Timeline or Classic — choosing a reading mode

Beacon reads in one of two ways. You choose when you first open it, and can change it any time in Settings ▸ General ▸ Reading Mode.

Timeline

Beacon remembers where you stopped, Your Place, and puts you back there on every device. Articles that arrived since are counted as new above it. There is no unread count to clear and no inbox to face: missing a week adds nothing, because there was never a queue.

The sidebar shows Timeline, Today and Saved.

Classic

The classic model: everything arrives unread, and reading clears it. If you like the satisfaction of a count reaching zero, this is the one.

The sidebar shows Unread, Today and Saved, and feeds, folders, People and Smart Folders show how many unread articles they hold. Next Unread, Mark as Read and Mark All as Read are available. Two settings under Settings ▸ General decide when an article counts as read:

• Mark articles read when opened
• Mark articles read as they scroll past

Both are off for new readers, so nothing is marked read until you say so.

Switching

Switching to Timeline keeps every article’s state, so you can switch back without losing anything.

Switching from Timeline to Classic asks where to begin:

• Start from my Timeline position marks the unread articles older than Your Place as read, so Classic starts with what you have not reached.
• Keep existing read/unread state changes nothing.

Your feeds, folders and Saved articles are untouched either way.

The jump button

When you scroll away from the top, a small button at the foot of the list says where it will take you: Today from further down, then 13 newer (the articles above where you are) or Top. Press and hold it (or right-click on Mac) for Newest, Your Place and Start of Today.

Badges

Settings ▸ General ▸ Show unread count on app icon puts the unread count on the Dock or Home Screen icon in Classic.

Keyboard shortcuts on Mac