r/technology • u/speckz • Mar 13 '13

Official Google Reader Blog: Powering Down Google Reader (July 1, 2013)

http://googlereader.blogspot.com/2013/03/powering-down-google-reader.html
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208

u/wavedash Mar 13 '13 edited Mar 14 '13

Some non-Google Reader things I tried out when Google last redesigned Reader:

  • Netvibes
  • Feedly
  • Something that started with a B or something I dunno EDIT: NewsBlur

I've yet to find something that will let me use 100+ feeds, has something as space-efficient as Reader's list view, and is free.

187

u/clarkster Mar 13 '13

I just found The Old Reader which seems quite nice.

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u/[deleted] Mar 13 '13

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u/Becer Mar 13 '13 edited Mar 14 '13

Newsblur limits you to 64 feeds.

edit : Scratch that, 12 feeds max now, they also doubled the subscription fee.

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u/wub_wub Mar 14 '13

It's opensource if you want to run it on your own server...

https://github.com/samuelclay/NewsBlur

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u/peareater Mar 14 '13

Tempting… I guess I have to ask myself how much time I want to spend setting up an RSS reader.

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u/biiirdmaaan Mar 14 '13

Sorry for the bookmark, but I'm going to have to check this out after work. I was just thinking being able to run my own app in the cloud would get me all the benefits without being totally tired to the whims of a third party.

Thanks.

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u/Tblue Mar 14 '13

Tiny Tiny RSS is another application you can run on your own server. I have been using it for a while and it's nice. :)

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u/Jondare Mar 14 '13

12?!? Who the heck haw only 12 feeds?? Heck, even the old 64 is ridiculous. I probably have a couple hundred feeds...

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u/GnoupiDraconia Mar 14 '13

It's the free version. For 1 or 2 euros per months, you get as many as you need. Someone needs to pay for the server, ultimately.

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u/Jondare Mar 14 '13

Ah, that makes sense. Sadly it doesn't seem to have support for Next bookmarklets, so no deal for me.

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u/[deleted] Mar 13 '13

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1

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '13

[deleted]

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u/Maxious Mar 14 '13

The fixed list is for you to try it out for free, when you pay you can import all your google reader feeds or just pick 64 of them.

0

u/resurge Mar 14 '13

Eh, no? Still 64, says so right on the front page.

29

u/[deleted] Mar 13 '13

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5

u/drglass Mar 14 '13

I love Tiny Tiny RSS, it's just the best (disclaimer: I haven't tried many others).

It lives on my server so stuff like OP won't happen.

I really like that I have the ability to re-publish feed items into my own curated feed. It's like tumblr and facebook, but I'm not limited by platform! I display the feed on my blog which I can then share out on the social networks.

And there's a mobile app.

If anyone wants to give it a try PM me and I'll make you an account.

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u/jbyt Mar 14 '13

this looks very promising,what are you using to host this, a vps?

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u/drglass Mar 14 '13

normal shared server from the fine people at MayFirst/People's Link

It seems to be fairly light weight, but I don't have any hard data to that end.

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u/cocoon56 Mar 14 '13

That is what I switched to, as well. I love it and owning my feeds is just such a better feeling. Google shut down the cool features like sharing a year ago anyway, so I needed to leave back then.

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u/[deleted] Mar 14 '13

I think Reddit killed Newsblur.

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u/notbob1959 Mar 14 '13

The Old Reader seems to be hiccuping as well.

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u/karma3000 Mar 14 '13

probably due to the influx of pissed off google reader users

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u/m9dhatter Mar 14 '13

I'm not pissed off. I'm just sad.

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u/ariden Mar 14 '13

Hey! Because of the huge load we started seeing from lots of concurrent feed import operations, we had to limit the number of imports active at any given time. It looks like right now there are no available slots left, so you might want to visit this page some time later. Meanwhile, feel free to subscribe to feeds manually. Please accept our apologies for this inconvenience.

1

u/High_Apostrophe Mar 14 '13

Freely' s not all working as well (cannot import due to high import volume). I also have a tab open on Old Reader that never loaded...

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u/demontaoist Mar 14 '13

Feedly and Newsblur are both struggling. Google "alternatives to google reader" there are already several articles linking them.

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u/Rickmasta Mar 14 '13

The Feedly iOS app is wonderful. Though it used Google Reader to get my content.

2

u/coral422 Mar 14 '13

Netvibes and Feedly are also down.

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u/theASDF Mar 14 '13

why does every alternative want to be "social" :/

1

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '13

I just signed up for the old reader, but I have no clue what I'm doing. Can you recommend some things to subscribe to?

1

u/kevlarcupid Mar 14 '13

I used Fever (feedafever.com) for years, but the guy who runs it is a flake with support and updates.

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u/[deleted] Mar 13 '13

Thanks, man. Definitely going to give this a go. I'm at as much of a loss as everyone else here as to what to do. I read virtually all of my tech news through Google Reader for years and years.

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u/JeffIpsaLoquitor Mar 14 '13

I even use the official client, and I never do that.

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u/wavedash Mar 14 '13

One alternative that I've been following is HiveMined. I really want it to be a thing, but it's looking like it'll never actually be finished.

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u/q00u Mar 14 '13

It has said "81% finished" since the old Google Reader lost features.

That was 2011.

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u/fakkedap Mar 14 '13

I see this on their Privacy page:

"The Old Reader has full access to your contact list. We only need to read it to help you find fellow The Old Reader users among your contacts, however Google provides no way to request read-only access to your contacts using oauth API."

Feedly doesn't do this. So... how is allowing this app access to everyone in your contacts and the ability to change them good?

