2013 Usenet Guide : Mobile Apps

We started our Usenet guide series by covering the basics of finding a good provider.  Then we looked at how to configure popular Usenet clients.  Followed by tips for using search engines and NZB sites to find content.  Today we’re going to finish up with a topic that is growing in popularity.  The use of mobile apps to access newsgroups.  We’ll cover iPhone, iPad and Android apps that help you access Usenet from anywhere.

When it comes to mobile Usenet access you have a few options.  You can use a third party app to connect to Easynews, NBRemote for Newsbin, or a remote desktop app like Splashtop to access other newsreaders.

Easynews Mobile Apps

EZ Global Search Lite

Are you an Easynews member?  If not check out their service.  Those new to Usenet will be especially happy with their web interface.  It gives you access to search and download content from newsgroups without installing a newsreader.  Members can also use their third party mobile apps for iOS and Android.  Including EZ Global Search, EZ Usenet and EasyBrowser. See their mobile apps page for more details.

Our favorite Easynews mobile app is EZ Global Search.  They offer a free lite version and a full version for $2.99.  The app is available for iPhone and iPad.  We’ve used it on an iPhone 5, iPhone 4 and iPad.  It’s nice to be able to access Easynews from your phone or tablet.  View our related posts to learn more.

NBRemote for Newsbin Pro

NBRemote

Newsbin is one of the best Usenet clients around.  They offer a great Windows client but were lacking mobile apps.  Then along came NBRemote for iOS devices.  With an Android version in the works.  As the name suggests, you can use NBRemote to remotely access Newsbin Pro.  They offer both a free lite version and full version for $2.99.  Use either version on iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.  With an Android app coming soon.

Splashtop Remote Desktop

Newsleecher on iPad via Splashtop

Before Easynews and Newsbin released mobile apps we were without a means of connecting to our favorite Usenet clients while traveling.  Whether on vacation or just playing cards at a friends house we wanted to be able to search Usenet and queue up content while away from home.  That meant finding a more creative solution.  In researching we found a nice remote desktop app called Splashtop for iPhone and iPad.

I believe the price has increased since our first use of Splashtop.  They now have a version 2 that is available from the app store for $2.99 (iPhone) or $6.99 (iPad).  We used the original version to access our desktop while away.  Allowing control of favorite Usenet clients like Newshosting, Newsbin Pro and Newsleecher.  The app has it’s quirks but is the best we’ve found for accessing a wide assortment of newsreaders.

The downside is that you will need access to your system.  It let’s you tunnel in and remotely control programs.

Free iPhone App for Easynews

Our favorite iPhone Usenet reader just got even better.  Easynews members now have access to a free version of EZ Global Search.  The free iOS app is on iTunes under the name EZ Global Search Lite.  It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles that are in the paid ($2.99) version but it’s great for those seeking a free alternative.  You can search for content, preview and add items to Easynews Zip Manager.  Visit iTunes to download it free.

You’ll need Easynews web access to use EZ Global Search Lite.  If you’re not already a member you can sign up for a 14 day free trial.  Then download the free Easynews iOS client from iTunes.

EZ Global Search Lite

Both the free (Lite) and premium version of EZ Global Search are available for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.  The latest version has been optimized for iPhone 5 users.  Allowing you to take advantage of the larger screen size.  Let’s take a look at what you can do with the free version – EZ Global Search Lite:

  • Search by Keyword
  • View results with thumbnails for image and video files
  • Click a thumbnail to view the full sized image (video thumbnails too!)
  • Email image to friends or Save them to your iOS photo gallery
  • Select multiple files (up to 5 files with the LITE version) and send them to the Zip Manager (upgrade to the full version for unlimited zipping)
  • Zip Manager Tab lets you easily view your queued files in an iOS friendly format or using Easynews’ Web view
  • Post detail screen displays all available data for each file type including:
    – Audio: duration, bit rate, sample rate, ability to play audio sample, file size, and more.
    – Video: duration, bit rate, sample rate, resolution, ability to view video thumbnail screens, file size, and more.
    – Photos: resolution, thumbnail preview, file size.
  • AirPlay Audio support. Easily STREAM iOS compatible audio files and push them to your AppleTV (still trying to work out video support, sorry)
  • Choose what port connections should be made through (80, 81, SSL 443, SSL 81)
  • View your Gig Bank data
  • Universal for iPad and iPhone. Use on your iPad in Full Resolution!

You can also upgrade to the full version – EZ Global Search – for $2.99 and add these features:

  • Ad-Free
  • Filter by FileType, Date Range, Size Range, Extension, Newsgroup, Collapse sets
  • Sort results by 16 different terms in Asc or Desc order
  • Background Audio Playback Support
  • Full search results with ‘Pull to Load More’.
  • NZB Support: Send NZB files to download apps: SABMobile, SynoLoad, QGetMobile
  • Quickly view and search within your Easynews “Favorite Newsgroups”
  • Easily view your Saved Searches within your Easynews account (with auto-search nightly hit counts)
  • Save a new search to your Easynews Account to quickly search at another time.
  • Push posts URLs to popular ‘download apps’ like GoodReader, iCab Mobile, Filer, Downloads, ReaddleDocs, Atomic Web Browser and others. These apps can open and play these files in their native players or other apps

Check out EZ Global Search Lite.  We’ve been using the full release for a long time.  It’s our favorite way to search for Usenet content on iPhone.  Easynews being web-based definitely has it’s advantages!

