About SereneReader

What SereneReader is for, what it leaves out, and who builds it.

Why SereneReader exists

Feed readers tend to grow. Badges, streaks, AI summaries, and ranked "smart" feeds get added one at a time, and reading ends up competing with everything around it.

We built the reader we wanted to use: your feeds in order, the article in front of you, and very little else on screen.

Calm over chaos

The default view is your feeds and the article you're reading. Search, filters, and settings are there when you go looking for them.

Some things we left out on purpose:

  • No notification badges or push alerts
  • No AI summaries
  • No gamification, streaks, or badges
  • No upsell pop-ups (the only plan notice appears when you're near your feed limit)
  • No feature announcement popups
  • No auto-playing media

When you open SereneReader, your feeds are there. There's no welcome tour or what's-new pop-up to dismiss first.

The reading experience

SereneReader is keyboard-first and designed for focused reading. Navigate articles with j and k, toggle the sidebar with b, and enter focus mode with f.

Press f for focus mode. The sidebar and article list step aside, and the article sits in the middle of the screen with a slim toolbar above it and a thin progress bar along the edge. Press it again, or Esc, to go back.

Feeds are always in chronological order, newest first. Nothing reorders them based on what you clicked before.

Open standards

SereneReader is built on RSS, Atom, and OPML, the open formats most of the web's feeds already use.

Import your feeds from another reader with an OPML file, and export them the same way whenever you like. Your subscriptions and folders go with you if you leave.

Where it runs

SereneReader has native apps for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch, and it runs in any browser. One account works everywhere, and iPhone, iPad, Mac, and the web stay in sync live. There's no Android app.

Apple Watch is a companion for headlines and reading. Sign-in happens on iPhone. See the apps.

Built by

SereneReader is built by one developer in Atlanta, GA, who reads a lot of feeds and wanted a quieter reader. It's self-funded and published by JonesLabs LLC.

Questions or feedback? Get in touch.