As RSS settles down alongside web pages and email as an established tool for online information, so too has the choice and variety of RSS aggregators and readers grown. Endo is the latest of these, offering something of a new approach and some nice new features.
On first launch, there's a helpful setup wizard that guides you through some of these features and asks for relevant information. As you go through the wizard, you're given the chance to enter details of accounts you might have at photo sharing site Flickr and link sharing site del.icio.us.
Using this data, Endo builds up a 'Me' feed based on your activity on these sites, how many links it can find to your own website, and so on. Sounds like a bit of a head-inflation exercise for egomaniacs, but many will find this a useful new idea.
Endo's interface is a little different from most. It looks, at first, like a typical application, with buttons on a toolbar across the top, but these aren't application controls, they're different groups of RSS feeds. While Endo provides you with an interesting collection of default feeds and groups, most users will want to add their own or import an OPML file from another RSS aggregator. New groups, including smart ones based on your chosen metadata, are easy to create.
What takes a little time to get used to is the lack of interface. The toolbar is used to switch between different groups of feeds, and the left pane to display headlines. The larger right pane displays the content. Consequently, you might find yourself scurrying around among the menus to manage even simple control tasks. There's an impressive array of keyboard shortcuts, which makes up for the sparse toolbar, but you'll have to learn them.
Subscriptions are managed in a separate window, as are searches of your feeds. The search uses Spotlight and is impressively fast, but it's a pity that this functionality has to be so tucked away.
And that's Endo's main problem. It has functionality, attitude and some degree of style, but hides much of its clever new thinking in the menu bar, instead of flaunting it right in front of your eyes. Avid RSS users might well enjoy spending some time to learn all the ins and outs of this clever little application. Newcomers to RSS, though, or people who don't have the time to cope with learning curves, might prefer to stick with something a little easier to grasp.
Verdict
Newcomers to RSS, though, or people who don't have the time to cope with learning curves, might prefer to stick with something a little easier to grasp
Author: Giles Turnbull
MacUser Online