Web-based RSS Feed Readers
Perhaps I’ve been out of the loop, but why are web 2.0 RSS readers emerging now? For nearly a year, I’ve used Blox0r, a PHP/MySQL-based feed reader, to gather feed content from my favorite sites. (There is a service, but I opted to install the app on my server.) Blox0r is quite nice, don’t get me wrong. But it’s not perfect either. And yet I haven’t seen anything come around that just sweeps me off my feet with that perfect blend of design and function.
I spent two hours with Google Reader whenever it arrived. No thanks. (Does anyone use this? I almost forget it even exists. No one I know uses it---that I know of… :) )
Bloglines? Far from useful.
Countless other web-based RSS readers have been released to the world only to fall short of really making it happen.
I do have high hopes though.
Steve Smith has Canary Reader cooking. And I really think if it’s going to be successful, there are only a few people who can guide it there. Steve Smith is one of the few.
I also just stumbled on Feeds 2.0 based in Greece. (Thanks to a nice TechTips article for the link.)
At the onset, either one of these apps could be the next great web application and could solve the deficit of web-based RSS readers. I certainly hope we get somewhere soon. :)
If you’ve run across a great reader (web-based or desktop client) that you’d like to share with the group, lay it down here.
[tags]rss, reader, web[/tags]
Addendum: I was recently added to the TechTips roster of contributors. Glad to be on board! Thanks, Chandu. (And thanks Technorati for the referral. :))
Dolan
2006-08-11 0912hrs
I started using t3h Blox0r, because of your suggestion. Then I found Sage and used it until I began using Firefox Beta 1. I tried Google Reader and didn’t care for it, either. Right now I reading your blog and creating this comment in the nice little frame provided by Blox0r. Keep us posted on the Canary Reader. I value your opinion.
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Josh
2006-08-11 0952hrs
I used Google Reader for about a month, and I’m like you - I didn’t care for it. I love most of their other products, but the reader just wasn’t doing it for me.
I’m also really looking forward to Canary Reader. Steve Smith is an amazingly talented guy. In the meantime, however, I do most of my reading through Netvibes. I use it as my startup page on all of my computers, and although it doesn’t have all of the features I’d like to see in a feedreader (since it isn’t a dedicated reader), it works for me for the time being until I can find something better or until Canary Reader comes out. But I’m DEFINITELY interested in a web-based reader. Being on multiple computers pretty much renders a desktop-based reader useless to me.
Maybe I’ll try Blox0r for the time being.
Dolan
2006-08-11 1013hrs
I have noticed that with blox0r feeds on some blogs don’t seem to be updated very promptly, like sometimes new posts don’t show up for days. Then sometimes after refreshing a feed I get the “not well-formed (invalid token) at line XX, column XX”. I ran a comparison against blox0r and Sage one time and Sage would always pick up new post/comments before blox0r. Do you know if this is a function of the reader of the way the blog itself handles the RSS?
Tom Buckley
2006-08-11 1213hrs
I have fallen in love with Bloglines. I no longer need to have a single box to check blogs on, but wherever I am on whichever box I am using I can just bring up a browser and check my feeds.
Matt Heerema
2006-08-11 1437hrs
have you seen Newshutch? I’m using it now. VERY good stuff.
David
2006-08-11 1537hrs
Dolan: I’m sure I’ll mention Canary when it flies. (Unless it’s not worth mentioning. :))
Josh: Yeah, I keep a couple of my faves in my Google Personalized start page. But there certainly isn’t room for much. I’ve enjoyed Blox0r for the most part.
Dolan: My big gripe with Blox0r is one simple thing: when you close the browser, all of the feeds with unread items get mass marked as read. I’m sure it can be setup to store a simple cache of read vs. unread, but Blox0r doesn’t have that functionality by default.
Tom: I tried Bloglines, but I just couldn’t dig it for lots of reasons. The reasons I remember: poor UI and poor response times. But I’m sure it’s being continually developed and those issues may already be resolved. I do love the idea of having my feeds available via the web---hence the target of the article. For most people, it may be a non-issue, but like you, I am constantly switching between machines and even operating systems, so I need something web-based and structurally sound.
