Bye-bye, Google Reader

FeedlyIf 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