Phonly adds option to download full articles in latest update

By published

If you like Feedly, there’s a great third-party app for Windows Phone called Phonly. It has just received an update today. One notable new feature in version 1.2.4.0 is the option that lets you download full articles without opening Internet Explorer or mobilizer. This could be great if you read a lot of feeds that only provide excerpts in RSS readers.

There’s more. Head past the break for the change log.

What’s new in Phonly 1.2.4.0

  • Download full article without opening Internet Explorer or mobilizer (must be enabled in 'Reading Settings')
  • Tap and hold an article in a list to 'Mark above as read'
  • New settings page layout
  • Updated login page background
  • Bug-fixes

We have tested the new option, but it doesn’t work all the time. Some feed articles still only show the summary. You can activate this option in Settings > Reading.

The store listing mentions bug fixes for version 1.2.4.0, but a major bug we mentioned in the previous update is still there. When using the new battery-saver theme, the button that lets you switch between card view and list view is hidden. It’s in the black space to the right of a category or site feed. We think this can be fixed by changing the color of the button to white instead of black. Of course, you can avoid this bug this altogether by using the other two themes. We like the dark one.

The update also makes it quicker to mark multiple articles as read. While in list view, just press and hold an article and tap ‘Mark above as read.’ This requires fewer clicks than individually tapping the circled checks next to the titles.

If this is your first time using Phonly, it will require a Google account to log in. The app will automatically sync your subscriptions from your Google Reader account. You can download the app for free at the Windows Phone Store. 

Do you use Phonly? Check out the update and let us know what you think in the comments!

Mark Guim
Mark Guim

Mark Guim is Video Editor at Windows Central. He switched to Windows because the MacBook Pro isn't Pro enough. You can follow him on Twitter at @markguim.
23 Comments
  • Going to give it a go
  • I have a google account but don't use it much....
  • Delete it
  • Does anyone know how much it costs for the Pro version of Phonly?
  • $1.99, you get battery saver theme and lose the ads and you get to support the dev who is doing an incredible job with this app.
  • Thanks buddy! :-)
  • This is a really beautiful app. I wish the title wasn't in cursive, it really clashes with my other tiles.
  • I agree with the title.
  • I'm too compulsive I deleted NextGen Reader because of this update. Works fine.
  • Opposite here, for me nextgen reader is the best
  • Looks like I screwed up with the Battery Saver bug. I'll put  together an 1.2.4.1 release asap to remedy that. Thanks. :-)
  • Any chance we can opt out of the cursive logo for the live tile? It looks out of place. Just my opinion of course! The app is really beautiful and functional.
  • Haha. Hm. It's a feature I might consider. Maybe as part of Phonly Pro... if it bothers a'lot of users. ;-)
  • I'd pay for it for sure ;-)
  • Not just your opinion. Mine too. Great app otherwise. 
  •  Hello Berg, first of all thank you very much for Phonly, i use it everyday. I would like only to suggest you the possibily to put manual update when we open the app, because sometimes the 3g are very poor and we can't se that previous feeds as well the new ones =/
    So if we could open Phonly and see the previous subjects and if we want manually update it would be nice though. Optional in the settings for choosing this, of course. The default settings, would be automatic (OFF) Btw, i was thinking in buy a Surface 2, but i am not sure about Windows RT, is it really good for website,videos and the main apps?
    Thank you very much, King regards,
    Gabriel
  • Hi Gabriel! Thank you for using the app. :-) I'm down with a fever, so if I don't make much sense, then sorry about that. There are two ways I can think of to bridge poor connection problems, one is to implement something called 'fast app switching' which virtually keeps the app in memory despite tombstoning it. Right now Phonly does all its caching in-memory, which is cleared once the app is tombstoned. I know I had a look at it in the early stages of development to improve performance, but it didn't really pan out. But I can have a look at it again. The second option to help out with poor connection is to implement offline support, which I am looking into and hope to solve with version 1.3. I'm spoiled with WiFi and great 4G connection here in Sweden, so to be honest I have been a little lazy with how Phonly behaves when the connection isn't all that good. My apologies for that. I have a Surface RT (first-gen) myself and I think it's excellent for surfing, catching up on latest Feedly articles (hello NextGen Reader :-)). So I think that a Surface 2 RT would be awesome for you.
  • Hello again!
    Well, i appreciate your answer and your efforts to make Phonly even better and help people who don't live in Sweden =) To be honest, here in Brazil, the politicians have been too busy stealing from te population and with their corruption and because of that companies have been only exploiting the consumers with high prices and low quality of service.  I went to England last year and i paid 10 pounds(approximately 40 real) for a monthly cell phone plan(only one month, actually), and just to compare here in Brazil if i would have the same benefits from that 10 pounds( 40 real) i would had to pay maybe 62 pounds and i wouldn't have the same quality and only 3G, because 4G it's new here and they are improving that due to the World Trash Cup. And believe me, now it's much better than few months/years ago! I liked England and i am sure Sweden it's even better in terms of life quality and general and public services, it's really impressive! This year Phonly won't be a problem for me because i am gonna live  in England for more than one year, but don't forget about us from these countries even though hahaha. But don't understand me bad, Brazil is a great and good country for living, the biggest and main problem it's the corruption, unlike another rich countries(that steal and do good things) here they steal and they do nothing, but we have nice people here and nice places as well. Usually, unfortunately services only works for who have money or know someone important. Public services here are for poor people and they don't care about poor people. As i said, it's getting better thanks to god and i hope people here do like Ukraine, go fight and do not stop until they get what they want. Changing the subject, maybe i will wait for Surface 3 with Tegra K1  *.*  at the end of the year ^^ (rumors)  I will really try Windows RT, once i like a lot Windows Phone. One more time, thank you and i apologize for writing so much about it, at least information is never enough(too much). See you, and i hope you get better soon from your fever and whatever else!
    Cheers!  
  • Does anyone know if this app will let you read full articles if you're offline? NextGen reader was the best when it comes to off line reading but I'd still like the option to dowload full articles and read it when I'm off line.  
  • Currently Phonly doesn't offer offline support, though it is something I am investing a'lot of time and effort into. Though it's slow progress since Phonly was never designed to work offline. I am not a big fan of having to 'synchronize', both as a user of the app and developer. So I'm wrestling with changing core functionality in the app. It was supposed to be part of this release (and named 1.3) but in the end it just wasn't up to par with the rest of the Phonly experience, so I shelved it until it'll be rock solid. Though as a hint of what's coming, you will be able to select one or many feeds (probably your favourite ones) that you want synchronized offline, and then have the option to switch to offline mode when you commute or whenever there's a bad internet connection. The primary mode for Phonly will, however, always be online. Offline is a secondary feature. Hope that helps. :-)
  • Got it. Thanks Daniel! Best of luck with this app!
  • Offline would be great Daniel! Good luck!
  • Ironically, WPCentral is one of those blogs that only puts summaries in its feed. At least Phonly will get the whole article; but, alas, I do most of my RSSing on a computer and usually end up having to go to WPCentral.com.