Openvibe Combines News and Social Media into One Unified App

Openvibe, a platform that enables you to monitor open social networks like Bluesky, Mastodon, Threads, and Nostr, is expanding its functionality to include following your favorite news outlets and blogs. The startup is adding support for RSS (Really Simple Syndication), allowing users to receive automatic updates from websites, including new articles and blog posts.

This enhancement makes Openvibe a more powerful tool for keeping up with your interests and essential information, eliminating the need to switch between various newsreaders, websites, or social media apps.

Moreover, this feature places Openvibe in direct competition with other social media and content aggregation platforms that track updates across the open web. Key rivals include Tapestry, the latest app from the creators of the well-known Twitter client, Twitterific; Feeeed, an RSS reader that helps monitor social profiles on Mastodon, YouTube, and more; and Surf, a newly released open social app and browser from the developers of Flipboard.

Matej Svancer, CEO of Openvibe, shares that the integration of RSS support has been on the app’s long-term agenda since its inception last year. However, user demand prompted the team to accelerate the development of this feature.

To access this feature, users can add RSS sources one at a time, browse recommended sites within the app and hit “follow” on those they want to monitor, or upload their entire OPML file from another newsreader. As user adoption of RSS grows, Openvibe plans to introduce a leaderboard displaying the most-followed feeds to help users discover popular sources.

Once feeds are added, users can see RSS updates in the app’s main home feed, in a separate “RSS” feed, or integrate the RSS feeds into their custom feed.

While RSS can also handle podcasts and YouTube channels, Openvibe is not currently prioritizing those formats, as Svancer tells TechCrunch. He notes that although it is technically possible to add them now, it would not create an optimal user experience, especially when users have to open each item in a browser.

Regarding news and blogs, Openvibe presents the content directly within the app in a clean, distraction-free reading format. Users who prefer visiting the websites can adjust this setting accordingly.

Additionally, the app includes a “Performance Mode” toggle that allows disabling image loading in timeline previews, further optimizing resource usage.

The company has been piloting the RSS functionality before its launch with over 100 users, who have collectively added more than 4,000 feeds.

RSS support is currently live in Openvibe’s iOS and Android applications. The app is available for free, with no in-app purchases, although plans for a subscription model are in the works for the future.

This startup has received limited financing from Czech Founders VC, Tensor Ventures, and Automattic, the parent company of platforms like WordPress.com, Tumblr, and Beeper.