CapyReader

Unstable

This app has severe issues below that cause feeds not to work properly

Image of the CapyReader application on a mobile device

Features

  1. Open Source

    Anyone can view or modify the source code of this app
Requesting feed content unnecessarily severe

This app is unnecessarily re-requesting feed content from websites without waiting until there's actually new content published.

Why it's a problem

The unnecessary traffic wastes a website's resources that can be used for its other site visitors.

What it means for users

Websites are likely to limit this app from accessing feed content, causing feeds to not update properly or stop working entirely.

How to fix it

The application needs to be updated to wait until the max-age of Cache-Control header expires before re-requesting feed content or properly implement conditional requests.

Requests are unidentifiable severe

Feed requests appear to be associated with this app but can't be accurately identified.

Why it's a problem

A feed reader that can't be identified is often unfortunately used in ways that are severely abusive to a website, either intentionally by malicious users or unintentionally by its users who may be unaware. Since this application is unidentifiable, there's no way to validate its requests and mitigate any potential abuse.

What it means for users

Websites are likely to block or severely limit this app from their feeds, causing feeds to behave unexpectedly or not work at all.

How to fix it

The application or its usage needs to be verified, which will remove any limitations or restrictions, and feeds used in the application will be much more reliable.

Too many requests to non-existent content critical

A large number of requests are being made by this application for feed content across websites where no feed content exists.

Why it's a problem

It causes unnecessary strain on websites and can negatively impact their performance. Because bad bots often behave in this same way, websites will likely block the app for being associated with this activity, regardless of the application's intent.

What it means for users

When a website blocks this application for this behavior, feeds will stall or stop working entirely.

How to fix it

The application should reduce the number of requests being made to pages on a website that don't exist, and consider using the website's site map or robots.txt file, if available.

Not using updated feed locations critical

When a feed from a website is moved to a new location, the website informs the application where the feed has been moved to. However, instead of using the new locations of feeds, this application continuously tries to request feeds from their old locations.

Why it's a problem

It causes websites to use more computer resources than necessary to forcibly redirect the application to the rightful place over and over again.

What it means for users

Feeds will stop working or become fully inoperable when a website blocks the application due to this behavior.

How to fix it

When a feed has been relocated to a new URL, the application should use the new URL and cease attempting to request feed content from the old one.

Latest issues