With Google Reader nearing its imminent death, a race to build the perfect alternative for the service's refugees has been taking shape over the last few weeks. Even though there are dozens of alternatives already out there, if you care about cross-platform compatibility and synchronization across different devices for things like read and favorited items, then your options are a little more limited than you'd imagine.
Local Sync Versus Server-based RSS
If you access your news feed from a single device, then in theory any standalone app capable of fetching RSS should suffice. However, this scenario poses some limitations even if you don't need to sync devices.
Due to the way most RSS feeds work, only the last few articles will be downloaded, rather than every new story since you last checked. That means the only way to make sure you are not missing out on anything is to have the app running in the background at all times, which is hardly an ideal scenario.
On the other hand, server-based RSS services like Google Reader frequently poll feeds for new articles, downloading everything that's available and keeping it in their local database. That way whenever you access the service, from your browser or any mobile or desktop app that connects to it, you will be able to catch up on all new articles from all your subscriptions regardless of the last time of synchronization.
Does RSS Even Matter Anymore?
Google feels RSS is no longer as important as it used to considering how the average internet user receives his fix of interesting links and news via social networks -- most of the time not through their social network, though.
But for millions of professionals that need that constant stream of information, from manually selected sources rather than algorithms or shared links, RSS is a big deal. Journalists, bloggers, programmers, researchers, students, tech savvy people, among others, fall into this group. It's a niche product, but still a big niche.
What Should I Do?
First things first: if you are a Google Reader user and want to keep all your data intact, you'll need to export everything before July 1 (that means we are mere hours away). Head over to Google Takeout's Reader page and click on “Create Archive” -- it might take a couple of minutes. Once it's done save the resulting zip file.
Now, on to the alternatives. Here are a handful of services we're keeping our eye on:
Top free(mium) contenders
Feedly
Feedly is probably the most popular and well rounded Google Reader alternative out there, due in part because it's been developed for years and didn't just sprung up after the Google Reader announcement. That said, since news of the closure got out they've been working on new features like crazy and preparing for the influx of incoming users. Among other things, they launched their own sync server, a one-click migration tool, made UI tweaks, added a ton of hardware to their backend, and designed an open API for third party apps to tap into.
If you prefer a 'native' experience, Feedly also has its own iOS and Android apps in addition to the web client. All in all, they've moved at an impressive pace which is a testament to their ability to iterate and scale.
Still missing: search functionality.
Available on: Web, official iOS and Android apps, IFTTT, Sprout Social, Nextgen Reader, gNewsReader forBlackBerry 10 and for Symbian/MeeGo, Press, gReader, Newsify, Pure News Widget, Meneré, and Reeder foriPhone -- Mac and iPad Reeder clients will be added later.
Digg Reader
Digg Reader is still very much in development but the team behind it has been racing to have the core RSS reading functionality ready in time for Google Reader's shutdown. At time of writing only users who applied for the beta have been given access but invites are rolling out quickly for those just signing up.
It features a clean and familiar interface with support for the same Google Reader keyboard shortcuts, as well as options to save stories to 'read later' services or share them on social networks. There's also a popular filter that shows you which articles in your feeds are trending and a laundry list of promised upcoming features.
Still missing: search functionality, API for third-party app support (they are working on it), unread-only view.
Available on: Web, official iOS app (iPhone and iPad), official Android app coming "in a few weeks".
Honorable Mentions
AOL is developing yet another Reader alternative and the initial impression is that it's stripped down, simple, and fast. They are also promising an open API for developers to build their own apps around it... pity it's just hard to like AOL. For a web-only, no-frills RSS reader newsvibe might be worth a look.
Solid Paid Alternatives
Some people argue that paid is better than free for services you rely upon day in and day out because you know developers are being taken care off, and they won't just shut down on you one random day -- much like the free Google Reader, although a lack of funds is certainly not to blame here. On the other hand, free alternatives didn't take long to crop up, so it wasn't exactly the end of the world. A minor inconvenience at most.
Feedbin
Feedbin is another new entrant featuring a clean interface and most of the basic controls of Google Reader. You can bundle feed sources into groups with 'tag drawers', it has a couple of view options, has built in sharing functionality, and let's you use keyboard shortcuts to move between posts, star items, mark them as read or unread, and more. The web interface is pretty straightforward and although there are no mobile apps, there are several third-party app powered by its API to keep everything synchronized. The service costs $2 per month.
Still missing: search functionality, few layout options -- though there's not much wrong with the default view.
Available on: Web, Reeder for iPhone, Mr. Reader for iPad, ReadKit, Press, Slow Feeds, Favs, Tafiti, Readlines for Feedbin, Bulletin for Feedbin, Feedbin Reader beta, and Deer Reader.
Newsblur
Newsblur has been around for a while but, like others on this round up, it has received several updates and a huge influx of new users over the past two months. Even though it was recently redesigned it doesn't look as pretty as its competitors. In fact, the user interface looks a little busy, but that's because it has a hefty feature set which some may consider a fair tradeoff.
Among it's unique features is a discovery algorithm that users can train to surface stories they like and bury those that they find less interesting. There's also a sharing feature called Blurblogs that let's you subscribe to other's feeds much like Google Reader's sharing functionality.
NewsBlur costs $24 a year and has apps for the iPad, iPhone, and Android. Like with the web client, beautiful design is not a strong point here and though there is an API open to developers, third-party app support is very limited. There's a free option that limits you to 64 feeds, which would be enough for plenty of people, but it also limits the way stories are fetched so it's likely you'll miss some updates.
Still missing: no search, cluttered UI, fetch limitation on free tier can be a deal breaker.
Available on: Web, official iOS app (iPhone and iPad), Android, ReadKit.
Honorable Mentions
FeedWrangler is another worthy RSS reading and sync service that costs $19 a year and includes all the features you'd expect, but for now it's limited to OS X, iOS and Android. Another Mac-centric alternative isNetNewsWire, which has been out for ages but just recently received a much needed refresh. It'll cost you a one-time payment of $20 (though it's currently 50% off) but for now sync isn't ready yet.
Other less analogous alternatives
The above services step in more or less as direct replacements or alternatives to Google Reader, each offering a few differentiating traits without drifting apart too far from its formula. If you are willing to take the opportunity to try something different here are some services you might want to consider.
- Self-hosted RSS: If you'll grow anxious about another free service shutting its doors but don't want a subscription-based alternative, consider something like Tiny Tiny RSS or Fever. Both are full-fledged RSS readers and aggregators that you run from your own server and support mobile apps. The former is a free, open-source project while Fever is $30, but it has some clever ways of grouping and surfacing the most interesting content. You'll just have to deal with the extra work of setting things up.
- Magazine-style feeds: For a more visual, image-driven feed with a focus on content discovery (surfacing trending content from websites and social networks) try Flipboard, Pulse or Zite. All of them offer a mix of content from RSS feeds and social networks you connect to them for a more personalized experience.
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