EZ Global Search iPhone 5 Support

EZ Global Search version 1.7 was released to the iTunes app store on January 18th.  While the previous version 1.6 included a number of worthwhile additions the app experienced some bugs after Apple rolled out iOS 6.  We’re happy to share that EZ Global Search v. 1.7 supports both iPhone 5 users and everyone running iOS 6.  That includes iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices.  Existing app owners can grab the 1.7 update for free.

The EZ Global Search app is available on iTunes for $2.99 and includes future updates.  We highly recommend you download the app.  You will need Easynews web access to use EZ Global Search.  If you’re not already a member you can sign up for a 14 day free trial of their popular web interface.

EZ Global Seearch 1.7

As you can see above the EZ Global Search app allows you to connect to the Easynews service on your iOS mobile device.  Search as if you were using their web interface.  Then view the details of posts and add content to zip manager.  All without using a computer.  Luckily the only Easynews iOS app on the market is a good one.  Android fans shouldn’t feel left out as Easynews has EZ Usenet and EasyBorwser 3rd party apps available.

EZ Global Search v. 1.7 adds iPhone 5 and iOS support.  Here’s a list of features in the last v. 1.6 release:

– Search by Keyword
– Filter by FileType, Date Range, Size Range, Extension, Newsgroup, Collapse sets
– View results with thumbnails for image and video files
– Click a thumbnail to view the full sized image (video thumbnails too!)
– Email image to friends or Save them to your iOS photo gallery
– Select multiple files and send them to the Zip Manager.
– NEW! Redesigned Zip Manager Tab lets you easily view your queued files in a new iOS friendly format or using Easynews’ Web view
– NEW! NZB Support: Send NZB files to download apps
– Post detail screen displays all available data for each file type including:
– Audio: duration, bit rate, sample rate, ability to play audio sample, file size, and more.
– Video: duration, bit rate, sample rate, resolution, ability to view video thumbnail screens, file size, and more.
– Photos: resolution, thumbnail preview, file size.
– Quickly view and search within your Easynews “Favorite Newsgroups”
– Push posts URLs to popular ‘download apps’ like GoodReader, iCab Mobile, Filer, Downloads, ReaddleDocs, Atomic Web Browser and others. These apps can open and play these files in their native players or other apps (even AVI files if VLC Player is installed as well!)
– NEW! Support for NAS/NZB Apps: SABMobile, SynoLoad, QGetMobile
– Easily view your Saved Searches within your Easynews account (with auto-search nightly hit counts)
– AirPlay Audio support. Easily STREAM iOS compatible audio files and push them to your AppleTV (still trying to work out video support, sorry)
– Save a new search to your Easynews Account to quickly search at another time.
– Choose the port connections should be made through (80, 81, SSL 443, SSL 81)
– View your Gig Bank data
– Universal for iPad and iPhone. Use on your iPad in Full Resolution!
– And much more!

Read our EZ Global Search hands-on experience to learn more about the app.  With the growing use of mobile devices and continued increase in speeds we expect mobile apps to get a lot of attention this year.

EZ Global Search v1.4 : Full Resolution iPad Support

The Media Council recently released a new version of their popular EZ Global Search iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch Usenet app.  Those new to the third-party Easynews client should check out our EZ Global Search review.  Version 1.4 includes some nice new features.  Our favorite being the full resolution iPad support.  Something we’ve been eagerly awaiting.  EZ Global Search extends the advantages of Easynews to your iPad.  Letting you search for Usenet content, preview, stream and add downloads to Easynews Zip Manager.

The EZ Global Search app is available on iTunes for $2.99 and includes future updates.  We highly recommend you download the app.  You will need Easynews web access to use EZ Global Search.  If you’re not already a member you can sign up for a 14 day free trial.

Here’s the list of EZ Global Search version 1.4 enhancements:

– Attention iPad Users: EZ Global Search is now Universal for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. It uses the full resolution of the iPad. I’m hoping to introduce additional iPad specific features and layout enhancements in the coming versions.
– Date/Time and Size Range wheel pickers are now modal windows that open from the bottom (like a keyboard).
– File Type Picker is now a modal window
– Email images (from Image and Video file types) to your friends
– Fixed some issues with some download apps not working with spaces in the filename. The apps that work the best are marked with a STAR. I’m in contact with the others app developers to resolve some issues.
– Added support for READDLE DOCS downloader.
– AirPlay Audio support. Easily STREAM iOS compatible audio files and push them to your AppleTV (Video hopefully coming soon)
– Fixed bug where thumbnails wouldnt appear when searching within a FAVORITE newsgroup
– Other misc bug fixes and enhancements

