Show HN: Apricot because RSS won't come back unless we move it forward https://ift.tt/buOrexy

Show HN: Apricot – because RSS won't come back unless we move it forward I’ve been using RSS readers for decades, but they’ve started feeling more and more like a chore. Something about the inbox/to-do list design, counts of unread items, managing teams and complex filtering rules... I realized they add to my stress level instead of reducing it. I’ve also come to rely on social media for discovery – hearing about new ideas, tools, papers, people, etc., but I’m so tired of the ads, spam, addictiveness, and toxicity. Apricot is my attempt to distill the best of both worlds. It’s a web app where users subscribe to feeds like an RSS reader then see new items as they come in, in a single, combined, social media-style feed. Apricot goes beyond traditional RSS readers in a couple other ways: * Users can follow TV shows (via TVmaze), Spotify podcasts, Substack newsletters, YouTube channels, and Subreddits (if/when they come back online) in addition to traditional RSS feeds. I’m open to adding other platforms if there’s demand and the content is programmatically accessible. * Cross-platform feed search. I know search isn’t hot at the moment but it’s pretty useful in this context. Search for “Star Trek” and find not just the TV shows, but the podcasts and Subreddits too. * Items can be sorted chronologically or with an ML-powered recommender system. * Users can filter their feed by platform, which is helpful for specific use cases like finding a good podcast episode for a car ride or a good TV episode to watch after dinner. * On-demand, GPT-powered content summaries help users see what an article is really about before clicking. (gotta sprinkle some gen AI on there!) Apricot is free while it’s in beta. I’m still thinking through the pricing model, but it will likely be some form of freemium starting in September. I want to avoid ads if at all possible. If you’ve got a few minutes (and come on, with Reddit offline, I know you do), check it out and let me know what you think! App: https://ift.tt/lAQfpry Homepage: https://theapricot.io Blog: https://ift.tt/LDqOo5P https://ift.tt/lAQfpry June 14, 2023 at 12:11AM