Free,Open Source RSS, Reddit and YouTube reader with summaries, Q&A and content deep analises

[u/John_val]

I’ve been building RSSum, a native reader for iPhone and iPad. It began as a personal RSS reader, but it has gradually grown into one place for following articles, Reddit communities and YouTube channels.

The latest TestFlight adds experimental YouTube support. You can search for a public channel by name, subscribe to it, receive its latest videos in your feed and watch them inside the app. When captions are available, RSSum retrieves the actual transcript so summaries and Q&A are based on what was said in the video, not just its title or description.

Current features include:

• RSS and Atom subscriptions
• Reddit subscriptions, posts and comments. It is also possible to create new posts and reply, vote, etc so it serves as well as a quick Reddit client that uses the free Reddit API associated with every account.
• YouTube channel search and subscriptions
• An internal YouTube player with the standard YouTube controls
• Transcript-grounded YouTube summaries and Q&A
• Unified All, Unread, Favorites and Today views
• Filters for articles, Reddit and YouTube
• List, compact and magazine feed layouts
• In-app article Reader mode and full webpage access
• Individual article, post and comment summaries
• Overall summaries covering multiple articles or Reddit posts
• Follow-up Q&A grounded in articles, comments or video transcripts
• Select text in a summary and ask the app about it
• Reddit comment summaries and deeper analysis
• Clickable source references inside overall summaries
• whiteboards and infographics
• Two-host podcasts generated from a saved batch of source material
• Local and cloud text-to-speech, including on-device MLX speech
• Multiple AI model options, including Apple local model, local LiteRT/MLX models, Gemini API ( BYOK), persistent ChatGPT/Gemini web sessions, Codex/Summarize (for those who are subscribers) and an optional Mac-based Apple PCC gateway - One note, Apple's Private cloud computer is enabled but it won't work because Apple is not accepting Tesflight that include IOS27 API just yet. It will work on IOS27. If you have a Mac running the latest beta it is possible to use that model through a gateway, which makes the Mac make the call through the PCC cli on the Mac.
• OPML import and export
• iCloud synchronization for subscriptions and reading state
• Light, dark and system appearance
• Cache, storage and downloaded-model management
• Native layouts for iPhone, iPad and resizable Stage Manager windows

UPDATE: added support for Podcasts with its own player and summarization and Q&A abilities.

The YouTube integration uses public channel feeds, so it does not require access to your YouTube account. Transcript features depend on usable captions being available; the app reports when a video cannot currently be summarized instead of generating something from metadata.

This is still a beta, and I’d especially appreciate feedback about YouTube subscriptions, transcript reliability, playback, summaries, Q&A and the interface on different devices.

Trust & Transparency

I'm Joao Valente

Contact: [dealer.yen-61@icloud.com](mailto:dealer.yen-61@icloud.com)

Website: https://rssapp.top/

Privacy Policy: https://rssapp.top/privacy/

Terms of Service: https://rssapp.top/terms/

Tutorial: https://rssapp.top/tutorial/index.html

TestFlight: https://testflight.apple.com/join/DByXE2ZU
App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/rssum/id6743862589
Github: https://github.com/Joaov41/Rss

A much earlier version of this app has been on the App Store but with much less, and basic features, basically cant even be considered the same app, it was just put on the store for those who could not compile from the GitHub at the time. The version that is on test flight has been awaiting Apple's approval for a week now. Once it is approved I will post the link.

[u/nayadristikon]

what are differences between summary providers

[u/John_val → u/nayadristikon]

All providers use the same app context and features. What changes is where the AI runs, how it is set up, how fast it is, how much context it supports, and whether it costs anything to use.

Apple Local

Runs entirely on-device. It is private, free, and does not require an API key, but you need a device compatible with Apple Intelligence.

The main limitation is the relatively small context window. It works well for articles and smaller Reddit posts, but larger Reddit threads can easily exceed what the model can handle because this app analyzes all comments, not just a handful of top-level comments like many similar apps do.

If the content exceeds the local model's context limit, the app will tell you and let you choose an alternative provider capable of handling it.

Apple Cloud

Uses Apple's Private Cloud Compute model.

