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Important Updates

The new versions of FeedDemon, NetNewsWire for Mac and NetNewsWire for iPhone are now available. Online reader access and NewsGator synchronization will end on Monday, September 28th.

We highly recommend you download the latest free versions at the links below. If you want to continue using a web-based reader or want to synchronize multiple reader clients, you will need to create a Google Reader account. Directions for copying your NewsGator feed subscriptions to Google Reader are contained in our product transition page.


  1. I am a paying enterprise customer, what do these announcements mean for me? You will not see any changes. NewsGator will continue to support the RSS readers that you use with Social Sites Professional or Social Sites Enterprise. NewsGator will also continue to support our data services, widget, media, and iPhone offerings. For more information, enterprise customers may contact their account manager.

  2. Why is NewsGator recommending Google Reader and Google’s synchronization features? Google Reader is the world’s most popular web-based RSS application. One of the most popular feature requests from FeedDemon and NetNewsWire users was synchronization with Google Reader- so we are delivering that today.

  3. I use NewsGator Online, how do these announcements impact me? NewsGator Online will no longer be available for consumers after September 28th, 2009. If you would like to continue to take advantage of the power of RSS, we recommend FeedDemon (for Windows), NetNewsWire (for Macs and iPhones), and/or Google Reader (for online). These are free products and you can easily transfer your NewsGator Online RSS reading list to these alternative readers. To assist you with the migration, we have provided step-by-step instructions on our website.

  4. I use NewsGator Go!, how do these announcements impact me? NewsGator Go! for BlackBerry and Windows Mobile will no longer be available for consumers after September 28th, 2009. We recommend the Google Reader mobile web application, or the FreeRange BlackBerry client application. These are free products and you can even transfer your NewsGator Go! RSS reading list to these alternative readers. To assist you with the migration, we have provided step-by-step instructions on our website.

  5. I use NewsGator Inbox, how do these announcements impact me? We recommend Inbox users try FeedDemon or Google Reader. These are free products and you can transfer your NewsGator Inbox RSS reading list to these alternative readers. To assist you with the migration, we have provided step-by-step instructions on our website. While we will no longer provide new versions of NewsGator Inbox, you may continue to use your current version without synchronization features (note that synchronization will no longer be available for consumers after September 28th, 2009).

  6. I enjoyed using NewsGator Online to synchronize my RSS reading experience across the various RSS readers that I used, how do these announcements impact me? Google Reader will become the online companion to our award-winning applications and become the synchronization platform for content for our RSS readers (FeedDemon, NetNewsWire for Mac, and NetNewsWire for iPhone). NewsGator Online synchronization will no longer be available for consumers after September 28th, 2009. Instructions as to how to easily set up Google Reader as your synchronization platform are on our website.

  7. Will NewsGator continue to provide free RSS Readers for other platforms/devices? Yes. NewsGator will continue to provide consumers with free RSS Readers for Windows (FeedDemon), Macs (NetNewsWire), and iPhones (NetNewsWire for the iPhone). These RSS Readers will synchronize with Google’s RSS platform. To download the latest versions of these RSS Readers visit NewsGator’s website. The NewsGator forum will continue to be used for FeedDemon and NetNewsWire feedback.

  8. What will happen in the future with FeedDemon, NetNewsWire, and the iPhone apps? Nick Bradbury will continue to lead the development of FeedDemon, and will continue to expand the features and capabilities provided by FeedDemon. Brent Simmons will continue to lead the development of NetNewsWire for the Mac, NetNewsWire for the iPhone, and iPhone Apps. NewsGator plans to continue to expand the features and capabilities provided by all of these applications. NewsGator also plans to expand its iPhone offerings with the release of TapLynx (a powerful and easy-to-use iPhone application development framework) in October 2009. The NewsGator forum will continue to be used for FeedDemon and NetNewsWire feedback.

  9. Who should I contact if I have trouble transitioning? For assistance, please visit NewsGator’s website. It includes step-by-step instructions to guide you through the transition process. Do not contact Google for transition support.

