If you use google (and who doesn’t, at least for searching?), you’ll probably have noticed how, over the last couple of months, google has been rolling out what they claim is an improved redesign of their user interface. Point in case: the link to advanced search functions is now at the bottom of the page, instead of right next to the search button, because that makes a lot more sense… in somebody’s head.
Anyway, the only google app I use regularly is Google Reader, and that one got hit with the “improvement” hammer last night. I’m sure I could get used to it, but I’m sick of so-called improvements that reduce functionality and waste screen space with excessive bars and padding. (Btw, why is it that it’s always horizontal bars everywhere? Widescreen monitors have become popular in the last 5 years or so, and horizontal bars waste a lot of space. Why not use vertical ones? There’s always more than enough space in that dimension. Or is that only me?)
Therefore, I’m looking for a good replacement for Google Reader to read RSS feeds, and I ask my readers (yes, all 3 of you!) for suggestions. There are a couple of things to consider:
- I read RSS feeds from at least 3 different machines: one Windows, one Mac, one Android. That means I need some sort of central information point that synchronizes which entries I have read. I don’t mind if the new reader(s) just synchronizes with google; I just don’t want to use google’s UI.
- In a perfect world, there would be one application that runs on all three machines. Mac and Windows won’t be a problem, but it gets iffy at Android. Anybody know one application that has versions for all three OSs? Otherwise I would be grateful for suggestions for each one.
- Another possibility would be a browser-based service, just like Google Reader. That has the added advantage that I don’t need to install custom applications. I have a server with full control over an Apache, so everything goes. I just don’t know any good web reader software that I could install on the web server.
If you have any suggestions, shoot. Thanks in advance!
I might get used to the new UI over time. I don’t like it, it is a poor use of space, but I’ll live.
But the fact that they killed a couple of features I really liked, one in favor of G+ integration and one just because they could I guess, and that the whole thing is now much, much slower in actually pulling down and displaying feeds (despite claims of being faster)… well, that is pissing me off.
Still looking for an acceptable substitute.
I had a look at Newsblur, and will try that out. It’s only free up to 64 feeds though (which I’m currently still below, but what in half a year?), and it feels pretty slow. It also doesn’t seem to come with a good mobile web version, so you need to use the app, which I’ll install and test tomorrow, but the first comments I read about it didn’t seem promising.
Oh well. A private web version (something like my own google reader on my server) would work, too, but I guess that’s such a specialized use case that nobody got around to make it. And I sure can’t do it myself, I suck when it comes to “web programming”.