If you are someone (like me) who has made a habit of reading blogs via an RSS reader, then you are probably aware that Google Reader, the tool the majority (?) of us have been using for eight years, will be no more as of July 1st. Ever since the announcement a few months ago, there has been a spate of blog posts about what we might use to replace that service. I’ve read a lot of them.
For a long while now, I have used the Reeder app on my MacBook, iPhone, and iPad to read the blogs I subscribe to. I like the app a lot. The feed came into Reeder from Google Reader. Trouble is, Reeder has not quite caught up with the times. Only their iPhone app is free of Google Reader at this point, and my iPhone is not my first choice for reading blog posts.
I tried Feedly early on and it wasn’t quite what I wanted. There were lots of people who were making the move to it and seemed pleased, but I wasn’t ready to commit. So I tried Feedbin.me. I liked it, but it costs $2.00 a month. Not a lot, but still.
So last week, I took another look at Feedly, and between the first time I tried it and this past week when I tried it again, this service has made huge strides, and I am now on their bandwagon. Feedly has extensions for browsers like Chrome and Firefox, and it has an app for the iPhone/iPad as well. The beauty is I can move between devices and not have to read the same posts over and over again. Plus I’ve read that Reeder is going to use Feedly as a feed eventually, so I will have that option again in time.
If you make the move now, Feedly will import all your blog subscriptions from Google Reader. And if you just can’t make up your mind yet, go to Google Reader and download your information.
I hope those of you who subscribe to my blog via RSS will be sure you’ve found your reader of choice before next Monday. I would miss you.
~robin
Thanks, Robin! I’ll be checking into Feedly. It’s free, right?
I’m so thankful that you’re sharing this information. I’d miss you, too. 🙂
Blessings,
Andrea
What do you recommend if the Freely website isn’t showing up? I clicked on the link and it just gave me a blank white screen. I’m not very computer savvy, so I don’t know what to do…
It’s Feedly, not Freely. Did you click on the link in my blog post? It takes me right to their site.
Sorry. I see you did click on the link. Try entering the address in your browser: feedly.com. See if that will work. Are you on a tablet of some kind or on a computer? For a tablet like the iPad, download the Feedly app from the app store. If on a computer, what browser do you use? You might want to switch to Chrome or Firefox because they have Feedly extensions you can install.
Yeah, I totally misspelled it in my comment. I typed it in correctly in my browser, though. I’m on a computer, and I use Internet Explorer. I tried clicking the link and typing it in the browser; both had the same result. Do you think it could be because I use an older version of Windows? I think I have Windows XP on this computer.
Is there another reader that’s more compatible with Internet Explorer and Windows XP?
Thanks for all your help, Robin! I’m learning a lot in this process.
Andrea, it could be older Windows. Or more likely, it is Internet Explorer. Feedly has extensions for Firefox, Chrome, and Safari, but not for IE. I used Feedbin.me for two months, but like I said, it costs $2 per month.
Author Media has a great article with links to a number of other readers that you can check to see if they work for you:
http://www.authormedia.com/its-time-to-switch-away-from-google-reader/
Thanks, Robin! I was finally able to talk to my dad about which one to do. He helped me download Chrome, so I’ll see how that works for me. Now, how do I make sure your blog is listed in my feedly account? I did the one-click google transfer thing. I didn’t know if there’s another step or not.
Also, is Google’s Blogger program going away, along with the Reader one? I use the Blogger for my blog, so if it is I’ll have to find a new one.
Robin, I cannot thank you enough for all your time and advice!!!
If you subscribed to my blog via Google Reader and have done the one-click transfer, then my blog should show up there. If it doesn’t for any reason, to subscribe, open Feedly in your Chrome browser, and in the upper left corner you’ll see Add Content. Click that, then enter http://www.robinleehatcher.com. It should pull up my blog and let you subscribe.
I keep hitting send too soon. No, I don’t believe Blogger is going away. You should be fine. (As should the Writes of Passage blog.) 😉
Thanks, Robin! I’ll check my Feedly right now. It’s such a relief that Blogger will be staying. Thanks for your sweetness in helping me out with this issue. I hope I can reciprocate the action for you sometime.
I had your same experience Robin. Happily Feedly has greatly improved in the past few months. I read this post on it. ツ
Glad to know I’m not alone, Bob!