Ask the Readers: Which Google Reader Alternative Will You Switch to?
Google Reader is shutting down July 1st. We want to hear from you on what you think about Google’s decision and what alternative you’ll switch to.
If you’re a user of Google Reader to keep track of all of your RSS feeds from your favorite sites, you’re probably aware that Google is shutting it down on July 1st. We want to hear from you on what you think about Google’s decision and what alternative you’ll switch to.
Google Reader Alternatives
We’ve shown you how to export and back up your current Reader OPML which contains a list of your current feeds. You can then use it to import into programs like Microsoft Outlook and use it as your RSS reader.
The service I’ve already switched to is Feedly. In fact, a few days after Google made its announcement to kill Reader, over 500,00 users made the switch as well. It’s a good solution that works on most mobile devices and smartphones, and major browsers on your computer — sans Internet Explorer.
And, after Google Reader shuts down, Feedly will use its own backend to continue feeds. According to the Feedly Blog:
When Google Reader shuts down, feedly will seamlessly transition to the Normandy back end. So if you are a Google Reader user and using feedly, you are covered: the transition will be seamless.
Feedly isn’t the only alternative of course. There are other contenders like NewsBlur, The Old Reader, and NetVibes. Each one has different features, some free, and other paid services. If you’re looking to make a switch, it might be worth going through a few and trying out the free service at least.
So What’s Your Take?
We’d like to hear your opinion on the death of Google Reader. Do you use Google Reader? Are you upset it’s being shut down? What alternatives are you looking at now before Google pulls the switch?
Let us know in the comments!
18 Comments
Leave a Reply
Leave a Reply
Bogdan Bele
March 25, 2013 at 6:15 am
Feedly, although I still can’t say that I’m fully used to the interface.
Austin Krause
March 25, 2013 at 11:36 pm
I’m digging feedly once I switched over to the Titles view for all of my feeds, the Themes are pretty cool too. I just REALLY wish that it had a night mode for desktop, it does on Android and iOS.
http://i.imgur.com/e2uqI6K.png
Bob Hunchberger
March 26, 2013 at 6:15 pm
Check out FeeddlerPro. I like it because it downloads & formats the entire article w/o having to go to the website to read it. Very nice.
Steve Krause
March 25, 2013 at 7:42 am
Outlook and Flipboard. Both work great for me.
Brian Burgess
March 25, 2013 at 12:27 pm
Well, obviously since I gave Feedly such a high remark in the article, that’s what I have moved to. Once you get used to the UI, it’s pretty slick. You can even set it to “lists” view which I like the best.
Flipboard and Zite … those are all great for mobile, but they don’t have an official desktop client that I know of. So, Feedly fits in perfect for mobile and Desktop.
I do wish it had a version for IE 10 though, for when I am using my Surface RT.
Heber Holliday
March 26, 2013 at 3:56 am
FeedDemon. I have used it for many years and it suits my liking very well. The developer, Nick Bradbury, has said that he will rework it before Google Reader expires and make it available for free.
Brian Burgess
March 26, 2013 at 6:12 pm
I found this blog post from Nick saying he is stopping development on FeedDemon, but you can change some settings to continue to get your feeds? The next few months should be interesting when it comes to RSS.
http://goo.gl/eINS6
Barry
March 26, 2013 at 11:24 am
Feedly seems to do a fine job…
Carol Dunlop
March 26, 2013 at 2:25 pm
I switched to Feedly, I researched a lot of sites and it is the one that keeps coming up, off I go. I love the interface, right up my alley. As long as I can do the stuff I have been doing with it, I am set, we will see how seemless all this will be :)
Brian Burgess
March 26, 2013 at 6:23 pm
Yup. The more I use Feedly the more I like it.
However, Today I did notice a discrepancy with a couple articles from a site that showed up in Google Reader, but didn’t show in Feedly. Maybe it was a “one off” but I’ll definitely keep an eye on it.
John Swords
March 26, 2013 at 2:47 pm
I like Feedly, but as a NYC commuter I catch up on feeds on the subway which has no Internet. I need a reader that supports offline caching of posts and images like the iOS Reeder app does with Google Reader data. The offline support feature is on the Feedly feature request site with a few thousand votes, so only time will tell.
Bob Hunchberger
March 26, 2013 at 6:14 pm
Check out FeeddlerPro. I like it because it downloads & formats the entire article w/o having to go to the website to read it. Very nice.
Brian Burgess
March 26, 2013 at 6:17 pm
Man, NYC needs to get WiFi down there!
One thing you might consider is before going on your commute is saving Feedly articles to Pocket. I think you can read those articles offline, but you wouldn’t be able to get to the original I guess.
We’ve done a couple articles on Pocket:
for Android with Speech to Text — http://goo.gl/x3AcL
Alternative app for Windows RT that syncs with Pocket — http://goo.gl/6Qvzd
Bob Hunchberger
March 26, 2013 at 6:09 pm
Check out FeeddlerPro. I like it because it downloads & formats the entire article w/o having to go to the website. Makes reading the full text ideal.
Paul Fullilove
March 27, 2013 at 5:50 am
I’ve also switched to Feedly.
Heber Holliday
March 28, 2013 at 4:30 am
Here is a follow up post from Nick Bradbury re FeedDemon.
http://goo.gl/pD6mJ
Brian Burgess
March 28, 2013 at 4:37 am
Awesome. Thanks!
Peter shen
April 29, 2013 at 4:42 am
You can still try http://eldonreader.com. It’s pretty cool!