With Google pushing through with its plans to shut down the lauded Google Reader RSS feed service on 01 July 2013, its loyal users have been cramming to find the next ultimate RSS service where they can take refuge.
Aside from the fact that a wide and loyal user base will get affected once this happens, it’s also widely known that a number of related services rely on Google Reader’s API. As a result, the discontinuation of Google Reader also means automatic death to their services if they don’t find workarounds.
Thankfully, this news also opened up several opportunities for those who want to provide solutions to RSS users amidst the impending Google Reader doom. Take a look at some of them.
Google Reader Alternatives
Reeder
Dubbed by many Apple purists as the best RSS news reader for iOS and Mac, Reeder’s main crowd drawer is its beautiful and simple interface backed by solid accoutrements. 
It also never fails to address the need for other features ranging from sharing options and saving functions, to integration with services such as Instapaper, Pocket, Pinterest, Evernote, Twitter, and Facebook and UI tweaks that can satisfy users that want comprehensive preferences.
However, let it be clear that Reeder has its own display hierarchy and it lacks subfolders so it’s only ideal to those who don’t have thousands of feeds saved.
Feedly
Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Feedly is a privately held company named as one of TIME Magazine’s Top 10 Smartphone Apps last 2011.
As of today, this aggregator which offers alternative to search and discover feeds is free and available on the iPhone, iPad, Android devices, and on the desktop as a plugin for Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari. Its website claims that more than three million Google Reader “refugees” have already switched to it.
NewsBlur
Another service that’s been gaining a lot of attention lately as a Google Reader alternative is NewsBlur. It’s a hosted service that will require you to pay some small amount (if you plan to exceed its 64 free feeds) but it’s also open source.
All the feeds you import from Google Reader will be listed by category on the left panel and then once you click on a feed containing items from the RingCentral website, for instance, you’ll be able to see a split screen containing the view of the story from the site (on the top portion) and a view of other stories from the feed (at the lower portion).
If you need something to transform blog posts, social networking feeds, images, video, and articles into an impressive magazine-like layout, then you’d be happy about Flipboard.
Available on both the Android and iOS platforms, the app tries to replicate the experience one would normally get from reading a magazine or a newspaper – some would even call it a “live” magazine. Even upon its introduction years ago, it’s already drawn waves among users and tech observers and even garnered several awards. So if you need an immersive visual experience to browse your RSS feeds, trust that Flipboard will deliver.
Taptu
Taptu is one of the friendliest apps in terms of platform compatibility and versatility, being available for iOS, Android, Nook, and BlackBerry devices. The app places heavy emphasis on social networking by allowing integration with a user’s Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter feeds aside from being just a full-on RSS reader.
While some users may have gotten frustrated over its feed limit, a lot of people have lauded its great offline reading support. It will surely come in handy for those who don’t have 24/7 internet access.
Monique Jones is an Engineer. She is also a Writer who specializes in writing articles about technology, business, social media and general topics. On her free time, you can find Monique at her fashion boutique. Know more about her on Google+:
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My favorite alternative so far has been Old Reader, but I will be using Google Reader right up until the last day
Is there any news that any of these services will also be shut down like google Feedburner in the near future? If so what is the permanent solution?
If one service shuts down, there are thousands of others who just starting business. No cause for alarm.
Thanks Zartasha.
Danny what do you think about vienna? its a good alternative as well! i have been using it for about a year now totally satisfied
Thanks Ank.
I will check Vienna out and possibly update.
thnx for posting alternatives.
You’re welcome…Kedar 🙂
I don’t understand why google has closed their reader.. But those alternatives seem to be good.
Google with their monopoly, they usually make different changes that hurts other people’s business that depends on them. I don’t like that monopoly too but we have no choice.
So, I have made my decision to go for Google Reader alternatives listed above, and I hope you will join me too. 🙂
Thanks for commenting here
~ Olawale
well said google have their monopoly with most market share .
well said ,google have thier monopoly with most market share
I am a voracious reader myself and always o the lookout for good reading material over my phablet as well.
I have tried the Flipboard and Feedly both and found them both absolutely amazing!
I’ll surely try Newsblur also. Thanks for the suggestions.
You are welcome Ambika. Its good to read. Readers are leaders.
I got Feedly for android, it is free. Google unable to make money with the reader market, let see if these free reader are able to survive in the long run
That’s the point! Thank you for commenting 🙂