Disclosure: Hushread is our app. We’ve tried to be fair, and we say where the others are the better choice.
A news app without an algorithm is one where you pick the sources and everything they publish arrives in order, with nothing ranked, hidden or slipped in. The big news apps don’t work that way: Google News, Apple News, SmartNews, Flipboard and Ground News’s My Feed all use an algorithm somewhere. The chronological options are RSS readers such as NetNewsWire, Feeder, Inoreader, Feedly and NewsBlur, and Hushread, which keeps your feed in order but groups coverage of the same event into one story so the volume stays readable.
What “algorithm” means in a news app
In a news app, the algorithm is whatever decides which stories you see and in what order, using something other than who published them and when. Usually that something is you: what you tap, read, skip or search for. Here is how the main apps describe themselves.
Google News is direct about it: “Computer algorithms determine which stories show up… and in what order.” Headlines and Top Stories follow language and region, while For you, Following and Picks for you are personalized using your settings and “activity on Google services and YouTube” (Google support). Full Coverage is the least personalized view. Google says it “has no personalization other than your language, region, and subscriptions” (Google support).
Ground News says two things that sit side by side. Its subscribe page states “We don’t use algorithms to shape what you see” (Ground News). Its FAQ says Top Stories are the same for everyone in an edition, and that My Feed “is algorithmically curated based on stated and observed reading behaviors” (Ground News FAQ). So the shared front page isn’t personalized, and your own feed is. Our Ground News alternatives post covers the rest of the app.
Apple News has editors pick Top Stories, while its Trending section is algorithmic (Cult of Mac). SmartNews calls its approach a “blend of editor and algorithmic curation” (SmartNews). Flipboard mixes algorithmic picks with human editors, including its Daily Edition (PPC Land).
None of this is hidden, and plenty of people like it. One Play reviewer in June 2026 said Google News does a good job of identifying their interests. The complaint from the other side is about control. One Reddit user put it bluntly: “Google News is more of an algorithm than a news app, deciding what to show you and trying to sell you things” (Reddit). If Google News is the app you’re leaving, our Google News alternatives guide compares the options one by one.
News apps compared: algorithmic vs chronological
Prices are as of September 2026.
| App | What orders the feed | Add any feed or site | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google News | Algorithms; For you personalized by your Google activity | No | Free, with ads |
| Ground News | Shared Top Stories; My Feed algorithmic | No | Free; Vantage $99.99/yr |
| Apple News | Editors, plus algorithmic Trending | No | Free; News+ $12.99/mo |
| SmartNews | Editors plus algorithm | No | Free, with ads |
| Algorithm plus human editors | RSS via search, per an older help post | Free, ad-supported | |
| NetNewsWire | Your feeds | Yes, RSS | Free (Apple only) |
| Feeder | Your feeds | Yes, RSS | Free (Android only) |
| Inoreader | Your feeds | Yes, RSS | Free 150 feeds; Pro $89.99/yr |
| Feedly | Your feeds | Yes, RSS | Free 100 feeds, with ads |
| NewsBlur | Your feeds, plus training you set | Yes, RSS | Free 64 sites; $36/yr |
| Hushread | Your sources, in order, grouped by story | Yes, plus sites without a feed | Free 5 sources; Pro $14.99/yr |
RSS readers: chronological by design
An RSS reader shows what the sites you subscribe to publish, and nothing else:
- NetNewsWire is free and open source, for Mac, iPhone and iPad only, and syncs through iCloud or services such as Feedbin and Inoreader.
- Feeder is a free, open source Android reader with no account, no in-app purchases and no cloud sync.
- Inoreader Free allows 150 feeds with search in your own feeds, and it has had no ads since October 2024 (pricing, Inoreader blog). Pro is $89.99 a year.
- Feedly Free covers 100 feeds and 3 folders, with sponsored ads (Feedly pricing).
- NewsBlur is free for 64 sites and $36 a year for 1,024. Its signature is training and filters that you set yourself.
Our best RSS reader guide goes deeper on each.
Hushread: chronological, with the volume handled
Hushread is a news reader where you pick the sources: RSS feeds, websites without a feed, topics (name one, like “climate”, and matching articles arrive), subreddits, YouTube channels and Facebook pages, or one-tap bundles from 2,500+ curated sources, with OPML import. Nothing is ranked or injected, and everything you follow arrives in order.
The trade-offs of a feed with no algorithm
You have to choose your sources. An algorithmic app works on day one because it picks for you. A chronological one starts empty. Bundles and OPML import help, but the list is yours to build, and your feed is only as broad or balanced as that list.
