This blog post is documentation for a very specific problem I run into about once a year. That’s rare enough to forget how I solved it, but frequent enough to waste 15 minutes rediscovering the answer. And let’s be honest: it’s not the big problems that drive you mad — it’s the little ones that feel like their own Sisyphean hell.

The Problem

Some websites ¹ require you to log in using a magic link — a one-time link emailed to you that signs you in when clicked. It’s usually seamless. But on iOS, it can quietly become a headache. ²

If you open the link in your default browser, everything’s fine — no issue at all. But I do most of my reading in my RSS app, Reeder. When I run into a short-form RSS feed ³, I’ll tap to open the article in SafariViewController — the in-app browser you see in apps like Reeder, or my own app, Plinky. It’s an easy way to read the full article in a browser without leaving the app you’re already in.

The Problem (Simplified)

• I open a link to paywalled content, like the excellent tech newsletter I subscribe to: platformer.news.
• Platformer’s hosting provider, Ghost, emails me a magic link to log in and access the content I pay for.
• But there’s no way to open that sign-in link inside Reeder’s SafariViewController.
• If I click the link, it opens in the iOS default browser — and there’s no way to force it to open in Reeder’s SafariViewController instead. ⁴
• I can’t even copy and paste the link, since SafariViewController has no address bar.

The Solution

Every time I run into this issue, I end up coming back to the only solution that actually works.

My favorite RSS provider, Feedbin, has a clever feature: it lets you generate a unique email address (like xyz123@feedbi.in) that turns incoming emails into an RSS feed. ⁵ It’s meant for forwarding email newsletters into your RSS reader — a nice way to keep all your reading in one place. But in a pinch, it’s also a great trick for accessing any email inside your feed.

• I can’t tell Platformer to send the magic link directly to that Feedbin address, because my login is tied to my personal email — but I can forward the email there myself.
• Since I’m already subscribed to that email-based RSS feed, the message shows up in Reeder.
• Now I can tap the login link in Reeder, which opens SafariViewController — and just like that, I’m signed in.
• 🌟 Finally, I can read the paywalled content I actually paid for! 🌟

Conclusion

While I hope this post helps someone else out there, let’s be honest — it’s really written for me, 12 months from now, when I’ve forgotten all of this again. 😒