AvantGo shutting down on 6/30/09. Any suggested alternatives?

[normaldude]

When I tried to sync AvantGo today, I got a message saying "From June 30, 2009, AvantGo will no longer offer mobile web content".

They suggest trying Snac mobile (mysnacs.com) instead.

I'm wondering what other offline web content alternatives there are for Pocket PC users.

Any other suggested alternatives?

[Reid Kistler]

Gee: was WONDERING what happened to AvantGo - and intended to look them up to see whether it made sense to load the app on to the Fuze.

Guess there is no need to bother now.... :(

With the advent of more WiFi locations, the ability to download articles during the Sync process has become relatively less important, although can still see times when it might be handy: will watch this space to see what options people come up with...

[normaldude]

Gee: was WONDERING what happened to AvantGo - and intended to look them up to see whether it made sense to load the app on to the Fuze.

Guess there is no need to bother now.... :(

With the advent of more WiFi locations, the ability to download articles during the Sync process has become relatively less important, although can still see times when it might be handy: will watch this space to see what options people come up with...

When I ride the subway to & from work, I do not have any internet access.

I did some googling around, and some slashdotters suggested plucker ( plkr.org ). I'm going to try that out.

[Reid Kistler]

I did some googling around, and some slashdotters suggested plucker ( plkr.org ). I'm going to try that out.

If / When you get around to using plkr for a bit, please post your feedback - as noted, had just begun to wonder whether AvantGo was still around & might have some interest in a similar service.... (No Data Plan on the Fuze, and there are indeed times when WiFi is not available...:()

Thanks!

[normaldude]

I did some googling around, and some slashdotters suggested plucker ( plkr.org ). I'm going to try that out.

If / When you get around to using plkr for a bit, please post your feedback - as noted, had just begun to wonder whether AvantGo was still around & might have some interest in a similar service.... (No Data Plan on the Fuze, and there are indeed times when WiFi is not available...:()

Thanks!

I wrestled with Plucker Desktop, the SunriseXP Desktop (Java Version of Plucker), and Vade Mecum (Plucker Viewer for Pocket PC).

It had too many problems. It was unable to parse certain websites. I think it might be because Plucker hasn't been updated since 2004.

I also considered Spb Insight ($20), but didn't feel like paying for something that I didn't need.

So what I did: I already sync BeyondPod for my daily podcasts. So I just added some Yahoo news RSS text news feeds to BeyondPod. The RSS text news feeds are short, and not as comprehensive as full mobile news articles. But it's free, it'll sync up whenever I'm syncing my podcasts anyway, so there's no additional hassles.

So in most cases when I ride the subway, I'll just listen to my podcast news mp3s. And in the rare case when I absolutely need to check text news, and I don't have wireless internet, then I'll just read my RSS news feeds on BeyondPod.

[Reid Kistler]

I wrestled with Plucker Desktop (http://forums.thoughtsmedia.com/#), the SunriseXP Desktop (Java Version of Plucker), and Vade Mecum (Plucker Viewer for Pocket PC).

It had too many problems....


Thanks for the update.

On one hand, have enough interest in an "AvantGo-Like" service that would enjoy pursuing options - but, OTOH, don't see enough likelihood of usage to move the task to anywhere near top of the list - especially as still need to re-load a dozen apps or so on newly flashed Fuze....

Good luck with your work-around!

[psyjohn]

You may want to try out mdigger. I haven't used it lately, but it was avantgo replacement for a long time until recently. It's free (currently in beta) and has lots of full text options. They even created a few for me upon request.

[redlm]

I got Plucker working on my Mac and amy PC, it just took a while to understand it.

In fact, even though it isn't as slick, I get better news downloads and fewer errors.

Keepat it, and understand how the whole thing works, and it WILL replace Avantgo for you.

[TOCA]

I'm also going to miss AvantGo, and have been looking for a replacement, but with no luck, so far.

RSS is not an ideal option, as it will only provide me with the headlines, and links to the articles, and I haven't found a RSS reader, that will also download the linked to articles.

There are some Website grabbers out there, but they all requires a PC, and can not update the sites directly from the PPC, like AvantGo does.

My primary use of AG is for reading a few newspapers during my daily commutes to and from the job, where no Internet connection is available. I have gotten used to the ease of use from AG, just connect to my WiFi, tap update, and I'm ready for the trip in a few minutes. I do not want to boot up the PC first, update and then sync the feeds/sites, as that is to cumbersome, and time consuming.

Naturally I could grap my old WM2003 machines, which supports downloading webpages via "Mobile Favorites", but then again, that too calls for a sync with the PC.

I am going to miss AG, it's going to be a looong summer :-(

[buzzard]

I tried Free Range (http://www.freerangeinc.com/w/support)RSS feeder that I saw suggested over on BH on my HP PPC (also works on phones and Blackberries). It seemed like a great approach because it would download the headline, one more click gives you RSS type partial data and another click would download the entire story and it was very quick. You can set it to download the entire stories on all articles to start withwhich then makes it more like AvantoGo. It's also free. You have to do a bit of looking around on the site for the various downloads and you can modify your feeds on your PC.

