NewsTap (Usenet Newsreader) Reviews

by Midwicket

After purchasing the software, and the newsfeed connection, I wasn't able to get NEWSTAP to make the connection to the newsfeed, even after following the step by step instructions. The newsfeed company helped confirm the configuration I was using but it still didn't work. I emailed the developer of the over a week ago and have yet to hear from him or his organization.

I'm now looking for another interface for my newsnet feed!

by AirForce MSgt

Disconnects without loading articles.

by Beernut66

After downloading all the newsgroups, program disconnects while downloading the descriptions. I’ve tried several times and waisted many, many minutes in the process. It does this EVERY time! Very frustrating! At this point, it’s unusable.

by TheShok

After that articles won’t load again, tried following steps in the support section and no luck. Wish I could get my money back.

by Fcardoza59

Connection keeps closing without retrieving any articles.

by Xyz_

So you cannot save photos.

At least it crashes each time i try to save a photo.

Which makes this not useful at all. For me

by Realhkp2000

Can't "watch" or "ignore" a thread. It is Annoing to see the headers for something I'm not going to read every time I sync. It takes a few extra taps to delete each one. Otherwise it works no problem.

by Rkopper

Never really expected a newsreader so I was really happy that it's here. Going from one post to the next works well but has a tendency to crash. Binary support is a welcome feature although there must be some high limit on what it grabs as it doesn't seem to grab large files. It would be less data intensive if it allowed you to download headers and mark for retreival. As it stands, it downloads everything in a selected group for offline reading which works, but was expecting something like the great grabit, or pan. For a first release, it works, and works well. definatley looking for a way to mark a whole group read as first review states. Looking forward to future updates!

by Bedouin

I generally like the design of NewsTapUsenetNewsreader and find it intuitive; I especially like the way it displays replies in a particular thread as a tree sorted by author.

To me the benchmark for all newsreaders is Unison on the Mac though, and NewsTap has a way to go before it rivals it. Filters need to provide an option to kill cross posts (and subsequently 90% of Usenet spam). At version 3.x lack of support for binaries seems like a huge oversight. NewsTapUsenetNewsreader was developed by the same individual who made iCab, and he's done some great work over the years; I'm faithful that he will improve NewsTap as well. A quick glance at other clients for iOS leads me to believe this is still the best reader for iDevices.

by Bslug205

After some consternation I found that one of the multiple servers I use was
dead. Thats what was causing newstap to give the connection errors. I've re-rated NewsTapUsenetNewsreader . What I learned is that with multiple servers it will not identify the one that is not responding. Requiring one to check Each server individually.

by MJF1967

All the features they list work well, except one, viz., "Filters (also known as "Killfile") can automatically mark articles as read or mark them with a certain color.” This is not quite right: every article filtered to be marked as read must also be color labeled. I would rather not have articles that I want to ignore stand out in the list of articles. I wish it weren’t necessary to have articles marked as read automatically color marked; but I also wish there were an option to have certain articles automatically deleted.

by Rastyk

This does a great job with syncing to one news server if your purpose is to read Usenet groups.
I have heard of some problems with binaries, but I do not use it for that purpose. I sync it and read things at a later time.
NewsTapUsenetNewsreader had two problems with the software keyboard with an iPhone/iPod update (3.1?) which caused posting and filter editing problems. These have recently been fixed.
I wish I could add more servers. I wish I could use regex filtering. But all in all, this has been working well for me.

by Gary Schiltz

A very nice newsreader. I was without conventional internet service for over a year, and this program kept me sane :-) In fact, even though I finally have internet in my house, I still find myself using NewsTap for reading Usenet.

by New SMB Fan

Ipad version: With the ability to resize all the panes with just one control, this is just a killer newsreader. In fact, it may become my go-to casual newsreader, regardless of platform it's that elegant and full featured, and fun to use on the iPad. It's nice to have the iPhone version always in my pocket, as well (it's equally elegant and full featured). Bravo to the developer!

iPhone version: Nice addition to be able to download headers/srticles in the background. Can't wait till iPad can support that functionality as well.

by GarethConner

Works great for those few remaining nntp groups that I follow. Frankly, the interface is so nice, I prefer to use my iPad to read the newsgroups rather than my desktop machine. The ipad version makes great use of the extra screen space making it much more comfy to use than the iphone version. Nice work!

by 1Karlac

But, as a longtime usenet newsgroup participant who was looking for a simple, yet configurable interface that allowed threaded newsgroup reading and replying on my iPad2, I'm extremely happy with my purchase of NewsTap. I've used desktop versions of every nntp client out there over the years and can truthfully say that NewsTapUsenetNewsreader is as good as the best in ease of reading and replying in text based newsgroups, and it really leverages the screen real estate on the iPad. Highly recommended!

by Naddy6969

I have no idea what others are complaining about. Possibly setup wrong. Anyways, I use this every day now, after being away from Usenet for many years. It’s fast, the layout is fine on the iPad screen and it is easy to navigate. A bargain at $4.

by Jminpa

This is an update to my old review - NewsTapUsenetNewsreader remains 5 stars - it works just fine & allows me to still enjoy the newsgroups I've followed/participated in for decades(!), now. It's unfortunate that people are complaining about account issues and what must be general ignorance of Usenet and blaming NewsTapUsenetNewsreader , itself. It works fine, it works fine for multiple groups, it posts and updates just fine ... 5 stars.

I've been using newstap on the iphone for several years, now, and it worked fine, for me. But this ipad version is great - the extra screen real estate is used very nicely. Now, I don't care about binaries, I just care about reading my favorite few groups. rmgd lives!

by Frossie

So reliable, very happy it works on the M1.

by MJH-!

Been using NewsTapUsenetNewsreader for a while now as my usenet reader. Never had any of the problems mentioned in other reviews. Works as advertised for me.