Inaccessible RSS Channel `<link>` atrribute can prevent the feed from loading

[mmahdium]

Checklist

• I have used the search function for OPEN issues to see if someone else has already submitted the same bug report.
• I have also used the search function for CLOSED issues to see if the problem is already solved and just waiting to be released.
• I will describe the problem with as much detail as possible.
• If the bug only to occurs with a certain feed, I will include the URL of that feed.

App version

2.18.0

Where did you get the app from

F-Droid

Are you using the "Parse full article" feature?

No

Android version

10 (same problem on 8)

Device model

No response

First occurred

No response

Steps to reproduce

1. Use an RSS feed with a channel's <link> attribute that is inaccessible from your country or network.
2. Add the feed URL to Feeder (keeping all default settings).
3. Observe that no items are loading on the feeds page.

Example RSS used:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">
   <channel>
     <title>Recent posts from @mamlekate</title>
     <link>https://t.me/mamlekate</link>
     <description>Recent posts from the Telegram channel @mamlekate.</description>
     <pubDate>Mon, 16 Mar 2026 23:17 +0330</pubDate>
     <lastBuildDate>Mon, 16 Mar 2026 23:17 +0330</lastBuildDate>
     <generator>TGSS</generator>
     <item>
       <title>Post by @mamlekate on Telegram</title>
       <link>https://t.me/mamlekate/101732</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 16 Mar 2026 19:21 +0330</pubDate>
       <description><![CDATA[- شیراز دوشنبه ساعت ۱۸:۵۰ تا ۱۹.۱۰
۷تا انفجار داشتیم

- شیراز سپاه ثارالله بلوار پاسداران ۲ بار بمب باران شد

@mamlekate]]></description>
       <guid>https://t.me/mamlekate/101732</guid>
     </item>
   </channel>
 </rss>

Expected behaviour

Feeder should try to load the channel’s <link>. If that URL cant be reached, it should still show the feed items (or at least give an error), not just stay empty.

Current behaviour

When the channel’s <link> (e.g. https://t.me/mamlekate) can’t be reached, Feeder fails to load any items and shows a blank feed page.

Additional screenshots from the Feeder app:

I suspect the <link> attribute is the culprit, after routing the phone through an unrestricted proxy, the feed loads correctly, and the only external request logged by the proxy was to t.me (the RSS feeds URL was bypassed)
For that reason, I think the items <link> can also be the issue (e.g. https://t.me/mamlekate/101732) but its less likely since there are no items shown in the feed to even try loading the items <link> content.

Logs

No response

[mmahdium]

I have to mention that absolutely NO foreign sites (even google) can be accessed at the moment so some other third party requests that are unable to complete may cause the issue.

[spacecowboy]

I think this is not a bug per se.

I suspect that the behavior you are hitting is that Feeder will update the Feed's URL to what it is defined to be in the feed.

The most common usecase for this is when a feed is migrated to a new url. The feed will then be served at both the old and new URLs for some time, but the feed itself will specify that it's URL is only the new url. That way, clients can automatically migrate to the new URL without user intervention.

I think you are hitting this on the first sync essentially. But have something else might be at play.

So definitely an edge-case. And it would make sense if Feeder only updated the URL if the URL was actually reachable.