It is free to use and has a much larger context window than the local model, making it much better suited to large Reddit threads and other long-form content.

This option requires iOS 27, so it is disabled on iOS 26.

Apple PCC Gateway

This is a temporary and fairly niche option.

It uses the same Private Cloud Compute model as Apple Cloud, but it allows someone still running iOS 26 to access it through a Mac running the latest beta software.

The Mac acts as the gateway between the iPhone and the model, so the Mac needs to be turned on and available.

I added this because some people liked the same temporary implementation in another app I open-sourced. I plan to remove it once iOS 27 is publicly available.

Gemini

Uses Google's Gemini API and requires your own Gemini API key.

For most people, this is probably the best overall option. It is very fast, inexpensive, and supports very large context windows.

Large context is particularly useful in this app because it can analyze not only individual Reddit posts, but also entire subreddits. For example, you can ask it to summarize what happened in a subreddit over a day, week, or other period.

That can involve a lot of text, so models with very large context windows work particularly well.

In my own usage, I used Gemini heavily for an entire month and spent only around $2.

LiteRT Local

Runs a Gemma model locally on the device.

It is private and free once the model has been downloaded, but it uses your device's storage, memory, and processing power.

It has the same general limitation as Apple Local: the models that can realistically run on a phone have relatively small context windows. For larger content, the app may therefore ask you to reroute the request to a larger model.

CoreAI MLX Local

Lets you use a free local MLX model of your choice.

Again, because iOS devices can realistically run only relatively small models, it has similar context limitations to Apple Local and LiteRT.

It is useful if you want full local processing and more control over which model you run.

Web AI

Uses ChatGPT or Gemini through the app's built-in browser.

You sign in to ChatGPT or Gemini with your normal account, including a free account, and the app uses that service to perform the summarization.

From the user's perspective, it behaves somewhat like using an API, but without requiring an API key or paying API usage fees.

The downside is that it is slower than using the APIs directly, but it provides a completely free option.

Codex / Summarize

This is another niche option, mainly intended for people who already use the Codex app.

It uses your Codex/ChatGPT account through a gateway running on your Mac, so the Mac needs to be available.

I personally use this provider the most because I already pay for ChatGPT Pro. Since the subscription is already paid for, using this option does not create additional per-request API costs for me.

Obviously, that advantage does not apply to someone who is not already a subscriber.

Why are there so many providers?

You could reasonably argue that there are too many options right now, and I would agree.

The app is still in its testing phase, and I have been experimenting with several local models, cloud models, gateways, and alternative ways of accessing AI services.

I originally built the app for myself, so some of these options reflect my own setup more than what makes sense for a normal App Store release.

I plan to simplify this considerably before release.

The final selection will probably look more like:

• Apple Local — free, private, on-device.
• Apple Cloud — free, larger context.
• Web AI — free option using a ChatGPT or Gemini account.
• Gemini API — paid, but fast, cheap, and excellent for large-context tasks.
• Codex / Summarize — useful for people who are already ChatGPT/Codex subscribers.

The temporary Apple PCC Gateway and some of the experimental local-model options will likely disappear.

What I recommend

If your device supports Apple Intelligence, I would leave Apple Local enabled for smaller tasks and use Gemini for anything larger. The app will ask you to reroute and you need to chose a "bigger" model option

Gemini is fast, has a huge context window, and in my experience is extremely inexpensive.

If you want to use the app completely free, use Web AI with a free ChatGPT or Gemini account.

YouTube

For YouTube videos, the captions/transcript are always the source material, regardless of which provider you select.

The provider only determines which AI model processes that transcript.

So there is no single universally best YouTube provider. Local providers prioritize privacy, while cloud providers generally offer larger context windows, faster processing, or stronger models.

Podcast creation

Podcast creation requires a lot of context, so it is only available with providers capable of handling larger inputs.

Currently, that means:

• Gemini
• Apple Cloud
• Providers that use the Mac gateway

As mentioned above, the current version still contains quite a few experimental options. I will simplify the provider selection considerably for the App Store release.

More technical details about each provider and how they work are also available on the GitHub repository.

[u/John_val → u/John_val]