google-reader-closedReading news through my RSS reader has been my daily routine every morning for years. I like how I can freely choose to read my news on my iPhone, my iPad or my Mac. When Google announced that they will close Google Reader on July 1st, 2013, I was shocked and clueless about what will happen to the future of RSS.

Despite the strong reaction against their decision, Google did not change the plan to close down Google Reader. Over the following few weeks after the announcement, I have read lots of news about some companies trying to fill in the vacuum space left by Google. And so I began to search for Google Reader alternatives.

When people talk about “Google Reader alternatives”, they can have various meaning. Some of them only talk about the web-based version of RSS Reader, others talk about the Reader API (which enables third party apps to use their sync service). Since I read my RSS news mostly in my iPhone or iPad, my concern is about finding a new RSS reader app for iOS with sync services so that read articles in one device will also be marked as read in all other devices.

After long searching, with some trial-and-error, today I use two new apps and haven’t decided to drop one. Eventually I will have to choose one of them. But for now, I simply would like to share my two choices for you who haven’t decided on your new RSS reader.

feedly-logoFeedly is a free app available for iOS, Android, Firefox, Chrome and Safari. Their iOS app is well built and felt polished. The initial sync time is fast and we can almost immediately start reading. It allows us to choose between various view: title only, list, magazine and cards. Magazine view and cards view are more visual. If you’re into the concept of reading your news in Flipboard-like style (or Pulse), this view mode might be for you. I prefer to see more news title at one glance so I can decide quickly which news I want to read. My RSS feeds usually have 400+ new titles everyday and it’s not practical to see all of them in visual-style. Feedly also provides web-based interface, similar to Google Reader. I have tested it and so far everything works smoothly.

This morning I got a notification in my Feedly app that they have finished migrating my feeds into their cloud system and will no longer sync with Google Reader. They deserve an applause for such seamless migration. It all happens automatically. I simply login into my Google Reader account weeks ago, and they still sync with Google at that time, then suddenly they simply tell their users that they have completed the migration without any action needed.

My question though, how are we going to login into their own cloud system once Google Reader really retires on Monday? I only find this answer from them: “You will be able to use your Google credentials. We will support other options in the future.”

Feedly is also working on Normandy project, a complete clone of Google Reader API to their server. This will allow other app developers to use their sync service in the future. Though I’m still not sure how they are going to earn their profit. What kind of business model they are preparing? According to their site, their cloud service is accessible through their partner apps: IFTTT, NextGen, gNewsReader, Newsify, Reeder, Press, gReader, FeedMe, PureNews, Byline, Mr. Reader, Sprout Social, Meshfire, MenerĂ© and Fluid. I don’t know about the other apps, but Reeder is certainly haven’t included their Feedly system in their app as this blog post is written.

digg-reader-logoMy next candidate of Google Reader replacement is Digg Reader. After installing their app in my iPhone, I was asked to login into my Google Reader account, and so I did. The app displayed a message that they have started migrating my feeds into their system and will email me once it’s done. Today is June 29th evening, only one more day (tomorrow) and Google Reader will close for good the day after, yet I still haven’t receive any email saying that the migration process is done. To be fair, I can already read my news in Digg Reader app. I’m just not sure which part of the migration process are still not complete.

Digg Reader iOS app feels “not as polished” as Feedly app. But this can certainly change in future updates. I don’t like the fact that they don’t show how many unread news in each of my feed. And somehow Digg’s loading time is slower, at least for now.

Just like Feedly, Digg Reader also provides web-based interface to read our RSS. And they’re both free, so it’s worth trying.

Another app worth mentioning is Reeder. This app can connect to Feedbin and Fever. While the Reeder app itself is free, Feedbin and Fever are not. Feedbin is a service that costs $2 per month. Fever is a PHP and MySQL application. It costs $30 and we need to install it into our own domain and our own server. Reeder iOS app is currently still working with Google Reader. I have read somewhere that eventually this app will support Feedly’s Normandy API. But it’s still not the case today.

So, in 2 days we will no longer see Google Reader. Have you migrated all your feeds to a new service? If your choice is different from mine, please drop some comments below to share your choice to other visitors.

Update 3 Jul 2013:
Today’s update on Reeder app finally introduces new sync option: Feedly.