Google Reader Death
Ever since Google announced the retirement of the Google Reader platform in July 2013, users around the world have been wondering how to replace their beloved former favorite RSS feed. Luckily, Google has announced this news with three months notice, providing a “sunset period” to users to be able to download their feeds using their Google Takeout program and transfer them to a new feed reader. Now that it is time to find a replacement for the product, many people are looking for a new daily reading solution that allows them to follow lots of RSS – here are some of the most popular products that can serve as a new reader for old Google Reader fans.
Feedly: The Best Things in Life are Free
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Lots of Google Reader users are turning to Feedly as the top replacement platform. In fact, many people made the switch to Feedly before Google’s announcement, since it has really helpful aspects such as news suggestion algorithms, sharing mechanisms, and customization features. They are currently offering a seamless program that helps Google Reader users transition to their services, all while syncing with social network platforms like Facebook and Twitter so that you can share your stories and articles with friends and followers. Looking at layout features, there are so many customizable options that help to save your eyes from stress and make it easy to pick out headlines and determine trends. As the service develops with the arrival of more and more readers over time, we expect that the offerings of this platform will continue to develop for the better. Currently, this program is available for free as a browser extension and a mobile app for both iOS and Android.
NetVibes: A RSS News Reader With a Strong Social Connection
This Google Reader replacement option focuses on flexibility and social networks: building your feed through smart suggestion technology and feed algorithms, you can switch to the service with little hassle and virtually no training time. Though the premium and advanced services are quite expensive at a high monthly fee, you can stick to the basics with this program by using the RSS feed reader features for free, and also track your friends and their reading habits at no additional costs. The one downside: no apps are available for Android or iOS yet, so you’ll have to stick to reading on your computer and directly from the internet browser for now. Make sure that you have a strong wireless internet connection here in order to use NetVibes all around your office and home without any disconnection or interruption.
Streamlined Surfing: Pulse
Looking to cut back on all of the reading you do, finding great topics but sifting through the fluff? Pulse is a reader that filters through much of the material in your feed to find pieces that are fit to your needs, and will bring those stories most likely to match your interests to the top of the feed. Of course, you can skip these functions and use Pulse simply as a standard feed reader, but then you’d be missing the key feature that makes Pulse stand out from the rest of your standard news aggregators. Importing your Google Reader feed via mobile is easy, and there are plenty of syncing and storing mechanisms that will help you catch up on your reading – wherever you are.
Reasons that Google Reader is Closing Down
Many users are quite confused: why is the legendary internet company closing down one of their most popular products? The web giant responded that they are aiming to consolidate their development resources on a few particular products over the coming years, and that Google Reader was experience a decline in the number of readers over time. However, as shown above, are lots of great options that have been in the works as webapps, mobile apps, and browser extensions that can take the place of Google Reader without too much fuss.
How do you feel about Google Reader shutting down?
About Brandon Leibowitz
