personalization and pace without the psychological tax of an inbox.
The emphasis on individual writers also tracks with how audiences discover expertise today. Newsletters, independent blogs, and specialist Substack-style creators have built loyal followings outside traditional front pages. By foregrounding authorship and cadence, Current treats feeds more like a curated broadcast than a mailbox backlog.
Pricing and Availability for the Current RSS App
Current is available as a one-time $9.99 purchase on Apple’s App Store for iOS, iPad, and Mac. There are no subscriptions or in-app purchases, and syncing is included via iCloud. A web version is planned, which would make the river accessible beyond Apple devices.
The Bottom Line: A Calmer Way to Keep Up With News
By transforming RSS from an obligation into a flow, Current revives a classic open standard with modern ergonomics. It won’t replace social discovery for everyone, but for readers who value control, context, and calm, this river may be the most refreshing way to keep up.
