Requiem for Google Reader: an RSS behemoth shuts down
After years of operation and tentative integration with Google+, Google Reader is finally shutting down on July 1st. As it does, competing reader apps must both fill the gap and wean themselves off one of the most popular back-end tools for managing feeds, while users scramble for a replacement. Will RSS survive the shutdown, or has social media made both it and Reader obsolete?
Reeder for iPhone now supports standalone RSS and Feedbin, Google Reader no longer required
One of the side effects of Google's decision to shut down Reader on July 1st is that numerous mobile and desktop apps are now scrambling for a new way to provide value to their users. Reeder, one of the most popular Google Reader apps for iOS, had previously announced plans to continue development despite Reader's impending shudown, and now there's a new version of the app available that can sync with third-party RSS reader Feedbin. Of course, you'll need to sign up for the $2 monthly fee...
More than 500,000 Google Reader users flock to Feedly in two days
Google's controversial decision to shut down Google Reader on July 1st has left its users searching for a new news-collecting homeland, and we now have an idea of the scale of the RSS diaspora. Feedly has announced that more than half a million Google Reader users have signed up for its RSS service following Google's service termination announcement on Wednesday. Feedly also says it's working to keep up with its growth, increasing bandwidth by 10 times and adding new servers. Moving forward,...
Why RSS still matters
Google's bombshell last night that it would be shutting down the Google Reader RSS client hit the web, well, like a bomb. Just as with any major tech event, it spurred a raft of reactions on what is currently our best real-time conversation broadcasting network, Twitter. Reactions ranged from outrage to sadness to smugness — the latter epitomized by the camp who say that RSS was already a confusing mess that needed to be shot down completely and besides, it had been replaced by Twitter...
As Google Reader goes offline, those living under censorship lose vital news source
For many of us, Google Reader fading into oblivion means we'll need to hunt down another source for our daily news fix. For others, though, the loss is far more significant. As Quartz is today pointing out, Reader has become a critical resource for those living under oppressive regimes in recent years — particularly in Iran. Despite the stranglehold Iran has put on web access with its heavy-handed censorship tactics, Reader has continually provided its residents with uncensored news and...
Digg will build its own version of Google Reader, should sync with existing clients
Faithful Google Reader users have spent the last day asking themselves what they'll do when the RSS service shuts down on July 1st, and one of the more unlikely options might be coming from Digg. The company just announced in a blog post that it plans to build its own version of Google Reader that "makes the Internet a more approachable and digestible place." The company's vision involves identifying and rebuilding the best features of Reader while simultaneously making it "fit the Internet...
Feedly could save Google Reader clients with cloned API
The impending demise of Google Reader has major implications for the app development community; Google's RSS service had become the de facto standard for third-party clients, and users and developers alike will need to find an alternative. Popular news aggregation app Feedly thinks it has a solution, though — it's been working on a project that clones the Google Reader API, and says that users will see a "seamless transition" once Reader shuts down.
It sounds like other clients will have...
Google, don't turn off Reader. Signed, The Internet
Google's sudden decision to sunset Reader — perhaps the best-known RSS reader ever made — has been met with swift reaction from high-profile users across the web. Here's a sampling of people asking to save an RSS service on Google... all coming from the service that probably helped kill it in the first place: Twitter.
Google Reader to shut down July 1st
Google has announced yet another spring cleaning of its various services, and this time around, the company is giving the axe to its Google Reader RSS aggregator. The service, which originally launched back in 2005, will be officially put out to pasture on July 1st, 2013. Reader has gone through a number of iterations, but it had not been significantly updated in a long time. The last time that Google updated the product, it built in integration for the Google+ social network and removed...
Google Reader broken for a large number of users (update)
Google Reader appears to be experiencing a number of issues, displaying viewed posts as unread and not allowing users to mark posts as read. Some users are even reporting that several of their subscriptions have disappeared altogether. Judging from complaints on the Google Reader support forum, the issues began sporadically last week, worsened over the weekend, and have come to a head as users return to their daily routine and check their feeds. While some users aren't experiencing any...
Google Reader redesign rolling out today with Google+ integration
Google announced earlier this month that Reader would be getting a full redesign and Google+ integration, and according to Google software engineer Alan Greene's post, it's time. The new design will roll out to all users by the end of the day, and all current friending, following, sharing, and commenting features will be disabled in favor of Google+ integration. Greene also notes the decision to retire Reader's sharing features wasn't "made lightly," but should create a "better experience...
Google Reader facelift and Google+ integration coming soon
Until now, Google Reader, still a wellspring of equal parts inspiration and unread items guilt for info junkies in the Twitter age, has firmly held its ground while its Docs, Search, Gmail, and Maps brethren have been redesigned. Google announced Thursday, though, that the utilitarian, RSS hose of Google Reader will be brought in line with the lighter, more "designed" UI already seen across most of Google's products. More importantly, perhaps, is the inevitable Google+ integration that will...