Matt: Nice! I’ve imported my OPML and I’m giving Newshutch a go right now. I believe I have seen this (maybe in beta or pre-release because I obviously didn’t dig into it.) But I like it so far. Two initial complaints: (1) It’s slow and (2) I can’t seem to figure out how to show the full article. I can get to the article a the respective site, but I don’t want to go there to read every article. Maybe I’ll find a switch in here somewhere for full article view… Thanks for the heads up. :)
Tom Buckley
2006-08-11 2100hrs
David, my wife hates Bloglines. Not because of a slowness or UI issue but because she cannot experience the blog with all of its formatting. Bloglines just gives the data...the words. I’m liking it, but I wouldn’t mind testing out another web-based version.
dan ohlerking
2006-08-12 0417hrs
i’m wondering what it is that i’m missing out on. someone showed me netvibes one day when i was griping about the built-in firefox rss reader not keeping up with as many feeds as i was tracking (under 100 at the time). netvibes answered the need, but now i’m up over about 160 feeds i’m trying to keep up with, and i’m finding that even spread out over 6 or 7 tabs, netvibes can really crawwwwl to keep up.
are the alternatives out there likely to be better than netvibes in my scenario? or am i being ridiculous with trying to worry about that many blogs and i should just chill?
p.s. - after hearing you and brian bailey carry on about 37signals for online project management, i finally got going on it and just got done loading a ton of info from my head into the system. i’m fairly impressed. nothing is ever perfect but basecamp is actually scratching an itch pretty well for me right now. thanks for the input and advice.
(draws a long slow sip of sweet tea and swallows)
c ya.
Blake
2006-08-14 1205hrs
So...um...I have to raise my hand and say that I’m using Google’s Reader. But now I’ve been checking out these other newsreaders yall are mentioning. Looking like Newshutch is my fave right now.
Google’s Reader isn’t so bad, but it’s not perfect.
David
2006-08-17 1731hrs
Dan: RSS is made for you. The ability to consolidate information from 160+ (or thousands of) sites is exactly the reason syndication exists. In 99% of cases in technology, if you outgrow a tool, the tool that will get you to the next level is out there. You just have to find it or work for it or pay for it to make it happen. Newshutch is nice. And like I said, I can’t wait to see Canary.
Personally, though, I have scaled back my reading/tracking to about 50 sites. I just got to the point where I couldn’t read them all. It was toughest to let go of the “information”, but I just have to trust the sources I like the best to deliver the goods to me. And if I miss the latest and greatest thing, I decided I could live with it. And it certainly won’t be the first time.
Also, I have yet another PM solution that might be right for you. I’ll email you.
Josh
2006-08-30 1045hrs
I just posted on my blog about my switch to a new web-based RSS reader (until I see Canary, that is), and I remembered this post so I thought I’d come and leave another comment in case anyone’s watching this.
I started using NewsGator (their free version) a couple days ago, and I’m liking it so far. It’s definitely much “prettier” than Bloglines, and it seems to have a lot of the same features (at least the features that I use).
Just thought I’d chime in with that in case anyone wants to give it a quick look.
Dolan
2006-09-11 0843hrs
blox0r.com has been bought for $102.51 on Sep-05-06 13:07:53 PDT and as of today it is down. It seems to be a mystery as to what it’s status is. Will the new owner bring it back online after some programming changes? Did a competitor buy blox0r so they could kill it? Anyone have any insight on this?
David
2006-09-12 0304hrs
Did you at least get your feeds exported? I know you were using the hosted version. I have the source here if you want to deploy it on your space.
Man, I hope they take care of my private data. I hope they didn’t sell to a spammer. :|
carl
2006-09-13 1052hrs
I use the sage reader for firefox mostly.
Have you seen the Grazr reader? Neat ap.
btw. can you shoot me an email about 1and1. I see you use them but I read so many bad reviews. that coupled with no Fantastico or CPanel makes me weary.
You can snip out all this non-rss related stuff.
Thanks
Dolan
2006-09-17 2238hrs
Yeah, David, I did export my feeds and I agree about the buyer. They just had an open auction so there is no telling who bought it and for that price, who knows?