How to set up the NewsFlash RSS feed reader on Linux
Are you looking for a modern RSS reader for the Linux desktop to catch up on the latest news? Check out the NewsFlash app. It takes an old technology like RSS feeds and modernizes it into an excellent news consumption experience.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to install NewsFlash and set up feeds to read your news. To get started, ensure you are running Fedora, Arch Linux, or a Linux distro that supports Flatpak, and follow along below!
Installing NewsFlash on Linux
Before we go over how to set up the NewsFlash application on your Linux PC so that you can use it to consume your favorite news sources, we need to go over how to install the app. The reason we need to go over how to set up how to install NewsFlash is that it does not come pre-installed on any Linux operating systems.
To start the installation of the NewsFlash application on your Linux PC, begin by opening up a terminal window. To open up a terminal window, press Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T on the keyboard. From there, follow the command-line installation instructions outlined below.
Ubuntu
On Ubuntu, sadly, it is not possible to get the NewsFlash application set up through the Apt package installer. To get this program working on your Ubuntu PC, you must follow the Flatpak instructions.
Debian
On Debian Linux, you will not be able to install the NewsFlash program through the Apt-get installation tool. Instead, you must follow the Flatpak installation instructions later on in this guide.
Arch Linux
There’s an AUR package for NewsFlash that takes the source code of the program, downloads it, and automatically generates a Pacman package for you to use. To start the installation, run the pacman -S command and set up both the “Git” and “Base-devel” packages.
sudo pacman -S base-devel git
Once both packages are installed on your computer, run the following commands below to install the Trizen AUR helper. Trizen will help make the NewsFlash compilation process very easy.
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/trizen.git cd trizen makepkg -sri
With Trizen installed, you’ll be able to install NewsFlash on your Linux PC with the following trizen -S command.
trizen -S newsflash
Fedora
Ever since Fedora 32, the NewsFlash program is available for installation in the Fedora software repositories. To start the installation, ensure your terminal window is open. Then, use the dnf install command below.
sudo dnf install newsflash
OpenSUSE
Sadly, you will not be able to set up the NewsFlash program on OpenSUSE using the Zypper package manager. Instead, if you want to use the app, you must follow the Flatpak installation instructions.
Flatpak
The primary way to use NewsFlash on Linux is by installing it through the Flatpak system. To start the installation process, follow our guide to set up the Flatpak runtime. Then, with the runtime set up, use the commands below to get NewsFlash working.
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
flatpak install flathub com.gitlab.newsflash
Adding news feeds to NewsFlash
Adding news to NewsFlash works much like a lot of other RSS readers on the Linux desktop. You have several avenues to add feeds, such as Feedly, Fever, Miniflux, Feedbin, and traditional RSS feeds.
To add a news feed to your NewsFlash setup, launch the app via the app menu on the Linux desktop. Then, from there, follow the step-by-step instructions below.
Note: in this guide, we will be focusing on local RSS feeds, as they do not require an external account to use, nor are they connected to a proprietary online service system. If you wish to add RSS feeds with Feedly, Fever, or others, you will have to do that on your own.
Step 1: Look at the startup window in NewsFlash, and locate the “Local RSS” feed option. Then, click on this option with the mouse.
Step 2: After selecting the “Local RSS” option in NewsFlash, you will see a pop-up window on the screen. In this window, you will see “Featured Topics,” followed by a text box.
Click in the text box, and paste an RSS feed into it. Alternatively, search through the various topics to add them to NewsFlash.
Step 3: After adding the feed to NewsFeed, type in a category in the category box. Be sure to make these categories memorable. You do not want to add RSS feeds to random categories you might not understand later.
Step 4: Look for the “Add” button and click on it to add the feed to NewsFlash. Repeat this process to add as many RSS feeds to NewsFlash as you wish.
Once your feed is added to NewsFlash, locate the refresh button, and click on it with the mouse. By clicking on the refresh button, you will force NewsFlash to update all RSS feeds.
