Author Topic: Google Reader gone (Read 165,225 times)

dr_andus · « **Reply #125 on:** July 06, 2013, 06:20 PM »

Quote from: cyberdiva on July 06, 2013, 05:49 PM

I can't imagine why they'd put the comments there, but I decided that I'd move on.

I presume that this is why the service is free, i.e. the developer might be making some commission on 'encouraging' people to check out Chrome (just speculating) or use the Chrome extension.

However, I've been using it in Firefox and it's been working fine. I have not tested the Chrome extension, so can't say anything about that.

Perhaps check out the reviews here, this is where I first heard about them (in fact I was directed there from the defunct Google Reader page, by Google):

http://alternativeto.net/software/google-reader/

johnk · « **Reply #126 on:** July 06, 2013, 06:37 PM »

I agree Inoreader is one of the best of the new breed of RSS readers. But I am wary simply on the basis that it lacks a business model. At first it was a one-man project, with no charge to users, then recently it was adopted as a project by the company the creator works for. But there's still no concrete plan to charge, just the notion that it will be "freemium" at some stage.

Now that everyone has gotten over the "shock" of GR's closure, and realised it's not such a big deal swapping readers, I guess people will worry less about some of the new alternatives closing. But close some of them will, and at the moment I feel more comfortable supporting a reader with only paying users. You know where you are, and so does the creator of the reader. But this market will continue to evolve rapidly. Already, the owner of Feedbin has raised his monthly charge to $3/month or $30/year (for new users)...but I will consider InoReader again when they reveal their fee structure.

dr_andus · « **Reply #127 on:** July 10, 2013, 01:20 PM »

You make valid points, but I'd say that signing up to a fledgling service with no apparent business model is also a way of supporting that idea and business. Another benefit of doing it is that early adopters quite often get a good deal out of being beta testers, by being excused from upgrade fees etc.

40hz · « **Reply #128 on:** July 10, 2013, 01:46 PM »

I did end up subscribing to Bazqux. But the more I thought about it, the more I decided to follow my own advice that the only server you can really trust is the one you yourself control.

So now I'm experimenting with TinyTinyRSS, which looks really promising. The initial test running it on Softalicious' AMPPS stack (highly recommended for any test environment btw) definitely made it look worth pursuing further. If it turns out to be a go I'll eventually do a more permanent version running on a Linux server (probably Arch) and that will be that.

My RSS aggregator - my choice. D.I.Y. or Die!

wraith808 · « **Reply #129 on:** July 29, 2013, 09:28 PM »

Oh well... I'm back to looking for a reader. The Old Reader bites the dust.

johnk · « **Reply #130 on:** July 30, 2013, 01:57 AM »

As I stated in a previous post, if you're looking for a hosted reader, I would recommend Bazqux. I've been using it since GR's demise, and it's working well.

But as the death of The Old Reader shows, there is likely to be a lot of volatility in the RSS reader market in the coming months, and as others have said, hosting your own is the most reliable option.

I had almost given up on finding a self-hosted option that I liked. Although I subscribed to Bazqux, I kept a lookout for new self-hosted options. A week or so ago, I came across Leed. It's the first self-hosted option that I've really enjoyed using. Certainly worth a try. I'm now using both Bazqux and Leed in parallel, and I'll do that for as long as it takes for one to stand out as the best option, although Leed has an automatic advantage because it's self-hosted.

Leed and the Leed web site are French, with no built-in translation, but one user has put together an English version, and that's what I'm using.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that I'm also testing another self-hosted option, Miniflux, which is promising (although it's a "river of news"-style reader rather than a folder-based reader)

wraith808 · « **Reply #131 on:** July 30, 2013, 03:43 AM »

Miniflux only supports 5 feeds also it appears... unless I'm reading something wrong.

It looks like I'm deciding between bq and newsflux... unless something else comes along.

johnk · « **Reply #132 on:** July 30, 2013, 11:22 AM »

Quote from: wraith808 on July 30, 2013, 03:43 AM

Miniflux only supports 5 feeds also it appears... unless I'm reading something wrong.

Not sure where you got that? I'm using it on about 100 feeds without any issues.

wraith808 · « **Reply #133 on:** July 30, 2013, 01:57 PM »

Quote from: johnk on July 30, 2013, 11:22 AM

Quote from: wraith808 on July 30, 2013, 03:43 AM
Miniflux only supports 5 feeds also it appears... unless I'm reading something wrong.

Not sure where you got that? I'm using it on about 100 feeds without any issues.

