In early 2022, I was drowning in information. My daily routine involved checking tens of Telegram channels, scrolling through Twitter, and managing countless newsletter subscriptions. The anxiety of missing out was real, and I needed a solution.
I started searching for alternatives. Social media feeds were the first to go — too many ads, too many algorithms. RSS readers seemed promising, but something was missing from every option I tried.
🎯 After trying various readers, I had a clear vision of what I wanted:
- A simple list of RSS feeds I subscribe to
- Quick updates when new content appears
- Rich previews like social media links
- No complexity, no clutter
🤷♂️ While the market offered extremes that didn't fit me:
- All-in-one apps with features I'd never use
- Browser extensions too basic to be useful
- Apps locked to a single device with no sync
- Privacy concerns, forced sign-ups
First iteration: launching a Telegram bot
In May 2022, I launched Fidder as a Telegram bot. The idea was simple — just two commands:
/addfeedto subscribe to feeds/myfeedsto manage subscriptions
The launch resonated with others. Fidder got featured on Product Hunt, gained hundreds of users, and made it into RSS directories. A stable community of about 150 users formed — not millions, but enough to validate the idea.
The bot runs on Node.js and Telegraf, using Airtable as a database. Initially hosted on Heroku with 2 dynos — one for the bot, another for background jobs. In early 2024, I migrated everything to self-hosted Coolify to reduce costs.
Now, Fidder for Telegram is in maintenance mode. It continues to run as long as the last user needs it, following Until the End of the Internet.
As time passed, being tied to Telegram became limiting. I used Telegram less, notifications were muted, and I started missing updates. The tool needed to evolve.
Second iteration: launching a Progressive Web Application
In September 2024, Fidder transformed into a web application with everything I originally wanted:
The web version runs on React with Firebase (Hosting, Firestore, Messaging). 3 background workers (feed validator, checker, and DB cleaner) are self-hosted via Coolify.
The project reached its goal — becoming "finished software" in its truest sense. It does one thing well: delivering content without the noise. The technical stack evolved from a simple bot to a modern web app, but the mission stayed the same.
