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Which Feed Reader is Best?

Posted By Darren Rowse 13th of May 2007 RSS 0 Comments

FilenameTime for a little reader debate discussion.

Which Feed Reader do you use and Why?

Are you a Google Reader fan? A Bloglines junkie? Do you prefer NewsGator, Firefox Live Bookmarks or Netvibes? Or do you prefer to follow blogs via MyYahoo or iGoogle?

Which one do you use – why?

Leave us a mini review – it’ll be interesting to see what trends emerges from the discussion.

About Darren Rowse
Darren Rowse is the founder and editor of ProBlogger Blog Tips and Digital Photography School. Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Comments
  1. Google Reader. Was a bloglines fan for years but switched this year to GR because it’s hands down a better online reader. I too require access from multiple machines and don’t want to maintain an installed client app.

    I recently blogged about switching here:

    http://www.stevetrefethen.com/blog/GoogleReaderCurrentlyWinsOverBloglinesForOnlineAggregatorsInMyBook.aspx

  2. Another Google Reader fan…

  3. I’m a Google Reader user too, although I did try just about every RSS reader I could get my hands on before deciding on it. It’s simple to use and I’ve got it setup on my iGoogle start page so I can have a quick browse throughout the day.

    I also keep a backup of my feedlist and a copy of GreatNews on my usb key. I sync it to read offline when I’m travelling. It’s so handy, I can read at my leisure on my laptop or, if it’s not with me, on any available pc. If I’m away for more than a couple of days, it only takes a few minutes online to resync it and I’m ready to go again. Minimises potentially expensive internet or mobile phone data costs that way :-)

  4. What I want to see is better integration with offline and online readers. I use NetNewsWire Lite because of it’s integration with NewsGator, I wish I could use something else because NG is a horrible online Feed Reader. My dream would be to combine Google Reader online and NewsFire or even NNW Lite offline.

    C’mon Web 2.0 entrepreneurs!!

  5. I started using the new rss Aggregator site that has a collection of really good rss feeds from all over the net in different niches -check it out – http://www.miniboxs.com

  6. I’m not a fan of any reader, but Google Reader is my primary one, and the only feed reader I’m using. Started using it and sticked to it without bothering to change to another reader – no point since it’s good enough.

  7. Google Reader, it’s light (the most important thing I care about in web applications is to be clean and light and that’s why I prefer Gmail to Yahoo). It’s feature rich, I can share feeds with friends, categorize them.

  8. Let’s hear it for Shrook on the Mac! A little buggy, admittedly, but fast and cleanly designed.

  9. I use the Sage extension for Firefox and the built-in RSS reader for Flock. I use them coz most of the time I use the same computer. I plan to start using Google Reader too so I’d have an online copy of my daily reads/feeds that I can access in case I’m using somebody else’s computer.

  10. Im using google reader because it is very easy to use and you can access it anywhere in the world ;) Lets google store what feed it subscribe no need to think about lose it.

  11. I love feedreader.

    It sometimes has a large memory footprint but the ability to add custom filters to the feeds I follow is priceless.

    I can filter my feeds almost any way I like.

    And if you follow a few hundred RSS subscriptions filtering immediately becomes your #1 priority.

    Other web-based counterparts do have filtering feature to a certain extent.
    But they are not close to feed reader.

    Another advantage is I can read my feed after downloading them to the reader even if I am offline — for instance in the train, on the way to office.

    Cheers

  12. I use RSS Bandit as feed reader & browser as most of my browsing these days starts via feeds. RSS Bandit is a local app but allows sync of feed & readstate between computers. Prefer to be independent of web-based readers and found it handles the approx 1000 feeds I monitor well.

  13. So far i have only used Google Reader, and i was satisfied until reading the comments posted here. I think i should try some of those products mentioned here!

  14. I choose Netvibes. Netvibes use clean interface and have many add-ons.

  15. I’m addicted to Google Reader.

    I started subscribing to RSS feeds using Mozilla Thunderbird a year ago. I liked that old items were still available (=did not magically disappear just because they were read) and could be flagged. When switching to Gmail and not wanting another XUL-application besides Firefox running in the background all day made me search for an online feed reader.
    I didn’t like Bloglines & Co. because the view didn’t comfort me. Reading the feeds wasn’t fun at all. Bloglines, IIRC, didn’t even use whitespace between feed items which made things just worse. Google Reader, which I discovered thanks to Gmail, did the job just fine. Lots of space, the content was readable easyly and the design as simple as possible. I like that the navigation/sidebar is in a big colorfulbox and not just seperated from the content using a thin line. The design wasn’t hip, but it made reading feeds fun. I could star items like in Thunderbird, I was even able to assign tags, discovered that tagging a feed results in assigning it to a folder and learnt the keyboard shotcuts. Feed-reading with any other application seems impossible to me now.

    Thanks to
    http://www.hicksdesign.co.uk/journal/google-reader-theme
    my Google Reader looks really impressive now, too! This CSS file made my favorite feed reader look more like a real application than just yet another multi-colored google app.
    Google Reader finally grew up.

    That’s it.

  16. Newsgator + FeedDemon for me.

  17. I used Bloglines when I started blogging last year. But when I return to work, Bloglines is blocked in my company’s network. I’m done moving all feeds to Netvibes today.

  18. NetNewsWire on my MBP is my primary newsreader.

    If I really have to, then I use either Google Reader or NewsGator Online when I don’t have access to my MBP.

  19. I tried my yahoo for while, but found it very unsatisfying. The main issue was it took a long time for some new feeds to show up on my yahoo (based on my own own blog anyway). Sometimes it took days! A friend pointed me to netvibes, which is fantastic.It updates almost instantaneously.

