Save. Spend. Splurge.
June 29, 2013

Making the switch from Google Reader to an alternative method / reader

All right folks, it’s time. Time to let go of the Google Reader apron strings and pick a new RSS reader .. *sob*..

All of us RSS freaks are heartbroken while the rest of the normal world gives us strange looks while we are consoling each other, like:

It’s just a web application, get over it.

They just don’t get it. Google Reader was perfect to me, but now it’s time to find a new one.

Here are some alternatives I’ve been messing around with for the past month and a half.

IF YOU DON’T WANT TO RSS FEED ANY MORE

(Or don’t bloody know what it is)

Why not sign up and have my posts delivered to your email inbox every day?

You won’t miss a single one, I promise.

Just enter your email address here into this form below:

Enter your email address:Delivered by FeedBurner

HOW TO GRAB YOUR OLD FEEDS FROM GOOGLE READER

Use Google Takeout.

Start by clicking on the Settings button (looks like a cog or a gear) at the top right-hand corner:

Next, click on Reader Settings

Click on Import / Export

Google-Reader-Grab-Old-Feeds-Import-Export

Click on the link that appears for Download your data through Takeout

Google-Reader-Grab-Old-Feeds-Takeout

Wait for it to download

Note that it is just for Google Reader (not for your other Google services), and click on Create Archive

Then it’ll make you download a zip file, and that has all your feeds in it, done in an .opml format.

Google-Reader-Grab-Old-Feeds-OPML

THE OLD READER (theoldreader.com)

This looks and feels almost exactly like Google Reader.

No it doesn’t feel the same (nothing ever will), but if you really want something similar, this is it.

The-Old-Reader

They even have that little feature we missed from Google Reader that lets you share articles with others who follow you.

You can use all the same Google shortcuts like “N” for “next article” and so on.

If you want to also have it sync to your iPod Touch or iPhone, I am told that Feeddler (what an awkward name) will do the trick.

FEEDLY (feedly.com)

I’m starting to feel this RSS reader grow on me. I’m liking it more and more.

It even has colour themes 😀

Feedly

 

I REALLY, REALLY like that they have a Feedly APP so that on my iPod Touch, I can RSS read and it will sync and mark them as read in the Feedly cloud.

Otherwise, I am stuck with having to try and remember which device I used (desktop or iPod Touch?) to RSS read, and I’m stuck double-reading articles. 😐

I do wish I could just hit “N” for the next article to automatically load instead of having to press “N” and then “Enter” right after 😐

(I’ve emailed and asked them to make this change)

Feedly-Layouts

I like that you can play with different layouts (magazine, list, thumbnail, etc)

And if you want to only have Unread items show up, you can click on the Settings (cog / gear button) and select the checkbox Unread only, as well as Oldest first.

Feedly-Settings-Cog

You can also bookmark items for later, which I rather like because sometimes I want to blog about or re-blog something awesome I read.

Anyway, I like this one the best because it has the nice sync (no muss no fuss) with the iPod Touch.

I know The Old Reader syncs too, with Feeddler, but… it’s not the same company / app, so I feel odd.

I’d also like them to let me pre-download blog posts so I can read them offline, as I don’t always have wifi… I know it’s available with Byline, but it would be better if it was directly available in Feedly for the Apple apps.

BLOGLOVIN’ (bloglovin.com)

I really like the concept of this RSS reader. Each read from a reader, counts as a pageview!!

BlogLovin

So for bloggers, this is awesome because every time a reader clicks through your post, you get it counted as a pageview, which helps your stats. If you care about that stuff.

The downside is that it is not as cool as Feedly and it doesn’t have the ease of use of The Old Reader.

I think it’s super cool because you can find new blogs to love through it, but… it is not perfect. Alas.

That’s it. The rest of the RSS readers I tried don’t do it for me, and I am going to stick to using Feedly for now.

HATE ALL OF THIS? TRY TWITTER & FACEBOOK THEN!

Otherwise, you can also just follow me on Twitter @saverspender and I tweet new posts (plus ramble) all the time, or follow me on Facebook Mochi and Macarons for approximately the same experience.

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14 Comments

  • Cassie
    July 4, 2013

    I imported my Google Reader feeds into Bloglovin, and for some reason yours didn’t link properly! I’ve gone back and added you now, but I had some catch up reading to do. Makes me wonder which other blogs I lost in the switch :s

    Reply
  • Pauline @ Make Money Your Way
    July 2, 2013

    Thank you for the N for next tip, I had no idea about that, or that Bloglovin counted as pageview, that is pretty cool too.
    I loved G reader because I could load it and read offline, I haven’t tried to see if any of those would do it but I guess I’ll stick with the one that does.

    Reply
  • Tania
    July 1, 2013

    I almost forgot to do it! Thank goodness I did some internet reading this morning and saw your post as well as other. I have to say I’m really liking Feedly although I need to play around a bit more, I’m thinking it didn’t bring in my categories, I’ll have to see if I need to re-organize everything all over again. But the app is quite beautiful and easy on the eyes. I like to organize by design, lifestyle, finance, tech, minimal living etc and I pour through a category I feel like reading or dependant on my connection. This is especially helpful when I travel as on the plane I can pick a category that is very light on images (i.e. minimal living) as you cannot see the images in airplane mode. The design and home category doesn’t work well unless you’re on wifi for example.

    I used to use bloglovin but as my subscription list grew to hundreds including news media, it didn’t work as well for me. But for a blogger who does set out to follow a handful of blogs that they interact with and actually become close bloggy friends, I think it works wonderfully.

    To be honest, had I lost my feed it wouldn’t have been the end of the world. I recently shut down all of my yahoo accounts as a portion of them have gotten hacked and I no longer consider yahoo reliable and secure. I did move a few things over but didn’t pour through everything. It was quite freeing not to have those accounts and the subscriptions attached to them any longer. It was a good decision to just cut that damn cord. I wouldn’t have minded starting over with the RSS either.

    Reply
  • Michelle
    June 29, 2013

    I’m using feedly because it downloaded all my liked posts… I want to like The Old Reader, but all my liked posts are gone! I don’t know how to install it there… 🙁

    Reply
  • Fiona
    June 29, 2013

    I tried both The Old Reader and Feedly. The former was nice and simple but too slow in loading my feeds, whereas Feedly has too many bells and whistles that I don’t need. I ended up finding InoReader which is a lot more similar to Google Reader. I really recommend it! They don’t have a mobile app yet (only a mobile site for now) but their Android app is coming soon.

    Reply
  • cj
    June 29, 2013

    This is really useful info, Mochimac!!! Thank you. I want to get a Feedly button on our site, but I cannot get the feed URL for the life of me!!! Damn!!! It was so easy with Blog Lovin’ though. Don’t know what the hell I am doing wrong, but I’ll keep working at it;)

    Reply

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