BoringNews

What it does

• Boring titles — every headline is rewritten by an AI classifier into a plain, factual version. Long-press an article to see the original.
• Smart prioritisation into four tiers: Top Stories, Important, Standard, and Filler — based on impact, urgency, consequence, and novelty.
• Bring your own feeds — add RSS feeds individually or import an OPML export from another reader.
• Per-feed display modes — RSS content, in-app web view, or Safari Reader mode.
• Personalised ranking — write a few sentences about what you care about ("prioritise tech, deprioritise sport") and the classifier weights articles accordingly.
• Quiet push notifications for genuinely important articles.
• Home screen widget with unread counts for the top tiers.

Common questions

How do I add a feed?

Open Settings → Feeds → Add Feed and paste the RSS or Atom URL. Most websites publish their feed at /feed or /rss; if you can't find one, paste the site's homepage URL and BoringNews will try to discover the feed automatically.

Can I import feeds from another reader?

Yes. Export an OPML file from your old reader and use Settings → Feeds → Import OPML. This replaces your existing feed list.

Why was an article ranked the way it was?

Each article is classified by a small AI model that scores it on impact breadth, urgency, consequence severity, and novelty — combined with your personal preferences. Tap an article to see the rationale.

Can I tune the rankings to my interests?

Yes. Settings → Reading Preferences accepts free-form instructions like "prioritise climate and economics, deprioritise celebrity news". The classifier reads these on every classification.

Articles aren't refreshing.

BoringNews refreshes silently in the background roughly every 30 minutes when iOS allows it. Pull-to-refresh on the article list forces an immediate refresh. If feeds still seem stale, check that Background App Refresh is enabled for BoringNews in iOS Settings.

I'm not getting push notifications.

Make sure notifications are allowed for BoringNews in iOS Settings. Notifications are sent only for articles classified as Top Stories, so quieter news days mean fewer pushes — that's deliberate.

I want to sign out or delete my account.

Settings → Account → Sign Out signs you out on this device. To delete your stored data from our backend (feeds, reading history, preferences), please use the support form with the subject "Delete my account" and we'll process the request manually.