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We now know who to thank for bringing back an RSS reader to Google's roundhouse. The Web Feed feature that has been hanging behind a flag in the Chrome web browser for several months has officially gone public.
Google Reader is returning from the dead and haunting Google Chrome
Currently available behind a flag in Chrome 92
Read update
Google Reader used to be the pinnacle of RSS news consumption before it was discontinued in 2013, and many people are still bitter about its demise. While Google probably won't ever properly resurrect the service, it's currently working on the next best thing: An option to follow websites in Chrome, tapping into RSS. You can try it right now in Chrome 92.
Chrome is testing a new "follow" button that feels an awful lot like Google Reader reincarnated
Available to a select group of Chrome Canary users on Android
Read update
Remember Google Reader? The popular RSS app was a great way to follow the day's top stories before being prematurely killed off. Users still mourn the loss of Reader, but Google is now testing a similar function with a new experiment. If you're running Chrome Canary on Android, you might be able to try out Google's new "Follow" button to stay up-to-date on all of your favorite websites (like ours).
gReader gets its first update in four years, but maybe it shouldn't have
Customers complain of obnoxious ads, and the paid Pro version is still missing
Once-popular RSS aggregator gReader just got its first update in almost four years. The new v5 release claims improved support for video and podcast playback, dark mode support in article view, and some miscellaneous bug fixes. We've also spotted Inoreader support. But unfortunately, reports also claim the app's ads are especially obnoxious now, and the ad-free "Pro" version of the app many customers purchased years ago is still missing from the Play Store.
You can now add custom RSS feeds to Google Podcasts
A simple addition that advanced users will appreciate
When Google first released its own Podcasts app back in 2018, it was a pretty bare-bones affair. Since then, however, the company has continued to iterate and add improvements, and the app managed to surpass 50 million downloads this month. The latest update enables something that power users have been asking for since day one: the ability to add podcasts via custom RSS feeds.
The best curated news apps for Android smartphones
Let an algorithm report on what's happening in the world
Reading the news is probably the last thing you want to do right now while the world is shrouded in doom and gloom. But at least there are many reading apps based on algorithms, so you can manually instruct them whether or not to deliver the headlines on the end times as it's happening.
Feedly is one of the best RSS readers around, with support for cloud syncing, filters, and much more. The mobile apps received a nice redesign at the end of last year, and now Feedly has focused its attention on the web application.
I've made Fenix my go-to Twitter client for a rather long time, and I'm not alone in that. That's the only app developer mvilla has released... until now. The second app from this dev is a feed reader with support for both Feedly and Inoreader. It has a very clean, minimalist design, and you can give it a shot for free.
There's a new version of Feedly out there, but it looks like a staged rollout (currently a beta channel release). Normally that wouldn't be a huge deal, because it's just a feed reader. However, there's some cool stuff in the v27 update. This one adds Google Now integration, and we've got the APK below.
Do you use Taptu to read news and entertainment stories? Statistically speaking, the answer is no - we haven't even written a single story on the aggregator in over four years. Taptu is, or more accurately was, a sort of curated platform that pulled news and other stories from both a user's own social networks and a series of pre-made topical feeds. According to messages being sent to users of the app, the entire service will shut down tomorrow, March 31st.
Need a new RSS reader? Do you just want one that conforms to Material Design guidelines? Palabre might be for you. This simple, new app is fairly straightforward. You have a pretty interface with a little customizability and Feedly integration so that you don't have to rebuild your RSS lists.
In a major update, gReader has given itself a brand new look in addition to support for Lollipop devices. Unlike many recent app updates that have claimed to add Material Design, gReader is not exaggerating in their claim; it looks very good. And, true to form, gReader has preserved the ability to customize its look with themes, so you can still make it your own.
Feedly has been one of the most popular feed readers in the wake of the Google Reader shutdown, but the service is having a rough morning. A distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack was launched on Feedly late last night and has continued all morning. According to the Feedly blog, the company is working to mitigate the impact and bring Feedly back online, but it's slow going.
If there's one thing that's kept me from using Feedly's official app, as opposed to using more conventional RSS-style readers in the wake of the Google Reader collapse, it's the interface. Aside from the fact that I find it kind of clunky in general, the inconsistent back button behavior is a real downer. With the latest app update (version 18.1.3), it becomes a little bit less of a headache.
Popular RSS/Feed App gReader Gets A Big Update To v3.6 With Offline Mode, New Widget Options, And More
Popular RSS/Feed App gReader Gets A Big Update To v3.6 With Offline Mode, New Widget Options, And More
One of the most popular feed reader apps in Google Play is undeniably gReader. It has survive the demise of Google Reader and is now riding high with a new update to version 3.6. This is a big one too – it contains some solid improvements, fixes, and new features.
Feedly doesn't want to go the way of Google Reader, so it is now rolling out a monthly subscription model to everyone in hopes of keeping the lights on. We've known about this for a while now, as the company offered 5,000 lifetime subscriptions for $99 earlier this month. They promptly sold out, providing them with $500,000 of cash to help get things off the ground. Early backers, and those who choose to subscribe now, get access to the first batch of pro features, such as the ability to search through articles and quick one-click integration with both Evernote and Pocket.
Feedly has been doing its best Google Reader impression in recent months, but now it's adding in something Google forgot to do. Mainly, the business model. Feedly will be making money on its new cloud synced RSS reader with a $5 per month subscription for Pro features. Interested parties can also drop $45 for a whole year of Feedly Pro. But the deal the company is running right now is something special. For $99 you get immediate access to Feedly Pro forever. This is limited to only 5,000 spots.
It was just six weeks ago that we featured Rockmelt, an Android app with a bit of an identity crisis. It didn't know whether it wanted to be an RSS reader or a browser (but it did know it wanted to look like Pinterest). Well, the eponymous company that makes Rockmelt is the latest in a series of acquisitions by Yahoo. And they've killed the Android app deader than a dove at an NRA convention.
The Old Reader May End Public Availability Following Flood Of Former Google Reader Users, Developers Want Their Lives Back
The Old Reader May End Public Availability Following Flood Of Former Google Reader Users
Perhaps Google Reader's largest advantage wasn't its features, usability, or ubiquity - it was Google's massive resources. The Old Reader was one of many alternatives that readers fled to in advance of Reader's imminent collapse, and its users swelled by over 1000 percent in just a week. Now, after having swelled from 10 thousand users to over 400 thousand, the developers are saying that enough is enough. They currently plan to re-launch The Old Reader as a private service and only invite back those who joined before the flood, but they're still open to alternatives that would ensure continued public access.