Independent Irish iOS app developer Supertop has acquired the highly regarded RSS news feed reader app Unread from its American developer.

Supertop, founded and operated by Dublin-based Oisín Prendiville and Vancouver-based Pádraig Ó Cinnéide, confirmed the acquisition of Unread from Indiana developer Jared Sinclair in the past few days. The fee was undisclosed.

In August, Mr Sinclair announced he was suspending development on Unread after taking a job with fast-growing RSS service Bloglovin.

Mr Prendiville and Mr Ó Cinnéide already have a high profile in the independent app development community thanks to the success of their podcasting app, Castro, widely regarded as one of the best-designed podcasting apps in the Apple App Store.

Their other app, Tokens, allows developers to generate and share promotional codes for applications.

“Our plan had always been to move into other products that complemented Castro,” says Mr Prendiville. “We had met Jared in San Francisco during the summer and we got on very well. We always loved the Unread app and were sad to see it go away, and realised maybe it was an opportunity to widen our product base.

“This deal gave us a headstart, as it would have taken another six to 12 months to develop it ourselves.”

Limited income

Mr Sinclair had previously elaborated on the financial realities of independent iOS development, and the limited income that Unread provided in its first year of release, but that did not deter Mr Ó Cinnéide and Mr Prendiville.

“Jared had very high demands, wanting something to immediately succeed, but for a product that came out of nowhere, his numbers weren’t that terrible,” says Mr Prendiville.

“I think that’s a decent start for a product in its first year. Our aim has been to build upon that further, and have a few products that last. We feel good that, with Castro, Unread and Tokens, we can grow them over years to be a sustainable small business. This is for ourselves, and maybe for a few employees.”