I can haz RSS reader, please?

March 14, 2015 3:29 AM

So, after the demise of Google Reader I switched to InoReader, which is great (yay!). Unfortunately though, it's recently been blocked by the webfilter at work (boo!), so I'm looking for alternatives.

I realise you can't tell me what the webfilter will or will not block - I can check that myself. But I am looking for the right reader. Based on my current usage, I should be able to do the following:
- see unread items on a feed by feed basis and also on a group/tag/folder basis (where this is some form of categorisation or grouping that I impose)
- mark individual items and groups of items as read and have them disappear from view (either immediately or when I refresh the current view)
- be able to mark or keep items to read later (e.g. star them, keep them as unread, something like that).

I am not concerned about connecting with friends, sharing articles or likes or anything along those lines. I just want to read the content I'm interested in, when I have time and without having to visit dozens of different sites.

Is this what I should be using Instapaper or Pocket for? I had a look at their websites and neither of them really say very much at all. I did find that I can set up an IFTTT recipe to feed each of my RSS feeds into either of these, however that looks like a very copy paste intensive set up (I have well over 100 feeds currently). Since InoReader exports to OPML format, I was hoping I could import that into whatever I end up using.

So great metafilter, can you help me? (*please*!)

posted by eloeth-starr to Technology (22 answers total)

I have been using The Old Reader ever since Google Reader passed away, and it works well for me.
posted by Gordafarin at 3:35 AM on March 14, 2015 [8 favorites]

Best answer: I switched to Feedly after Google Reader died. It does everything you want it to, and imports OPML. And the iOS app is pretty good, if you're interested in that.
posted by Karmeliet at 3:58 AM on March 14, 2015 [14 favorites]

I saw this question when I opened Newsblur this morning. I like it pretty well.
posted by deezil at 4:11 AM on March 14, 2015 [6 favorites]

I use feedbin, which does all the things you want with a fast and minimal interface.

If your work blocks all these online providers, it's also possible to run an RSS reader fully on your own computer that pulls the RSS feeds directly from their source websites. Reeder can work this way (not sure what's out there for non-Apple platforms, but back before Google Reader that's how most people got their RSS feeds). It does mean you don't get syncing between devices, though, and your work choose could block all RSS feeds too.

Another alternative is that it's possible to run an RSS reader web app on an EC2 instance (or other virtual machine provider) that you control, and which your work wouldn't know to block. I don't have any experience doing this, so no recommendations for a specific app.
posted by Emanuel at 4:32 AM on March 14, 2015

I've been happy with Feedly. (I use it primarily on my phone)
posted by sciencegeek at 4:54 AM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

Seconding NewsBlur; I've been using it since just before the Reader shutdown and have no complaints. It's got Android and iOS apps. The code is also up on GitHub if you fancy going with Emanuel's EC2 suggestion. (Haven't tried building or running it myself, though.)
posted by Zeinab Badawi's Twenty Hotels at 5:21 AM on March 14, 2015 [2 favorites]

Ditto feedly.
posted by juv3nal at 5:21 AM on March 14, 2015

I use both on my tablet and deasktop, andeasktophave been super happy with it. I find adding feeds ever so slightly cumbersome but never had it put a foot wrong. I believe it will do what you want it to do, there are options to change how it presents info.
posted by wwax at 5:33 AM on March 14, 2015

N'thing Feedly. I use it extensively and use Reeder to access on my phone. It's a great reader.
posted by Happy Dave at 5:38 AM on March 14, 2015

You'll want to switch it out of the annoying 'magazine' default and into a 'titles only' list to get an actual feedreader though, but it's got very comprehensive settings.
posted by Happy Dave at 5:39 AM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

If you have a web hosting account you can install TT-RSS and probably never have to worry about work blocking it. It has a nice mobile app too. I've been using it since Google Reader's demise without a problem.
posted by COD at 5:45 AM on March 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

Seconding TT-RSS.

You can register your own domain (something like "www.how-to-work-harder-and-deliver-more-value-to-your-employer.com")

If self hosting is too much for you, there seem to be TT-RSS as a service offers out there:
http://tinytinyrss-servers.com/
posted by yoyo_nyc at 7:12 AM on March 14, 2015

I love newsblur.
posted by harrietthespy at 9:14 AM on March 14, 2015 [2 favorites]

Love Feedly.
posted by dmd at 9:15 AM on March 14, 2015

Digg Reader has been working for me as a google reader replacement.
posted by kbuxton at 9:59 AM on March 14, 2015 [2 favorites]

another vote for Digg Reader.
posted by idb at 10:29 AM on March 14, 2015

Seconding Feedbin
posted by misterbrandt at 11:27 AM on March 14, 2015

Response by poster: Thanks for all the suggestions! I will be checking them all out when I get to work on Monday :)

No best answer(s) marked as yet, but I will be back.
posted by eloeth-starr at 1:43 PM on March 14, 2015

I third TT-RSS and there is a good app for the iPhone for those that take their RSS with them.
posted by drinkmaildave at 1:59 PM on March 14, 2015

+1 oldreader
posted by prk60091 at 6:34 PM on March 14, 2015

Best answer: These are definitely the most popular choices but if your corpwall recognizes them all here's an exhaustive list of options. 231 of them. Good luck.

This is not what Pocket is for. It's more of a "bookmark for later reading" tool.
posted by irisclara at 12:02 AM on March 15, 2015

Response by poster: Ok, here's an update!

The Old Reader - I did try this after Google Reader stopped, but something about it irritated me. I was prepared to give it a go but the maximum number of free subscriptions is 100 and after that it's a monthly subscription model.

Reeder - I'm not a Apple person, so this was out. I actually hadn't realised there were downloadable RSS clients out there or I would have mentioned the restriction! However, I'm only interested in online readers because I want the option to access my feeds at work, so software that I need to install on a PC is out.

Feedly - looks promising. I'm definitely going to try this one - I like the clean interface and importing my feeds imported my categories as well, so I'm happy so far.

NewsBlur - looks promising. Its free offering is capped at 64 sites, but the subscription is yearly which I don't mind so much. This is the cheapest of the subscription models across the options I've looked at.

Feedbin - 14 day free trial offer, after that it's a monthly or yearly subscription.

Thanks for the link to the long list of options, irisclara. I had a scan down the list - if work starts blocking feedly, I'll have somewhere to look.

Thanks everyone who chimed in, I'm going to mark this as resolved.
posted by eloeth-starr at 1:41 AM on March 16, 2015