The Old Reader sync breaks Starred status and marks all articles as read on refresh
Author: emet5Created Jul 31, 2026Updated Jul 31, 2026
Describe the bug When using Fluent Reader on PC synced via The Old Reader, the application (apparently) fails to send the "Starred" (favorite) status to the server. Furthermore, upon the very first feed update in Fluent Reader on PC, the applied star immediately disappears (drops), and absolutely all articles are erroneously marked as read.
To Reproduce Steps to reproduce the behavior:
- Open Fluent Reader on PC.
- Go to Settings and add synchronization with The Old Reader by selecting "Google Reader API (Beta)" and entering account credentials.
- Mark any article as Starred.
- Update the feed in Fluent Reader (click the refresh button).
- The star on the article immediately disappears within the app (it also never appears on The Old Reader server), and the correct display of other unread articles breaks—they all start showing up as read.
Expected behavior The "Starred" statuses modified on PC should be successfully sent to The Old Reader server, synchronized, and preserved within the app after refreshing. The unread article counter/display should also function correctly instead of breaking after the first refresh.
Screenshots
- Before clicking the "Refresh" button.
- After refreshing.
Platform:
- OS: Windows 10, version 22H2 (OS Build 19045.6466)
- Version: Fluent Reader 1.2.2
Additional context
- On Fluent Reader Lite for iOS, everything works flawlessly and instantly: starred articles sync immediately and are visible on both the phone and the web version of The Old Reader. The issue is strictly isolated to the PC client.
- Completely removing the synchronization in the PC app settings, re-logging into The Old Reader account, clearing the cache, and fully reinstalling Fluent Reader do not resolve the issue.
Source: yang991178/fluent-reader