So… Google Reader will no longer be available after July 1st, 2013.
{image source}
I have experimented with a whole bunch of Google Reader alternatives, and these are my favorites. I’m still kind of undecided as to which I will end up sticking with, but I wanted to let you guys know my findings. There are a lot of Google Reader alternatives and most of them are pretty crappy – but not these! I will list 2 alternatives that I did not like at the end of this post.
Best Google Reader Replacements / Alternatives
Digg Reader.
I only just started using Digg’s reader this week, but so far it is actually my favorite. They have an iPad and iPhone app as well, which is key for me. The Digg Reader layout is simple – similar to Google Reader, but cleaner and easier to navigate. There is no bugginess with dragging and dropping feeds between folders which used to drive me crazy with GR.
(Hi Biz!)
The only thing Digg Reader is missing so far for me is the ability to only view unread – however, it is in their feature list and should be released soon. I’m okay with waiting because I really like the rest of their interface.
How to import – login with Google and they will import your feeds for you.
I also really like The Old Reader. Their interface is great, and has just about everything that GR had.
Issues? 1) No iPhone or iPad apps, and I don’t think they plan on making these anytime soon. 2) Another issue I had was that when I was scrolling down to see all the unread posts in my list, they would automatically get marked as “read” if I scrolled over it – even if the post wasn’t actually opened. There is a setting that you can switch that disables this “feature” – but it’s kind of hidden. You have to uncheck the option “Scrolling through posts marks them as read” in the settings.
How to import – you can login with Google, but you have to download your GR file from Google Takeout and then upload it to import your feeds.
Yoleo is also quite good; actually I would like it the best out of the three here except for the fact that it doesn’t have an app yet. Same look and feel as GR / Digg / TheOldReader. Easy to navigate and read your feeds.
Issues? Again, no iPhone/iPad app. I really need to have an app because I like reading my feeds on the iPad Mini and my phone.
How to import – login with Google and they will import your feeds for you.
—
Overall, there is one main issue with all of these Google Reader replacements – they are slow to update feeds. If someone publishes a post it could be hours before it shows up in your unread list, whereas with Google Reader it was always almost instantaneous.
—
The 2 other readers I have tried that I didn’t like (and don’t understand the hype at all) are: Feedly and BlogLovin.
Feedly has Mac apps which is good, but I can’t stand the way they show your feeds.
1) In Feedly, It’s hard to tell what is current, what is unread, and what is read. This should be a simple binary switch – read or unread. If there are unread posts from a day ago they don’t show up because they only show you today’s posts.
2) I do not like the look and feel of Feedly’s interface.
3) Feedly would continually log me out and re-request permission to access/modify my GR data, which is not cool. If I allow it once, that should be it. This last point won’t be an issue after GR does its disappearing act, but it was enough to turn me off of Feedly.
As for BlogLovin – the only way to login is to make a new account or login with Facebook. 1) I don’t like to login to sites with Facebook and 2) I don’t like even more having to create a new account when I already have 13280829013 accounts at various sites online. Their interface is pretty simple, but for some reason I just wasn’t able to get into it.
—
What are you using for your Google Reader replacement? The google reader apocalypse is extremely f*ing nigh and everyone is scrambling to find a replacement.