Something like Zite, now that Flipboard has killed it?
January 1, 2016 2:54 PM Subscribe
I really liked the app Zite, a news aggregator. It was acquired and shut down by Flipboard. Unfortunately, Flipboard just doesn't offer the same range and depth that Zite did. I'm looking for a new Zite.
Flipboard appears geared primarily toward large media sources. What I liked about Zite was that it pulled items from personal blogs and other relatively obscure sources. I had a broad array of interest areas bookmarked on it, and found relevant articles I never would have found otherwise. It was relatively free of junk or clickbait.
I've done some searches but haven't come up with another app (iOS) that will perform the same function. Any ideas?
Flipboard appears geared primarily toward large media sources. What I liked about Zite was that it pulled items from personal blogs and other relatively obscure sources. I had a broad array of interest areas bookmarked on it, and found relevant articles I never would have found otherwise. It was relatively free of junk or clickbait.
I've done some searches but haven't come up with another app (iOS) that will perform the same function. Any ideas?
There was Prismatic, but it's dead now. I like Nuzzel but it may be more narrow than you're looking for. It's tightly tuned to your personal social network. I also like belong.io but it's mostly a personal hack by (Metafilter's own) Andy Baio and customized to his tastes, which happen to overlap with mine.
posted by Nelson at 7:15 AM on January 2, 2016
posted by Nelson at 7:15 AM on January 2, 2016
You probably know about RSS feeds - but in case you didn't - you can subscribe to nearly any news site/blog, including Metafilter. Depending on what site, you might be able to drill down to specific topics.
I do this - using http://feedly.com as a backend to RSS readers; Readkit on OS X and Reeder on iOS.
It's not as curated, but allows me to glance at multiple sources quickly.
posted by filmgeek at 7:54 AM on January 2, 2016
I do this - using http://feedly.com as a backend to RSS readers; Readkit on OS X and Reeder on iOS.
It's not as curated, but allows me to glance at multiple sources quickly.
posted by filmgeek at 7:54 AM on January 2, 2016
Seconding an RSS reader (my understanding is that Zite et al are basically RSS readers anyway.) Most browsers will support feeds natively (Safari re-introduced this recently) but if you browse from multiple devices a service like Feedly is useful for keeping track of what you've seen already.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 10:34 AM on January 2, 2016
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 10:34 AM on January 2, 2016
Zite was most definitely not an RSS reader. It may have had RSS technology underneath, but it did a LOT more than vanilla RSS. The reason Zite was so beloved is that it seemed to give you things you didn't know you wanted. With RSS, you tell it what you want, and it gives you that. You know what's coming.
The problem with finding a Zite successor is that I've got three and a half years of built-up Zite preferences. I've hearted hundreds of subjects, and I've thumbs-upped and thumbs-downed tens of thousands of articles. If I put that much effort into, say, Apple News, it would probably be a pretty useful app. I just don't have the time or interest to do that.
Of course, that's why I started using Zite in the first place. It did a good job finding things I liked the first time I opened it. Nothing else does. I used Prismatic for a month, and I only thumbs-upped maybe five articles. Apple News was better, but still not great. So unfortunately, I can't yet answer the OP's question.
posted by kevinbelt at 11:52 AM on January 2, 2016
The problem with finding a Zite successor is that I've got three and a half years of built-up Zite preferences. I've hearted hundreds of subjects, and I've thumbs-upped and thumbs-downed tens of thousands of articles. If I put that much effort into, say, Apple News, it would probably be a pretty useful app. I just don't have the time or interest to do that.
Of course, that's why I started using Zite in the first place. It did a good job finding things I liked the first time I opened it. Nothing else does. I used Prismatic for a month, and I only thumbs-upped maybe five articles. Apple News was better, but still not great. So unfortunately, I can't yet answer the OP's question.
posted by kevinbelt at 11:52 AM on January 2, 2016
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posted by artdrectr at 12:39 AM on January 2, 2016