For the longest time I had used Unread for all my RSS needs on my BlackBerry. It does a great job syncing with Google Reader and was generally very good at displaying feeds accurately. However, problems with scrolling jumpiness always left something to be desired so I have been keeping an eye out for other comprable applications.

Recently Bellshare introduced the application BerryReader to BlackBerry users. I immediately picked up the trial version of the application to give it a go and compare it to Unread. Read on for my full review of BerryReader for BlackBerry smartphones.

Immediately I was really impressed by the elegance of BerryReader. Smooth scrolling is present throughout the application as well as smooth animations for loading and enlarging photos. BerryReader features full synchronization with Google Reader and does it more beautifully than any other BlackBerry app that I have used. Keyboard shortcuts are present throughout the app allowing quick movement to the previous or next article, starring of items, the option to open the article in the web browser, etc.

In the feed view all articles flood in chronologically. Each article has it’s own thumbnail which shows the main image in the article if there is one, otherwise the thumbnail will show up blank. Bellshare has done a great job with picture loading by including a circular loading animation to give users a little feedback as to whether or not the picture is loading. There is also the option to preload images which is great for offline viewing.

If you want you can set up BerryReader to update in the background and notify you whenever there are stories to be read via an alert, homescreen badge, or via message app integration.

For those looking for Google Reader on the go this is hands down, the best option for reading feeds on your BlackBerry. BerryReader is extremely eye-pleasing and interface-consistent and it makes reading RSS feeds on BlackBerry a pleasure.

Features

  • Access your All Items, Starred Items, Shared Items, a single feed or a single folder for reading
  • Automatically update in the background every 15, 30, 45 minutes, 1 or 3 hours
  • Manage (add/remove) subscriptions from your device
  • Quickly toggle an article’s Starred, Like, Unread and Shared labels or edit the article’s tags for later filtering.
  • Read the current list even while offline, changes to labels and tags will be cached and automatically synced when network coverage is regained
  • Get notified whenever new articles are available (Includes custom LED color support through BerryBuzz)
  • Integrates into the device’s messages list showing a BerryReader item whenever new articles are available
  • Easily switch between viewing of all or unread items only
  • Choose between compact and full article list layout and black on white or white on black color scheme
  • Automatically load thumbnails and full images for every article (Fully preload for offline viewing or when needed to conserve bandwidth)
  • Load 10, 20, 35, 50 or 75 items at once into the list. Load more items into the list by clicking the ‘more’ link at the end of the list.
  • Articles are automatically marked as read when opened
  • Mark all items in the current list as read with a single command
  • Swipe left/right on an article header to mark read/star the article (touchscreen devices only)
  • Hover over an article to open a shortcut popup for easy changing star/like/tag of an article (touchscreen devices only)
  • Fully optimized and compressed synchronization to keep your data usage at a minimum
  • Optimized for minimum memory and battery usage

BerryReader is available from Bellshare for $9.95. I understand that for many of you this may sound pricey. While I’d love to see this app ring in at $5 instead of $10, if you love Google Reader it’s a small price to pay for great integration.

Head over to Bellshare and take the 10-day trial for a spin.

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