Culture

Google Reader is dead. Google Reader, that faithful web servant, which, for the past seven years, has fed me my web content. Its demise is a sad loss for we traditionalists who still get our news and read blogs via RSS. But all hope is not lost – hopefully, before its end, you exported your Google Reader feeds to an XML file and are ready to try out a new RSS reader, one whose developers won’t senselessly kill for no apparent reason.

Of all the RSS readers currently available, Feedly is the most versatile and hassle-free. It syncs across multiple platforms and imports your old Google Reader feeds in one click. The look and feel of the web app can be customised according to your whims – you can choose a traditional list style, or opt for a flashier magazine-style look. The mobile apps can also be customised and linked to your social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest) and read-later apps (Pocket, Instapaper) so that you can share and save material with one click.

The Feedly team have demonstrated immense care for their user base over the past few months. They really listened to what users wanted from Feedly and gave users the power to vote for features that they should implement. They have opened up their API to developers, allowing third-party apps to add to the Feedly experiment. A recent development was the creation of an IFTTT (ifttt.com) channel that allows for some pretty sweet automation.

All this care and dedication to user feedback has resulted in a really flexible app that will stand the test of time. The fact that the Feedly developers are so open to change and innovation means that though the scape of RSS feeds and content-consumption may change, Feedly will ride out the changes and remain the best option for people who like their content curated in one place and accessible across multiple devices.