There are a dizzying number of ways you can keep up with what’s new on the web and try to find articles and posts of interest: Your options include the chaotic algorithms of social media, classic news portals, old-school RSS, traditional web search, AI-powered search, and whatever it is Google is trying to do with Discover these days.
It’s a lot, and the latest app I’ve spotted to try and cut through the noise (via TechCrunch) is HyperTexting (just for iOS for now). It’s a sort-of RSS reader, though it isn’t marketed that way, and the core idea is that you get updates from the sites and people you want, in chronological order—with no ads, AI, or algorithm-powered interface.
As the HyperTexting app landing page puts it: “HyperTexting is your timeline minus the ads, algorithms, and AI slop. It’s like the ‘for you’ feed, but it actually works… for YOU (not the platforms).” You can even create a HyperTexting profile of your own and contribute posts yourself, which others can then follow in turn. Here’s how the app works, and why you might want to switch to its simplified way of keeping up with the web.
What the HyperTexting feed looks like
HyperTexting presents stories in a straightforward way.
Credit: Lifehacker
When you launch the HyperTexting app for the first time, you don’t need to sign up for anything or open an account right away: There’s already a selection of news sources included for you to get started with, which you can add to or edit as needed.
The Timeline tab is where news and updates appear, presented in chronological order. You pull down from the top to refresh the feed, just like the old days, and you’re able to tap on individual articles to read them. As with any RSS reader, whether or not you get the full article text or just a snippet directing you to the website depends on the publication. Tap the toggle switch button (top right) to change the colors and other settings.
In 2026, it’s actually quite strange going back to a feed like this. I felt a twinge of nostalgia slowly browsing through the headlines, without any AI-generated animal videos, adverts for mobile games that don’t exist, clippings from podcast interviews, and snippets of stories I’ve seen a dozen times already but have just gone viral again. You get your choice of story sources, in order, whenever you’re ready to browse through them. Each post comes with buttons for sharing with others or viewing it on the web, and I also like the way each source has its own profile with more ways to explore: Posts to see all the stories, for example, and Attachments to see all the visuals.
Profile pages work a lot like profiles on social media accounts, and you can follow and unfollow publications from these pages. Many sites also offer multiple feeds—including ESPN, which has different feeds for different shows and sports—so if this is available you can customize your story list further.
Discovering and customizing the HyperTexting feed
Discovering new stories and sources only takes a few taps.
Credit: Lifehacker
The Explore tab is where you need to head to find and follow new websites, and there’s also a Trending tab here that shows you the 100 most-linked pages from the feeds you’re currently following. If you just want the most widely appealing stories from your selected sources, this is a great place to keep returning to.
What do you think so far?
Head to Discover and you can pick out new sites you want to follow: You can either enter a few keywords to search for something, or type out a full URL, then tap Follow when the right publication appears. This seems to be the part of HyperTexting that’s most obviously a ‘work in progress,’ as I couldn’t add all the sources I wanted—including the esteemed outlet you’re currently reading.
It’s possible that the app is having some early growing pains, or that being able to follow a page depends on how it’s hosted (the HyperTexting website says that support for WordPress sites is “coming soon”). In any case, I did find plenty of feeds I was interested in following, even if I couldn’t access everything.
You can switch to the Activity tab to get back to articles you’ve previously looked at, like a rudimentary browsing history, while the Post tab is where you can contribute to the HyperTexting community—this feature isn’t widely available yet, but eventually the goal is to have mini-blogs available for users that work a little bit like social media feeds.
There’s still work to do here, but I like what HyperTexting is doing already, and it’s a reminder of how discovery on the web used to be—I’ll be keeping an eye on it as another way of staying updated. It’s definitely worth installing if you like your new content presented in a clean, accessible way.