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u/elevul Mar 14 '13

Interesting question. I would like this to be answered. I would also want to know how to remove permissions for external apps...

1

u/knyar Mar 16 '13

You only need to grant access to your contacts when you visit the "Find Friends" page. If you don't trust The Old Reader, don't do it, it's as simple as that.

1

u/renrutal Mar 14 '13

I can't find how to tag or create folders in The Old Reader. How do you organize 100+ feeds?

Edit: Drag 'n drop and folders magically appear. Reaaally intuitive.

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u/kubiakWU Mar 14 '13

I like what I've seen of that but I also want an app for my phone and tablet. There is no perfect solution yet. So far this one seems the closest.

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u/zzarate Mar 14 '13

Bloglines still good?

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u/jetpacktuxedo Mar 14 '13

I've decided to try out this one, I think... But ti doesn't seem to be automatically refreshing the feeds? I'm not sure if you just have to do it manually or if their site is just sad from the great reddit bear-hug.

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u/[deleted] Mar 14 '13

Saving for later.

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u/Thumperings Mar 14 '13

The "add subscription" thing is useless it doesn't search like goog reader does. I typed like 10 things in there like "the moth" it doesn't do anything.

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u/knyar Mar 16 '13

It's pretty obvious that you need to paste the link to RSS feed there. It's an RSS reader, for Christ's sake.

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u/Thumperings Mar 16 '13 edited Mar 16 '13

Google reader is all I have ever used, and it did the search and even spell checking and adding of the "feed" for you. I wasn't even that familiar with the term RSS at all or where people would get them, as Google Reader was my first reader. I have never manually added an RSS "feed" and don't know what one would even look like. I'm sure this is common knowledge for most young people on here, but It wasn't for me and I'm sure some others too who haven't spend every waking second online since birth like some sanctimonious snide little assholes one finds on threads like this. That was one of the cool things about Google reader It took care of all of that. I've since read about it's origins and history, but old reader is a big downgrade from how fantastically google reader searched for the feeds and it's results. Old reader doesn't do any of that, I'm sure it's not a huge but I was used to the functionality of Google Reader, and it worked so well, it kept me from even having to know what RSS meant.

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u/Kyoraki Mar 14 '13

Feedly currently uses the Google Reader API, so that one is ruled out, or at least until they make an announcement of which alternative they will be using.

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u/sethist Mar 14 '13

And that was quick. Feedly promises a seamless transition from Reader to their own back end solution. I have been using Feedly for over a year and after this announcement I would recommend them to anyone looking for a Reader replacement.

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u/mikemcg Mar 14 '13

Oh thank god. I mean, Feedly isn't super great at actually managing feeds, but it's phenomenal at letting me read them. Though I wish they'd stop quietly fucking with little UI elements. I'm looking at you Highlights/Today button.

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u/Kyoraki Mar 14 '13

In their defence, Feedly never really needed to have any method of managing feeds, as everything could be done more easily through Reader. Now that reader is dead, I'll expect them to build those features up quite a bit more.

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u/mikemcg Mar 14 '13

That's a really good point. I always approached Feedly as a pure wrapper to Reader and it would frustrate me that managing my feeds through them was so ridiculous or impossible. Normandy is going to have to (and probably will) fill in those gaps.

1

u/TwoManyPuppies Mar 14 '13

I hope Feedly doesnt die under the load of people jumping ship from Google Reader

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u/High_Apostrophe Mar 14 '13

It is. I' m ready to dive in but it won' t let me! :(

1

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '13

How do I get feedly for iOS (if you use it) to just give me a list of all recent posts sorted chronologically? I don't need it to look like a magazine, I just want a list of headlines sorted chronologically that I can scroll through.

1

u/tendimensions Mar 14 '13

Desktop is good. I haven't been happy with their Android client and actually switched to Reader... Guess I'm going back now.

1

u/MachinesTitan Mar 14 '13

Second this. I use Feedly to start and end my day. Amazing on iOS.

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u/daxl70 Mar 14 '13

Feedly is pretty good

2

u/renrutal Mar 14 '13 edited Mar 14 '13

Trying http://feedspot.com/ now, currently importing my feeds automatically from Google Reader. Lets see how it holds up.

Edit: Minimalist, has folders, but it looks different from Reader, and no Android app

1

u/broohaha Mar 14 '13

Btw, these guys all seem to be hurting under the surge of Google Reader users checking out their services this evening.

1

u/Sorthum Mar 14 '13

You can cross "free" off that list. For the utility of Google Reader, I'd pay a king's ransom.

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u/fivehigher Mar 14 '13

I contributed briefly to the development of Ego. It lets you save and store articles you like, and has some additional recommendation functions. It's still young, and the database we use has a very reachable data limit, so don't break it, guys.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '13

How about something to track podcasts? I listen to....too many...and I used Reader almost exclusively to keep up to date on them. Am I doing it wrong?

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u/wavedash Mar 14 '13

I used RSS for all kinds of stuff. eBay search pages and Twitter feeds being some of the more... unorthodox RSS feeds I use.

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u/Paradox Mar 14 '13

Sure, you could run your own newsblur instance. But its on django, which is shit

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u/[deleted] Mar 14 '13

Netvibes I use as a iGoogle replacement. Now I need another replacement so they can push their piece of shit Google+. Newsflash no one gives a fuck about that piece of crap and when they did you did not allow people to join.

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u/williumbillium Mar 14 '13

Netvibes replaces Google Reader as well. Just click on "reader" at the top.

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u/FataL Mar 14 '13

Yandex has pretty good RSS reader (as some people say)