The only issue I had was I added some RSS feeds that I use on Newsbreak and even though they downloaded yesterday, today they wouldn't but I'm not sure if my settings were screwed up or there's a problem with the app. My money is that it was a "me" problem:). It might be worth a look.

[MichelMerlin]

(Thu 11 Jun 2009 14:26 GMT (http://forums.thoughtsmedia.com/f323/avantgo-shutting-down-6-30-09-any-suggested-alternatives-93995.html#post708648))
You may want to try out mdigger.Following your advice I tried mdigger (http://www.mdigger.com/download.aspx) (v7.6 for Windows Mobile 2003, Desktop install) on my HP iPaq h2215 (http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/product?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&product=425744), Microsoft® Pocket PC 4.20.1081 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket_PC#Windows_Mobile_2003) (Build 13100), bought Oct 2003, then completed with a lot of various very good software ($300 at Handango h2215 (http://www.handango.com/homepage/Homepage.jsp?storeId=2218)), and an Aluminium case (http://www.proporta.com/F02/PPF02P05.php?t_id=492&t_mode=des) and Retractable USB Sync and Charge Cable (http://www.proporta.com/F02/PPF02P05.php?t_id=569&t_mode=des) from Proporta, making it a very powerful, handy, sturdy, tool that I then used daily until now, through my laptop (currently an Uniwill 223ei0 (http://www.uniwill.com/products/mobility/223ei0/223ei0.php?HL=3&M=3) bought Feb 2006, 12in, Pentium M760 (http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SL7SM) Dothan 2.00GHz, 2GB RAM, Windows XP Pro 32bit Multilingual (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb457045.aspx)), using Microsoft® ActiveSync® 3.8.0 (Build 5004) (http://www.google.com/search?q=ActiveSync+3.8). All newer versions of AS had problems, notably making AvantGo ineffective (AS would force inopportune syncs, or would simply fail), so I each time had to revert to AS3.8.

As you said, mdigger appeared in this test as a very good replacement for AvantGo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AvantGo), even better on some points. Thank you very much for your helpful advice.

Versailles, Wed 30 Sep 2009 15:08:30 +0200

[airconvent]

I feel like I am an old dinosaur. Have been with this site since is pionerring days and today i am still using an Ipaq 2750, not a WM phone. So not sure if anyone can still help me.
Ever since Avantgo was terminated, I have been surviving on mDigger but sadly, even they have dropped windows mobile and jumped on the apple bandwagen.
Would like to check if there is any remaining service out there that still runs on WM2003SE and provide daily news feeds similar to avantgo and midgger.
Thanks in advance...

[MichelMerlin]

I have enjoyed mDigger (http://www.mdigger.com) daily since Sep 2009 (http://forums.thoughtsmedia.com/f398/avantgo-shutting-down-6-30-09-any-suggested-alternatives-93995-2.html#post713102) but on Tue 22 Jun 2010 23:20 (TOG (http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?t=450107#post3243632) unknown) it displayed on my PDA screen this short advice:

News about old mDigger

As we informed earlier, from June 20, 2010 we will discontinue support for mobile devices based on Microsoft Windows Mobile. From this time service will be available only for users iPod, iPhone and iPad devices.

© 2010 by mDigger Inc.

After that day, clicking "Refresh Package" did not bring the progress bar, but instantly came back to the main display, with the files unchanged: as a souvenir, the last channels and files are still present and readable (just as AG did IIRC in Jun 2009).

PS. This was written a few days ago. My iPaq was erased since (tried to buy a stylus from HP, who required I note down what is written below the main battery...), I am rebuilding it now. Today I am notified of airconvent's post, with whom I feel the same pain...

Versailles, Wed 30 Jun 2010 16:12:20 +0200

[airconvent]

Today I am notified of airconvent's post, with whom I feel the same pain...
Versailles, Wed 30 Jun 2010 16:12:20 +0200

Thanks for feeling the pain Versailles. For the first time since my first Compaq Aero 1520 years ago, I have not had a news feed on my pocketpc! The free ram storage area seems so unreal!
Any kind soul with a solution do let us know. :)

[TOCA]

I'm an old dino as well, using a PPC with no phone build in, but I like it that way :)

Obviously off-line reading is a naughty word now, as all the business is about forcing you to use mobile internet, and pay through your nose, for their fine services :-/

As a non USA sitizen I do not have access to all the fine services of mDigger and their likes, and with AvantGo and Webaroo out of business I was quite lost as how to get my daily news shot during the daily comuting.

The closest to a solution I have found so far is RSS feeds, though they only provides me with headlines, I still need to be online for the full story :o(

OK, I do have a dataplan now, with my cellphone provider, so I can download all the news I want to, but it's still not even close to as fast and convenient as having the pages ready on the SD card, not even WiFi is that fast.

What we want is a way to download a number of websites with a debth of 1 or 2 links, save the content to a memory card, and update it once or twice a day, or maybe even a RSS thingie that will give a bit more than 20 words a side, right?

Well, with WM being completely dumped by its creator, I think we are out of luck, and need to move on, the next version WP7 will not have any thing in the region for a couple of years (if ever), the Eye-potty wants us to use the cell phone connection for every thing, so the only posibillity I see is Android, but even they, do not have an Offline webreader yet.

Guess we'll just have to stop living in the glorry past, start paying and live with the draw backs of progress?