That's why I asked. He said it only supports 5 feeds in parallel... then when someone asked if it would support 600 feeds (surely an arbitrary number) he came back with snark. So I didn't really get an idea of what it *will* handle.

johnk · « **Reply #134 on:** July 30, 2013, 02:08 PM »

Quote from: wraith808 on July 30, 2013, 01:57 PM

That's why I asked. He said it only supports 5 feeds in parallel... then when someone asked if it would support 600 feeds (surely an arbitrary number) he came back with snark.

The "5 feeds in parallel" refers to the method for refreshing feeds from the UI. I don't know what that means, to be honest, maybe someone else can chip in. I use a cron job to refresh feeds, which updates all feeds reliably.

Relevant quote: "Miniflux uses an Ajax request to refresh each subscription. By default, there is only 5 feeds updated in parallel."

wraith808 · « **Reply #135 on:** July 30, 2013, 02:23 PM »

Also relevant quote:

Quote

I have 600 subscriptions, can Miniflux handle that?

Your life is cluttered.

IMO, putting that into a FAQ makes it less clear. Put down what it can handle, and leave the snark for other applications.

kartal · « **Reply #136 on:** July 31, 2013, 01:37 AM »

Quote from: 40hz on July 10, 2013, 01:46 PM

I did end up subscribing to Bazqux. But the more I thought about it, the more I decided to follow my own advice that the only server you can really trust is the one you yourself control.

So now I'm experimenting with TinyTinyRSS, which looks really promising. The initial test running it on Softalicious' AMPPS stack (highly recommended for any test environment btw) definitely made it look worth pursuing further. If it turns out to be a go I'll eventually do a more permanent version running on a Linux server (probably Arch) and that will be that.

My RSS aggregator - my choice. D.I.Y. or Die!

TinyTinyRss rules. I highly highly recommend it. You can also use either the free or the paid android apps. I have been using it for over 2 years now. It is beautiful and awesomeness. Go for it.

Deozaan · « **Reply #137 on:** July 31, 2013, 05:44 PM »

Google Reader went away and I moved all my feeds to ... something else. I'm not even sure what. But it was a desktop application. And just like that I forgot to keep checking the feeds. And I don't miss it. It's nice not having so much stuff to catch up on every day. I guess I needed to simplify.

wraith808 · « **Reply #138 on:** July 31, 2013, 06:23 PM »

Quote from: Deozaan on July 31, 2013, 05:44 PM

Google Reader went away and I moved all my feeds to ... something else. I'm not even sure what. But it was a desktop application. And just like that I forgot to keep checking the feeds. And I don't miss it. It's nice not having so much stuff to catch up on every day. I guess I needed to simplify.

Yeah... I have a lot of feeds, but I don't use them often. Other than a few categories. The others, I just mark read most of the time. But when I want to have something to read, it's nice that they're there.

40hz · « **Reply #139 on:** July 31, 2013, 07:19 PM »

Quote from: wraith808 on July 31, 2013, 06:23 PM

Quote from: Deozaan on July 31, 2013, 05:44 PM
Google Reader went away and I moved all my feeds to ... something else. I'm not even sure what. But it was a desktop application. And just like that I forgot to keep checking the feeds. And I don't miss it. It's nice not having so much stuff to catch up on every day. I guess I needed to simplify.

Yeah... I have a lot of feeds, but I don't use them often. Other than a few categories. The others, I just mark read most of the time. But when I want to have something to read, it's nice that they're there.

Perusing a large number of feeds (or magazines or newspapers or other sources) shouldn't pose too big a problem if you exercise some discipline and learn to skim and cull out what is worth reading in full. This is something I learned from a newsperson when I was in college.

At any point in time I'm actively monitoring a list of between 100 and 150 feeds. About a third of the feeds in this list change periodically depending on what I'm interested in staying on top of.

It doesn't take much to skim through them using the Sage extension in Firefox and mark the articles I want to read later. Anything I want to keep can be filed either in Scrapbook or online in my Pocket account.

Sage makes it extremely easy to rapidly skim tons of articles. The preview popup (see below) is especially useful for you to quickly determine what may deserve a closer look. In my case, maybe 60 articles (web articles tend to be short) actually get read in their entirety each day. That's about the contents of the front section of any major newspaper or a monthly magazine. I have a list of about another 50-100 articles that sit in a folder to be read when I'm traveling or looking for something to read. Most get deleted from the folder once I do.

[attachthumb=#]

No need to fear the feed. Just get the right tools and you can sift through a lot of articles panning for gold. As long as you don't let it get you too crazy it's very doable.

