Google officially closing Reader

Alas, Google; you wound me. I’m a big fan of keeping up with important news and favorite sources via RSS, and Google Reader has been the focal point of my RSS diet for a long time now. It offered the perfect cloud solution for my habit- the web page is a bit spartan but works well, and the service integrates perfectly with so many RSS clients (including my current iOS choice Mr Reader). The search function was the clincher: no matter what topic you might want to add to your feeds, the ever present Google search bar on the Reader page could quickly find the perfect feed.

While Google hasn’t been shy about discontinuing products that never caught on (such as the much maligned Buzz), the pending elimination of Reader was surprising and unwelcome news. I’m not the only one that feels this way; Reader has always been a fairly popular RSS solution for those in the know. The majority of RSS clients listed in the iTunes App Store boast of their ability to work seamlessly with Reader. Some sources have stated that Reader isn’t being completely discarded, it’s just being absorbed by the less popular (to me at least) Google +, but even if it doesn’t lose much of its current functionality I loathe the idea of forcibly merging what is usually quality me time (enjoying RSS feeds) with a social networking platform.

So now what? I’m at a slight loss, to be honest. There are plenty of RSS readers for both OSX and iOS, but I’m looking for a cloud-based solution that offers the same sort of device agnostic support that I’ve grown accustomed to. My needs aren’t that great; I don’t want to merge my social network reading (especially Facebook, but I’d like to keep Twitter and G+ separate as well), I just want my feeds to sync across all the devices I use to access them and the ability to easily share the articles that I find interesting/entertaining with those I think will enjoy them too.

I’ve already checked out some suggested alternatives. NewsBlur looks like it would fit the bill, but their free service is intentionally limited and currently I feel too spoiled by my free Reader experience to quickly opt for their $1/month subscription service. Netvibes is a powerful service and offers just about everything I’d want, but the interface isn’t appealing at the moment and it may be a bit TOO powerful. Their homepage tout its usefulness for professional data mining and limitless configuration/personalization. While impressive, my needs are too simplistic to go that route right now.

My choice as of now is Feedly. It has simple cross platform support (including a Safari plugin for web use), a clean and easy to navigate interface, and some of the same sharing functionality that Reader supported. With luck I’ll be able to make a fairly painless transition.

While I can’t rule out Google as my source for RSS, integration into Google + does seem to be a deal breaker at this time. For those of you like me, we do have some time- Reader’s end as a standalone product won’t be until July.

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You never miss it til it’s gone

While it may be very old school, perusing my RSS feeds is a big part of my internet interaction. The format has been around almost as long as the consumer-based internet, and the ease of collection and sorting RSS provides is far better than any competitor I’ve tried on any device, be it a full fledged PC, tablet, or smartphone. While I’ve changed RSS clients more than once, it’s remained my go to resource for amusement, education, and news. 

So it’s with no slight amount of consternation that I read about the misfiring of my RSS solution of choice, Google Reader. Much like Gmail, Google Reader was the RSS portal to rule them all- regardless of how I accessed it, be it the internet or a dedicated app, Reader worked perfectly as a cloud repository. I started using Google Reader as an alternative to the RSS function built into Firefox years ago, and still use the web version on my iMac. My primary use is via Mr Reader on the iPad; the touch controls work great and the sharing/social features are easy and provide everything I’d need from an RSS app.

While the ‘outage’ didn’t dramatically affect me (I just had a handful of posts reappear after they had been marked read), some lost subscriptions and others reported long-deleted subscriptions reappearing. Google was able to correct the glitch fairly quickly, but reports of the lapse in service brought more distressing rumors from pundits. Some claim that the lapse was brought on by a lack of focus on lesser-used services like Reader, and this lack of utilization has caused Google to consider phasing the RSS service out (as they’ve ended other less successful services like Buzz and Answers). While it wouldn’t kill the format, it would put a dent in my habits. Google Reader is more than just a way to easily consolidate and access feeds from multiple devices, it provides a top-notch search function to find and add new content. I wasn’t sad to see RSS removed from Apple’s Mail App; much as other built-in RSS readers it was functional but hardly feature-packed.

It may be an old format, but sometimes things hang around because they work, not from sheer nostalgia and stubbornness. Whether it’s old school traditional readers for your desktop/laptop or newer, flashier solutions like Flipboard (particularly good on the iPhone) or Google’s own app solution Currents (which I prefer on the iPad over Flipboard) RSS is a perfect way to easily obtain and enjoy your go-to internet sources. Here’s to hoping that Google agrees with me.

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