You’ll see more. Everything your sources publish shows up, including the fourth copy of the same wire story. One r/rss user described it this way: “Half of them are just duplicate news or fluff, and scanning through them feels more like doing homework than actually reading” (Reddit).
Less discovery. You won’t see an outlet you never added. Google’s Full Coverage is genuinely good at surfacing reporting you’d never have found; your own source list can’t do that.
How Hushread handles volume without an algorithm
The problem with a plain chronological feed isn’t the order. It’s the repetition. Hushread adds structure without deciding what you see.
- Stories. Articles from different outlets about the same event are grouped into one story as they arrive. “See whole story” opens a timeline of every outlet’s coverage, day by day, with a summary of how it developed, and long stories chain into chapters. You can browse live examples on our stories page.
- No repeats. Cross-feed duplicates, syndicated copies and rewrites collapse under the freshest version.
- Trending, in its own tab. Trending ranks stories by how many distinct publishers are covering them, hour by hour, and flags the ones that are surging, with a Local tab for your country and a tab per section. It is a ranking, but by a count of publishers, not by what you tap, and it stays in its own tab, out of your feed. So does the separate News section, with the day’s top global stories and a one-minute audio briefing. Those top stories are picked and the briefing is scripted automatically, and if you have push on, a morning briefing notification arrives daily.
- Mute rules. Mute or mark read by keyword, so a subject you’re tired of stays out of the way.
The honest limits: the free plan is 5 sources, so most people replacing a big news app will want Pro at $14.99 a year (regional pricing may differ). Grouping is automatic and occasionally splits one event into two stories. Hushread only groups what you follow. And it’s newer and smaller than the apps above, built by one independent developer.
A news app without ads
- Google News “Contains ads” on Google Play, and its App Store privacy label lists data linked to you for “Third-Party Advertising”.
- Apple News shows ads even to paying News+ subscribers, who “still get ads”, as Kirk McElhearn wrote in February 2026 (Kirkville).
- SmartNews is free with ads. Its ad-free plan is US-only and still allows publisher ads and sponsored content (SmartNews terms).
- Flipboard is ad-supported, and Feedly Free shows sponsored ads.
- Inoreader Free has been ad-free since October 2024. In Hushread, nothing is injected into your feed, and the reader view is a clean full-article view with no ads or popups.
A news app without politics
No app can remove politics cleanly, because it runs through business, science, sport and local news. The realistic goal is less of it. One Android user summed up why people ask: news apps “all seem to push the same endless loop of politics, war, and random clickbait stories I don’t care about” (Reddit).
What actually helps:
- Pick sources that cover what you want. A chronological app only shows what you follow, so a feed of science, sport, tech or hobby sources stays mostly free of politics. In Hushread you can also follow a topic by name.
- Add keyword mute rules. In Hushread, rules can mute or mark read any article containing a keyword. Pro adds rules based on an article’s tone, positive or negative. Keyword rules match words, so they’ll miss a story that never uses the word and can catch one you wanted.
- Check the plan in other readers. Inoreader’s rules (30) and filters (a pool of 50) are Pro only (pricing). Feedly’s mute filters are on Pro+ (100), legacy Pro has 25, and Free has none (Feedly docs).
- In Google News, “Fewer stories like this” and “Hide all stories from [source]” exist (Google support), though 2026 reviews say hiding doesn’t work for some sources.
FAQ
Is there a news app with no algorithm?
Yes. RSS readers such as NetNewsWire, Feeder, Inoreader, Feedly and NewsBlur show what your feeds publish, in order. Hushread does too, with nothing ranked or injected, and groups each event into one story.
What is a chronological news app?
One that shows articles from sources you chose, in the order they were published. The trade-off is volume: on a busy day you see everything, which is why grouping and duplicate handling matter.
Does Ground News use an algorithm?
Partly. Its subscribe page says it doesn’t use algorithms to shape what you see, but its FAQ says My Feed “is algorithmically curated based on stated and observed reading behaviors.” Top Stories are the same for everyone in an edition.
Can you turn off the algorithm in Google News?
Not fully. Google says For you, Following and Picks for you are personalized using your settings and activity on Google services and YouTube. Full Coverage is the closest to unpersonalized, adjusted only for language, region and subscriptions.
If you want your own sources, in order, without a feed full of repeats, that’s what Hushread is built for. Hushread is free with up to 5 sources on iOS, Android and the web. Try Hushread.