Josh · « **Reply #140 on:** July 31, 2013, 07:20 PM »

Is there such a thing as a desktop reader that has a "mini web server" built in to host a web-based version of the feeds for accessing remotely? I could see use in something like this. I had many issues getting TinyTinyRSS to auto-refresh when I wasn't logged in, and in fact it still does not work. Something along these lines would be perfect!

wraith808 · « **Reply #141 on:** July 31, 2013, 07:52 PM »

Quote from: 40hz on July 31, 2013, 07:19 PM

At any point in time I'm actively monitoring a list of between 100 and 150 feeds. About a third of the feeds in this list change periodically depending on what I'm interested in staying on top of.

It doesn't take much to skim through them using the Sage extension in Firefox and mark the articles I want to read later. Anything I want to keep can be filed either in Scrapbook or online in my Pocket account.

1. What's scrapbook?

2. We need a thread where people suggest their favorite feeds/sites and why.

IainB · « **Reply #142 on:** August 01, 2013, 03:27 AM »

Quote from: wraith808 on July 31, 2013, 07:52 PM

...1. What's scrapbook?...

"Scrapbook" is an incredibly useful Firefox add-on used for capturing web pages in their entirety, or selected parts of them, or several nested webpages - including embedded files (as required). It has a built-in search/index. I think it is probably unique.
webpage: http://amb.vis.ne.jp/mozilla/scrapbook/?lang=en

kartal · « **Reply #143 on:** August 01, 2013, 06:38 PM »

Quote from: Josh on July 31, 2013, 07:20 PM

Is there such a thing as a desktop reader that has a "mini web server" built in to host a web-based version of the feeds for accessing remotely? I could see use in something like this. I had many issues getting TinyTinyRSS to auto-refresh when I wasn't logged in, and in fact it still does not work. Something along these lines would be perfect!

You need to set a cron job type thing, it is in the ttrss wiki. It works when you set it up. TTrss does not do refreshing by its own.

wraith808 · « **Reply #144 on:** August 01, 2013, 09:31 PM »

Quote from: kartal on August 01, 2013, 06:38 PM

Quote from: Josh on July 31, 2013, 07:20 PM
Is there such a thing as a desktop reader that has a "mini web server" built in to host a web-based version of the feeds for accessing remotely? I could see use in something like this. I had many issues getting TinyTinyRSS to auto-refresh when I wasn't logged in, and in fact it still does not work. Something along these lines would be perfect!

You need to set a cron job type thing, it is in the ttrss wiki. It works when you set it up. TTrss does not do refreshing by its own.

It actually does do it on its own while you have it open in the browser from my reading, i.e. from this link:

Quote

Simple background updates (since 1.7.0)
If all else fails and you can't use any of the above methods, you can enable simple update mode where tt-rss will try to periodically update feeds while it is open in your web browser. Obviously, no updates will happen when tt-rss is not open or your computer is not running.

To enable this mode, set constant SIMPLE_UPDATE_MODE to true in config.php.

Jibz · « **Reply #145 on:** August 05, 2013, 07:46 AM »

Looks like Feedly Pro is up, $5 a month, and $99 lifetime for a limited period.

IainB · « **Reply #146 on:** September 10, 2013, 05:15 PM »

Take a look here at alternativeto.net: http://alternativeto.net/software/google-reader/
Then switch off the filters and press the "Show all applications" button/bar at the bottom of the list.

Quote

You're browsing Google Reader alternatives. There are 197 apps in this list.

I had not realised there were so many. It also shows the discontinued ones - e.g., including FeedDemon.

wraith808 · « **Reply #147 on:** September 10, 2013, 05:43 PM »

Quote from: wraith808 on July 29, 2013, 09:28 PM

Oh well... I'm back to looking for a reader. The Old Reader bites the dust.

The Old Reader is still going strong.

I have found that other than WebComics, since this whole Google Reader fiasco followed by The Old Reader being down, my consumption of online content has gone way down. Even though the Old Reader has been stable since the scare, I haven't visited much... just to catch up on my web comics.

phitsc · « **Reply #148 on:** September 10, 2013, 08:14 PM »

Another recommendation for https://bazqux.com/. After trying feedly I've switched to Bazqux and been really happy with it. I've had to switch from Reeder to Mr. Reader on the iPad, which is ok too. Still looking for a good Android client though.

IainB · « **Reply #149 on:** September 10, 2013, 10:47 PM »

Quote from: phitsc on September 10, 2013, 08:14 PM

Another recommendation for https://bazqux.com/. ...

^^ +1 from me. An excellent feedreader. Very fast.