EZ Global Search version 1.3 update included:

– View results with thumbnails for image and video files
– Click any thumbnail to view the full image.
– Results without thumbnails show a filetype icon.
– NEW! Select multiple files and send them to the Zip Manager.
– Zip Manager tab lets you easily view your queued files
– Post detail screen now displays all available data including specifics for each file type including:
– – – Audio: duration, bit rate, sample rate, ability to play audio sample, file size, and more
– – – Video: duration, bit rate, sample rate, resolution, ability to view video thumbnail screens, file size, and more
– – – Photos: resolution, thumbnail preview, file size
– Select the port that connections should be made through (80, 81, SSL 443, SSL 81)
– Saved Searches now syncs with your Easynews account (with auto-search nightly hit counts)
– New search filter: Filter by newsgroups (enter a full newsgroup name or just part of a name and it will return ONLY results in newsgroups that match.)
– Lots of other bug fixes and enhancements

At $2.99, EZ Global Search is a great value and includes future updates.  If you download the app and enjoy the many features on your iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch or a combination of the above please consider writing a short review.  It only takes a minute and can be done from within the app.  Go to Settings and choose “Write a Review”.  I’m sure the developers of EZ Global Search will appreciate the encouraging words.

The EZ Global Search app is available on iTunes for $2.99 and includes future updates.  We highly recommend you download the app.  You will need Easynews web access to use EZ Global Search.  If you’re not already a member you can sign up for a 14 day free trial.

Easynews EZ Global Search iPhone / iPad App

Earlier this year Easynews added support for iPhone / Android mobile Usenet apps.  Since then EZ Global Search has developed into our favorite iPhone / iPad client.  We wouldn’t really call the app a newsreader.  Just like we wouldn’t call the Easynews web interface a traditional Usenet client.  The EZ Global Search app provides many of the same advantages of Easynews.  Namely the use of your web browser (or in this case a very cool app) to search for newsgroup content, preview and download from Usenet.

The EZ Global Search app is available on iTunes for $2.99 and includes future updates.  We highly recommend you download the app.  You will need Easynews web access to use EZ Global Search.  If you’re not already a member you can sign up for a 14 day free trial.


We’ve used the EZ Global Search app on both iPhone 4 and original iPad.  Preferring the iPad for the larger screen.  Both provide the same features and work very well with Easynews.  This post isn’t meant as a review of EZ Global Search.  If it was we’d certainly give the app high marks.  In this case we’d like to share some of the cool features that make the app our favorite for both iPhone and iPad.

EZ Global Search – Easynews Search Feature

After downloading EZ Global Search from the Apple app store you simply enter in your Easynews username and password.  Then choose whether to download via the regular port 80 or alternate port.  We always choose SSL port 443 as we would with other Usenet browsers.

The first thing you’ll notice about EZ Global Search is a variety of search options to help in finding your desired Usenet content.  While you can simply search for a topic of interest the app allows you to narrow down results by file types, date/time, size, file extension and even specific newsgroups.

EZ Global Search – Easynews Search Results

The EZ Global Search results are very similar to the new Easynews web interface.  Along with some post information you’ll see thumbnails for image files.  To the top right you’ll also notice “Zip” and “Save” options.  We’ll talk about the “Zip” option in a moment as it helps you add content to the Easynews Zip Manager for download.  The “Save” option let’s you save your search criteria for future searches.

EZ Global Search – Post Details

We selected the first post above and were presented with a number of post details.  Including the date and time, file size, image resolution and even the newsgroup.  From which we could easily search the alt.binaries.automobiles.carshow newsgroup for more cool pictures.

If the content had been audio you would have the option to sample the file.  The same is true for video which would present a number of thumbnails to preview before downloading the full video.  The preview feature will save you a lot of time and frustration.

EZ Global Search – Easynews Zip Manager

The final feature we’d like to share is EZ Global Search integration with Easynews Zip Manager.  Those familiar with Zip Manager know that you mark content to be downloaded in the web interface.  The same is true in the iPhone / iPad app.  When search results are displayed you have a “Zip” option.  Choosing it will display the following screen.  With a button next to each entry.  Check any items you would like downloaded and then choose “Send to Zip Manager”.  From there you can use EZ Global Search to control your Zip Manager dashboard.  Allowing you to queue up downloads from your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.

We recently had the opportunity to chat with the leading developer of EZ Global Search and were quite impressed.  The idea for an iPhone / iPad app came from their own passion for Easynews and Usenet in general.  They recognized the need for such an app and built it for friends to use.  Never thinking the app would be sold to the public.  Now their efforts have come full circle as Easynews recommends EZ Global Search as a 3rd party mobile app.  We have a lot more to share and will be writing more on the topic in the weeks to come.  For now head on over to The Media Council site or iTunes to download EZ Global Search.

The EZ Global Search app is available on iTunes for $2.99 and includes future updates.  We highly recommend you download the app.  You will need Easynews web access to use EZ Global Search.  If you’re not already a member you can sign up for a 14 day free trial.