Pulse newsreader introduces new web version but pulls Windows Phone app [Updated]

By Daniel Rubino
last updated

Update from Pulse: "We have been prioritizing web and updating iOS and Android platforms and will look at the Windows phone in the near future. In the meantime, can we persuade you to check out the web app on a desktop platform." In other words, Pulse for Windows Phone looks to be dead for now.

Yet another mystery has fallen on Windows Phone users as the popular Pulse newsreader app has disappeared from the Store. We’ve reached out to the Pulse team for an answer on the matter and will update accordingly.

Recently, the company launched a very snazzy web-based version of their service that is really a sight to behold. The service now syncs between your web version and the app, allowing seamless management of your feeds and news. Unfortunately, any mention of Windows Phone has all be been erased from their site...

The Pulse web-reader recently just launched

“Pulse works seamlessly with highly acclaimed mobile apps on iPhone, iPad, Android or Kindle Fire. Easily synchronize all your content sources and stories with one simple account.”

Some folks have raised the question as to why it is missing in their forums but so far those inquiries have gone unanswered.

This could be a case of Pulse re-working their app for better syncing with the new service, resulting in a gap between releases (we all know the shenanigans that happen with app approvals) meaning this could be just another fluke. On the other hand, seeing as there is no mention of Windows Phone at all on the site for mobile (or with this new service) is leaving us with trepidations on the future of Pulse on our platform.

Luckily for Windows Phone users we have the somewhat superior Fuse app made by Rudy Huyn. That app is not free but offers many more features and smoother performance in addition to numerous other ‘skins’ to change the app’s appearance. 

Though we think Fuse is better than Pulse in many ways, the disappearance of the latter from the platform is not something we’re not too thrilled about as it just looks bad for the OS. We’ve reached out to Pulse and will pass along any info they give us on the matter.

Users in the meantime can try out the Pulse-alternative Fuse here in the Windows Phone Store.

Thanks, Jeremy and Anna, for the tips and Theefman for the response.

Daniel Rubino
Daniel Rubino
Editor-in-chief

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central, head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007 when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and for some reason, watches. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun.

41 Comments
  • More and more apps disappearing every day.
  • Sadly, the WP version was pretty bad compared to other versions.
  • Looks pretty similar on my Android and WP phones. Though, it's been awhile since I've used the Android version. So, maybe it's been updated. Outside of that, maybe this means they're updating the app to look and perform better.
  • They're probably going to replace the WP app with an optimized version of the new web interface.
  • I love Pulse. Rarely use a web browser on my phone. This is sad to see as their Android app is far superior. Hopefully this is a fluke.
  • Well I created an account and replied to the email that said to contact them if you had problems and so far they dont even seem to be aware that Windows Phone exists so I wouldnt bank on seeing this app again. And sadly Fuse is not a good replacement since its not been updated in a long time and the tiles have never worked for me.
     
    Would have thought though that MS would have ensured that WP was also represented, its embarrassing they actually helped to create the new site yet their mobile platform has no access to it. Really poor form, but par for the course it seems.
  • Fuse badly needs an update. I bought when it first came out, and it was great then, but hasn't lived up to expectations now.
  • Probably had issues with a news source and hid it. I have an app that uses Bing services which recently moved to Azure, app is currently broken because of the change and the update has been waiting on Microsoft for quite some time. In the meantime I had to hide it, nothing developers can do but wait while app ratings suffer. Maybe one day it will get approved or rejected, who really knows.
  • The reason they pulled it is probably because the WP app didn't have any support for the Pulse.me syncing. That would look pretty stupid alongside this Windows 8-centric web app now wouldn't it?
  • Final reply from Pulse: "We have been prioritizing web and updating iOS and Android platforms and will look at the Windows phone in the near future. In the meantime, can we persuade you to check out the web app on a desktop platform. Appreciate it!". So yeah, the WP version is dead.
  • lol, well at least they don't users so much as the media...
  • Its funny, some devs produce an app that is obviously buggy, dont fix it and wonder why it doesnt do well. Apps like USA Today, BBC News Mobile, wpcentral and others that are well done are probably installed on the majority of WP devices which would be a significant number even with the relatively low number of WP users but when a buggy app is not fixed how can any dev expect it to do well? I guess WP users just have no worth to them whatsoever, as even the web version doesnt work on WP.
  • Worked ok for me
  • I wondered the same thing when i read that, (ios/android only)
    but what puzzles me even more was this (re)Tweet
    @MSFTnews
    "Pulse builds snazzy web app with help from Microsoft" - @allthingsd https://t.co/69IERp0B
     