  10. I used NewsGator’s Shared Clipping Feed feature. What happens to that now? We have added a feature that you can access from within your clipping folders in the NewsGator Online reader to enter a new URL where we will redirect requesters for your shared clipping feeds. This will let you point anyone subscribing to your clippings at a Google Reader shared items feed instead. These features will continue to be supported for all enterprise customers.

  11. I was using the Blogroll, Ratings and/or Headlines features. What happens to them now? These features will no longer be supported after September 28th, 2009. You should remove these components from any blog or web site. These features will continue to be supported for all enterprise customers.

  12. I was using some of the free tools such as the Browser Toolbar or the Desktop Notifier. What happens to them now? These products will no longer be supported. FeedDemon has capabilities for new story notifications. These tools will continue to be supported for all enterprise customers.

  13. What is synchronization? Synchronization gives you a consistent reading experience across your RSS Readers for the PC, Mac, iPhone, and web browser. For example, if you add a new RSS feed, organize your folders, or mark some stories as read on one device, the changes will immediately reflect across the others.

  14. What does this mean for the future of RSS? A mark of mature market acceptance of any technology is when folks no longer talk about it as a technology (think SMTP and email). RSS has crossed that chasm, too. RSS has become the ubiquitous standard for content delivery today and is used in more places than you think -- it's very much alive and well. Like earlier successful technologies, it has become such a fundamental part of the web that it often goes unnoticed, and it isn't as big a topic of conversation as when it was new. While FeedDemon and NetNewsWire continue to enjoy great and growing popularity, the business world is also adopting RSS. RSS powers NewsGator's enterprise products, which have grown at a record pace in the last 18+ months. Enterprises may not realize they're using RSS when they use our feed readers and Social Sites - but that's because we talk about the business problems Social Sites can solve, and the many benefits of social computing, and not the geeky engine under the hood. NewsGator now has well over a million Social Sites users – all are paid business customers and all are taking advantage of enterprise RSS.

  15. Is there a way to move ‘clipped’ articles from NetNewsWire into Google Reader ‘shared’ or ‘starred’ folders? Not at the moment, however we are considering options for handling clippings and may have options for this in the future.

  16. Can I still read authenticated feeds? You can still read authenticated feeds in NetNewsWire and FeedDemon, but the authenticated feeds won't be synced within Google Reader. Note that paying enterprise customers are not impacted by this change.

  17. What does this mean for smart feed searches for enterprise customers? Smart feeds will search against more than a million of the most vital business and news-related feeds.

  18. What about the NewsGator API's? Free access to NewsGator's online API's will be disabled after September 28th, 2009. Paid customers will continue to have access. Enterprise customers using the Social Sites Professional or Enterprise products continue to have full access to the APIs on those platforms.

  19. Can I still use NetNewsWire and FeedDemon if I don’t obtain a Google account? Yes, you can continue to use NetNewsWire for Mac and FeedDemon for Windows without a Google account. You will just not be able to benefit from synchronization across RSS devices.

  20. I am a consumer; can I pay in order to maintain access to NewsGator Online? No, NewsGator Online will not be available for consumer use after September 28th, 2009.

  21. I downloaded the new version of NetNewsWire for Mac and signed up for Google Sync, why doesn’t my NetNewsWire for iPhone sync? A new version of NetNewsWire for iPhone that syncs with Google Reader is now available. Please download it from the iTunes store.

  22. Will this affect my flagged items that I have saved in FeedDemon? In the current FeedDemon 3.0 pre-release (RC3), existing flagged items should be retained, and the next pre-release (RC4) will attempt to sync existing flags with Google Reader after you convert from NewsGator sync. Flags you add after converting to Google Reader are synched (they are ‘Starred Items’ in Google Reader).

  23. How do I re-enable the missing icons (such as ‘Blog This’) in FeedDemon? Please see this blog post from Nick Bradbury for details on the icon changes and instructions on how to re-enable the icons.

  24. How do I retrieve all of my clipped and tagged items from NewsGator Online prior to the cutoff date? Please refer to the instructions page to retrieve your clipped/tagged articles.