GNewsWire

A native Linux RSS/Atom feed reader built with Swift and GTK4/libadwaita, inspired by NetNewsWire.

Features

• 📰 RSS/Atom Support: Full RSS 2.0 and Atom 1.0 feed parsing
• 🎨 Native GNOME UI: Built with GTK4 and libadwaita for seamless desktop integration
• 📚 Smart Folders: Built-in All, Unread, and Starred article collections
• 🔍 Three-Column Layout: Familiar feed reader interface with feeds, articles, and reader panes
• 💾 SQLite Database: Persistent storage for feeds and articles
• 🌐 Async Networking: Modern Swift concurrency with AsyncHTTPClient
• 🎯 Swift 6: Built with the latest Swift language features

Architecture

GNewsWire/
├── Sources/
│   └── GNewsWire/
│       ├── Models/          # Feed, Article, Author data models
│       ├── Views/           # Adwaita UI views
│       ├── Services/        # Feed parsing and fetching
│       └── GNewsWireApp.swift
├── Package.swift            # Swift package manifest
└── run.sh                  # Build and run script

Dependencies

• Adwaita for Swift: SwiftUI-like declarative UI framework for GNOME
• SQLite.swift: Type-safe SQLite database layer
• AsyncHTTPClient: Modern async HTTP networking
• XMLCoder: XML parsing for RSS/Atom feeds

Building

Prerequisites

# Install GTK4 and libadwaita development packages
sudo apt install libgtk-4-dev libadwaita-1-dev  # Debian/Ubuntu
sudo dnf install gtk4-devel libadwaita-devel     # Fedora
sudo pacman -S gtk4 libadwaita                   # Arch

# Swift 6.0+ is required
# Visit https://swift.org/install for installation instructions

Build & Run

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/GNewsWire.git
cd GNewsWire

# Build
swift build

# Run
./run.sh
# or
.build/debug/GNewsWire

Usage

1. Launch: Run the app to see the three-column interface
2. Smart Folders: Browse built-in collections:
   • 📚 All Articles: View all available articles
   • 📨 Unread: Filter to unread articles only
   • ⭐ Starred: View your starred/favorited articles
3. Adding Feeds: Click the + menu in the toolbar:
   • Select "Add Hacker News" for tech news
   • Select "Add BBC News" for world news
4. Reading: Click any article to read it in the right pane
5. Article Actions: Use buttons in the reader to:
   • Mark as Read/Unread
   • Star/Unstar articles
   • Open in browser

Technical Implementation

Swift 6 on Linux

This project showcases modern Swift development for Linux desktop:

• Full Swift 6.0 language features and concurrency
• Native Linux implementations (no Foundation/AppKit dependencies)
• GTK4/libadwaita integration through Swift bindings

Adwaita for Swift

Using declarative UI patterns similar to SwiftUI:

NavigationSplitView(sidebar: {
    FeedListView(feeds: $feeds, selectedFeed: $selectedFeed)
}) {
    ArticleListView(articles: $articles, selectedArticle: $selectedArticle)
}

Database Design

SQLite.swift with namespace-aware types to handle Swift 6 changes:

// Avoid Foundation.Expression conflict with explicit namespace
private let feedIdCol = SQLite.Expression<Int64>("id")
private let feedTitle = SQLite.Expression<String>("title")

Feed Parsing

Comprehensive RSS/Atom parsing with XMLCoder:

• RSS 2.0 with enclosures and categories
• Atom 1.0 with multiple link relations
• Automatic feed type detection
• Multiple date format support (RFC822, ISO8601)

Project Status

✅ Implemented

• Complete three-column UI layout
• RSS/Atom feed parser with full spec support
• SQLite database with feeds and articles tables
• Smart folders (All, Unread, Starred)
• Feed selection and article viewing
• Sample article data for testing
• Article read/unread status
• Star/favorite functionality
• Basic feed management menu

🚧 Roadmap

• Live feed fetching with progress indicators
• OPML import/export
• Feed categories and folders
• Full-text search
• Keyboard shortcuts (j/k navigation)
• WebKit article rendering
• Feed edit/delete functionality
• Sync service integration
• System notifications
• Offline reading mode

Development

Code Style

The project follows Swift API Design Guidelines with Linux-specific adaptations:

• Declarative UI with Adwaita's SwiftUI-like syntax
• Protocol-oriented design for services
• Async/await for network operations
• Value types for models

Testing

swift test

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Areas needing help:

• Feed fetching robustness
• UI polish and animations
• Keyboard navigation
• Performance optimization
• Documentation

Comparison with NetNewsWire

Feature	NetNewsWire	GNewsWire
Platform	macOS/iOS	Linux/GNOME
UI Framework	SwiftUI/AppKit	GTK4/libadwaita
Database	Core Data	SQLite
Sync	iCloud/Feedbin	Planned
Feed Formats	RSS/Atom/JSON	RSS/Atom
Swift Version	5.x	6.0

License

GNU General Public License v3.0 - See LICENSE file for details

This ensures GNewsWire remains free software for the community.

Acknowledgments

• Inspired by NetNewsWire by Brent Simmons
• Built with Adwaita for Swift by David Müller
• Uses SQLite.swift by Stephen Celis
• XML parsing by XMLCoder

Screenshots

The app features a clean GNOME-native interface:

• Left sidebar: Feed list with unread counts and icons
• Center: Article list with read/unread indicators
• Right: Article reader with action buttons

(Live screenshots coming soon - run the app to see it in action!)

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Note: This is a proof-of-concept demonstrating Swift's viability for Linux desktop development. While functional, it's not yet ready for daily use. Contributions and feedback are highly encouraged!