Smart Groups

A Smart Group is a saved view that automatically gathers articles matching the rules you set — no matter which feed they came from. Think of it as a live filter across your whole timeline: “everything about space,” “AI news from the last two days,” “long reads from just these three sites.”

Unlike a folder, which groups feeds by source, a smart group groups articles by their content and freshness. Articles flow in and out on their own as they arrive and age.

The three rules

A smart group is defined by up to three filters. You can use any combination:

1. Tags — what to match

Tags are the heart of a smart group. As covered in Tags, a tag is a word Newsbin looks for inside each article’s headline, summary, and scanned keywords.

To make a smart group filter by a tag, the tag must be set to Included inside the group. Then:

• Match all tags ON → an article must contain every Included tag (AND).
• Match all tags OFF → an article containing any Included tag appears (OR).

You can also set a tag to Excluded to push matching articles out of the group.

This is the single most important rule: a smart group only filters by tags that are set to Included. If none of the group’s tags are Included, there’s nothing to narrow by — so the group shows everything from its sources. (See Troubleshooting below.)

2. Sources — where to look

By default a smart group draws from all your feeds. Turn off “Include all RSS feeds” to pick a specific subset — handy for a group like “AI news, but only from my three favorite tech sites.”

3. Age — how recent

Optionally limit the group to articles created within a window — a day, a week, a month, and so on. Set it to Off for no age limit. Great for a “This week” style group that stays current on its own.

Creating a smart group

1. Open Add a Smart Group.
2. Give it a name and pick an icon and color.
3. Under Tags, tap the tags you want and set them to Included (or Excluded).
4. Choose whether to Match all tags.
5. Set the Sources (all feeds, or a chosen subset) and an optional Age limit.
6. Tap Done.

Your smart group appears alongside your folders and feeds, and populates itself immediately.

Editing a smart group

Open the group’s settings to change its tags, sources, or age at any time. Your changes take effect as soon as you save.

Troubleshooting

“My smart group shows my entire feed.” This almost always means the group has no tags set to Included. A group needs at least one Included tag to filter — without one, it correctly falls back to showing every article from its sources. Open the group, set the tag(s) you care about to Included, and save.

“My smart group is empty or nearly empty.”

• Match all tags may be on with several Included tags, so articles must contain all of them. Turn it off, or reduce the number of Included tags.
• Your Age filter may be too tight. Set it to Off or a wider window.
• Remember tags match the article’s text — a tag only pulls in articles whose headline, summary, or scanned keywords actually contain that word.

“An article I expected isn’t showing up.” Check that none of the group’s Excluded tags match it, and that it falls within the Age window and Sources you selected.

Tip: always keep Newsbin up to date. Filtering behavior improves over time, and running the latest version ensures your groups behave as described here.