Accidental Technologist

Musings about Entrepreneurship, Technology and Software Development

Feed Wrangler is My Go To RSS Reader Platform

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July 1 is fast approaching and Google Reader is shutting down. ?Many people in the world use this service to read and sync their RSS feeds. ?When I heard it was shutting down I was a bit annoyed but not surprised, but today I am anxious for it to shut down so people will stop talking about it. ?Google Reader, it’s been nice but not real nice. ?Goodbye!

I have found a paid service I am happy to pay for and support, Feed Wrangler by David Smith. ?Feed Wrangler costs $19 per year and it developed by someone I believe will do his best to be around tomorrow. ? I have officially dumped Google Reader about a month ago and been using Feed Wrangler ever since, and I could not be more happy.

The Apps

Out of the gate Feed Wrangler has a web site that can be used to read posts, mark them read/unread and add to Instapaper. ?It works very similar to Google Reader but with *much* cleaner interface. ?I never used Google Reader this way, I always used some third-party apps in my Mac, iPhone or iPad.

I have used a handful of client applications for Google Reader over the years and settled on a couple that worked really well on my Mac and iPad. ?When I heard about Google Reader shutting down my first concern was what I would use for applications.

Feed Wrangler has free applications for the iPhone and the iPad that work really well. ?I found a few little UI bugs or inconsistencies that I needed to get used to, but nothing I was unable to live with.

Thanks to the great API, third-party apps are starting to pop-up with Feed Wrangler support. ?Mr. Reeder for the iPad, and most important to me is ReadKit for the Mac. ?Both of these applications are fantastic and I am using them now.

The Syncing

The main part of what I consider the syncing platform is the backend web site and API which helps keeps the applications knowing what’s read and what has yet to be read. ?This is transparent and should be, I don’t need to know the details nor do I care. ?I just want to be able to go from device to device and not have to miss an article or mark something read more than once.

So far, it just works.

The API

One beautiful part of this platform is the open API for developers so they can create any number of client applications. ?Did I mention this is a supported and nicely documented API? ?Unlike what Google Reader had offered, this will be a pleasure to write application for.

As someone who consumes API’s for a living, the style of the documentation and examples is a lesson other developers should follow.

Finally

You have more choice popping up now that Google Reader is shutting down but David Smith has done some really nice work so far and I can only suspect he will new features all the time.

I am very happy and think Feed Wrangler is worth checking out.

Free Ultimately Always Has a Price

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I bet by now you have heard the news Google Reader will be shutting down on July 1, 2013:

We have just announced on the Official Google Blog that we will soon retire Google Reader (the actual date is July 1, 2013). We know Reader has a devoted following who will be very sad to see it go. We?re sad too.

There are two simple reasons for this: usage of Google Reader has declined, and as a company we?re pouring all of our energy into fewer products. We think that kind of focus will make for a better user experience.

To ensure a smooth transition, we?re providing a three-month sunset period so you have sufficient time to find an alternative feed-reading solution. If you want to retain your Reader data, including subscriptions, you can do so through Google Takeout.

Thank you again for using Reader as your RSS platform.

That’s it..thank all of you for signing up for our service, relying on it but we have to go now. ?Virtually everyone I know jumped at the chance to use Google Reader to keep track of their RSS feeds and synchronize them with a supporting client application on your Mac, Windows PC and any iOS and Android device. The ease of use and integration with the platform almost eliminated the market for desktop (Mac and Windows) RSS reader clients. ?

What happens now when Google Reader has its plugged pulled this summer? ?We lose all of the conveniences afforded to us by Google Reader and we have no where to turn to at this point.

Marco Arment points out this may not be a bad thing:

Now, we?ll be forced to fill the hole that Reader will leave behind, and there?s no immediately obvious alternative. We?re finally likely to see substantial innovation and competition in RSS desktop apps and sync platforms for the first time in almost a decade.?

I think he’s right but at a cost. ?All the RSS reader applications who use Google Reader will now need to scramble and retool with their own sync platform or work with others to create one that many can use. ?It won’t be free to build, support and maintain.

Possible solutions do exist today but not really 100% replacements for Reader; both NewsBlur and Feedly have been mentioned but they seem to be having some scaling issues at the moment.?

It seems others, such as David Smith, envisioned something should be available that is not run by Google. ?David announced last night that he is working on such a platform and has for months:

Feed Wrangler will be a paid, subscription based service. I believe the reason that Google turned its back on Reader and left its users hanging is that they were users not customers. I?m not interested in building a platform designed to attract as many users as possible and then work out how to sustain it later. I want to instead build something that is sustainable from Day 1. I want my customers to feel confident that they can expect this to be around long into the future. I want to build a relationship with them and make something they really, really love.?

I agree and this sums up my thoughts on free. ?Free services are not good for its users in the long run, they’re not sustainable and the company operating the services has no real obligation to keep it going. ?I like to give money to the services I use, it makes me feel good that the service I rely on will be there tomorrow. ?I would have gladly given Google money for my Reader account, but they never asked. ?It gives them an out.

I don’t trust Google will not shutdown other free services, such as Feedburner. ?Those of you consuming free services probably should take this opportunity to take a look and reflect on what would happen if they went away. ?How would you replace them? ?Are there comparable services you could pay for that may be a more sustainable business model? ?Entrepreneurs creating free services?do you think that’s the best way to go? ?Me either.