    oh well atleast the web app works across platforms (great on myplaybook)
  • When I had my Droid Inc. the first newsreader I used was Pulse.  I liked it for a while but found no compelling reason to stick with it and switched to one called Taptu which I liked a lot better.  When I moved to my Trophy, I saw Pulse was available but ultimately settled on Weave.  Although I like Weave, it hasn't been updated once since I started using it in January.  And when I look for a new reader all of the other ones use a Google Reader account which I don't want.  I believe I saw an article yesterday on another WP site that said Weave is readying a major update which would be awesome, but when I saw this article about what Pulse was doing I thought it might be worth it to try it again because the combo of web interface and device sync is what I've been waiting for!  I doubt they'll abandon the platform because of how closely they worked with Microsoft on this.  My guess is that we'll see them come back when WP8 comes out with IE10.
    On another note, why doesn't Msoft just create a newsreader, or a service similar to Google reader?  I use Outlook at work and use it's RSS reader with a number of sites.  If I go into my work email account on my phone and look at all the folders, the RSS folder is there with all my feeds.  Perhaps they could create something that just pulls stuff in from there.
  • Here's the article about Weave.  Looks really promising!
    http://www.1800pocketpc.com/weave/33668/
     
  • I asked Pulse about this this morning after I the Microsoft announcement mentioned Windows Phone and I couldn't find the Pulse app.  They replied that they are "revamping the Windows edition".
    Eric
  • I haven't been using Pulse latley because I mostly use News360 now.
  • Pulling the WP app is even more odd when you watch this.
  • And here I thought I found a Google Reader replacement.  All I want is an RSS reader that I can access from both my phone and desktop and have it synced.   Does such a thing exist other than Google Reader????
  • No wp? No Pulse !!
  • Their app was crappy. I loved it on ios and still use it on my nook tablet, but the WP version was poorly executed. I wish devs would take the time and port their apps properly
  • Dead? Pulse uses metro style and msn's wonderwall...this is disappointing...
  • I don't doubt that the move will turn out just fine for Windows Phone users. Microsoft is really pushing for a big bang with Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. We may not have the Pulse app on WP 7.x, but I'm sure it'll work beautifully on WP 8 :) all around
  • F them.  I will not use a "write once, suck everywhere" HTML5 website when the app was working just fine.
     
    Zite is tons better anyways.
     
    Any dev that drops Windows Phone support...F them.
  • Moved on to zite, will not use the web app ever.
  • FUSE >>> pulse
  • That's kinda crap. I just love the "can we persuade you" bit. Maybe WP8 will be better with background updates.
  • I use Zite, it's really good.
  • Seriously, fudge them! We don't need Pulse anyways.
  • Zite. Its way better anyway. Love it!!
  • Its a badly designed app anyway. Even on a tablet, its just plain messy to look at. The interface to set it up is pretty good but the front end looks like a dozen eggs face down on the pavement. I hope they fix it though.
  • Was just playing with the app as I still have it installed and it works fine. Its a tad sluggish, but it works. Downloading zite since some have mentioned it here.
  • They use Metro (new "Windows 8"?) design, they have a comercial for Windows 8 tablet... 
     
    I think they are just hiding something from us. Or they will just F us up...
  • Just checked out the web version of pulse. It looks like Microsoft had something to do with it being pulled. The web app is beautiful! It has link in the corner that says news reimagined with a internet explorer. Symbol, I clicked ot and it shows a video of the new pulse web site running on a Windows 8 tablet. So maybe....they took it off the market so we don't have to deal with the laggy app and can get the superior experience when windows 8 comes out.
  • Alot of people have been saying Zite is a good app. A friend of mine recommended it and he is using it on android. I took it for a spin and it is nice.
  • Too bad; I've really enjoyed Pulse.  The app is still working for me, so I'm hoping it will continue to work as long as I don't delete it.  I never read news, but Pulse actually has me checking articles everyday...I'm not willing to use the web site and I'm probably not willing to use a different app.
  • I have only just now run into this as I changed from one windows phone to another. This is honestly the only app I'll miss as none of the other options are really equal. Fuse is a mess. Weave is nice but it's a 10 step process to read your feeds. Pulse's web "app" fails to impress, it is unusable in mobile and not very compelling on the desktop. What I find interesting in the comments is the support for the android version while people pan the wp7 variant. The WP7 version is brilliant while and more useable than the android version has been in a long time. What they have worked hard to do is the make the android version an unstable, clunky shadow of it former self .
  • Is there anyplace to get the old version of the Pulse.  It is far suppior to anything I have found as of yet.  Zite doesn't allow you to search for rss feeds, Dark RSS Reader does but only some were found that I used.   The web Pulse version is buggy, just tried it.  I just would like the wp7 old version it did all I wanted.  Fuse might work and what I just learned there might make Dark RSS work better also.
  • Is there anyplace to get the old version of the Pulse.  It is far suppior to anything I have found as of yet.  Zite doesn't allow you to search for rss feeds, Dark RSS Reader does but only some were found that I used.   The web Pulse version is buggy, just tried it.  I just would like the wp7 old version it did all I wanted.  Fuse might work and what I just learned there might make Dark RSS work better also.
  • http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/winpulse/9a7e5cef-d5e2-4758-a9e0-e55eeda5402e