  20. Robin says: 05/14/2007 at 9:02 pm

    I downloaded Feedreader about a year ago and have been using it ever since. Tried Google Reader but was not too fond of it, Feedreader is a lot easier to use and easier on the eye.

  21. Ive only been blogging for a few months, so my reason may not apply to everyone. Early on, I read somewhere that the easiest way to get your blog
    listed by google’s search results was to start a google reader account and list your blog there. It worked for me, and I never had to go through their application process.
    As an alternate, I tried my yahoo, but the feed updates very slowly and seems to go down for days at a time..

  22. I’ve always used Bloglines but I’m annoyed that they don’t show embedded videos because of “security issues.” I found out that Google Reader will display embedded videos so I’m considering switching to Google.

  23. I use the Flock Browser

    I use Flock to browse the web and it’s built in feed reader to catch up on the news and my favourite blogs.
    It’s just very simple to use. Hit the “My News” button on the toolbar and you’re presented with all your feeds, organised the way you like. Unread articles are emphasized.

    I’d say that it functions almost as same as akregator for KDE

    Although I do have all my subscriptions on Google Reader as well, I haven’t yet developed the habit to visit it regularly.

    After adding a new feed, I e-mail myself an OPML of all my feeds.

    It saves the time if I move on to a new machine or just recently, installed linux on my computer or incase something goes bazooks !

  24. I use Netvibes now, but was a hardcore bloglines user for about 2ish years prior. I love bloglines, but netvibes just has so many other options and modules and organization options, so I jumped ship.

  25. Le Bazaar says: 05/15/2007 at 12:23 am

    I using NewsHutch to read problogger.

  26. I use Netvibes, I like all its features. I used Google Reader and Bloglines before, but I think Netvibes is the most customizable.

  27. google reader for me, mainly because i can add it to my google homepage easily. As google own the internet, and google search is practically me ‘base’, it makes sense to use google reader, simply because it’s handiest.

  28. Blogbridge is my favorite. With each iteration, it gets better and more user-friendly.

  29. Vienna for OS X. Works, solid, and free. I don’t subscribe to tons of feeds so maybe if I needed more I might change. Right now though, everytime I try the others I come back to Vienna.

  30. I always use bloglines ;-)

    model agency

  31. Safari (the Mac browser) has a built-in RSS feeder that rocks. I love it. It is simple but gives me everything I need in a feed reader. I’ve tried Google Reader, but it doesn’t even come close to Safari.

  32. netvibes for sure. can’t wait for them to release the “create my own universe” feature. I’ve been using it for a while now – previously using iGoogle. It’s the best I’ve found so far. It’s my homepage too.

  33. I use Mozilla Thunderbird, so I have in one application mails, blogs and news.

  34. Let me just second GreatNews: I’ve used a ton of different readers (iGoogle, Opera, FeedReader, etc) and I’ve found it the best so far for reading massive amounts of feeds.

  35. Feedreader is my choice. Simple, clean and organized. I have used several readers including Google, Bloglines, Netvibes, Pageflakes etc…but I always come back to Feedreader.

  36. I also use RSS Bandit, which has a nice rich user interface and also allow for offline reading.

    I like to keep a Google Reader account with my feed list updated, for when I’m away from home.

  37. Google reader here. I love that I can scroll past stories, THEN they get marked read. Not all at once.

  38. […] them into Google, which takes all of about twenty seconds. Before I realized that, I stumbled upon this post at Problogger about feed readers. What a […]

  39. I use Google Reader, its easy and I run a bunch of other Google programs so it is on my bookmarked page with the rest of my programs

  40. I still use Bloglines. Feels as the best there is. I also use Google Reader to make digests of subjects (several feeds about a subject) which RSS-feeds I enter to in Bloglines to read.

  41. iGoogle for on-line news and RSS Bandit off-line

  42. Once upon a time I used apps like NewsFire and then NetNewsWire and was subscribed to hundreds of feeds.

    About five months ago, however, I realized you can waste your entire life consuming the output of others instead of actually contributing to the world.. and as I’d become a new Netvibes convert, I decided to trim my feed list down to under 20 and move to NetVibes. I don’t regret it. Now instead of spending 30 minutes a day catching up with 100+ feeds, I spend merely a few minutes.. and I feel so much better for it. If something is going to be popular, it’ll be on del.icio.us/popular or Digg or something.. so I’ll let other people waste their lives, and not mine :)

  43. I used to use Bloglines but recently, I have completely switched to Google Reader. I like it for the folder settings and the fact that you can assign a feed to more than one folder. Also, like the shared feature to easily have a link blog.

  44. Built-in Safari RSS reader. It work wonders.

  45. Bloglines! Fast and easy to organize. No ads so far.

  46. It’s Google Reader for me all the way.

    It’s the first reader that I have truly been comfortable with, after having tried Rojo, Bloglines, and NewsGator.

    It’s simple and it just works anywhere.

  47. Netvibes.

    I rarely used RSS feeds prior to Netvibes. I didn’t care for the interfaces of newsreaders but Netvibes is slick and very user friendly. The modules are easy to use and fun to customize. The tab feature is nice for categorization and being able to open pages within modules and tabs is also handy. I can leave a Netvibes window open all day and rarely have to surf to regular sites.

  48. My vote is for Newsfire .

  49. I use Google Reader. It was recommended to me when I first started reading blogs, and I’ve stuck with it. It is very simple to use. I haven’t looked into any others, but have not felt the need to because Google Reader has worked so well for me.

  50. I’ve been using FeedReader for years! I like having my feeds with me on my notebook, even when I’m offline. I’m considering switching to another reader though, and will probably take my cue from these comments! :)

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