Did you know Safari has an RSS reader? Neither did I. It’s one of the neat little features hidden inside Apple’s browser. It’s a nice touch, and very helpful for people interested in using RSS within the browser.
At least on desktop, using RSS within a web browser seems logical. With the demise of Google Reader, though, it’s worth looking at other alternatives. You could always a web service like Feedly, but why not make RSS a part of your browser?
How to Use Safari’s Hidden RSS Reader
Get a simple overview of your RSS and Atom feeds in the toolbar. For this piece, we will focus on the best, free, online RSS services—the best alternatives to Google Reader and Digg Reader—and we narrowed our recommendations using the following criteria: Free: Each featured app is either completely free, or it offers a free plan that rivals the features of most premium plans on the market.
Apple hides this feature in Safari with no explanation or pointer explaining that it’s there, so you’d be excused for not knowing about it.
Open up a Safari window and click on the sidebar button at the top.
Click on the “@” icon at the top of the page. This is your “Shared Links” page, which is a fancy term for a way to keep up with your RSS feeds.
To add new feeds, you have to visit the website you’d like to follow. Go to the sidebar under the “@” tab and click on “Subscriptions” at the bottom. Now click “Add Feed.” This will open up a box of possible selections, including the current page if it has an RSS feed.
Click “Add Feed” and “Done” at the bottom of the sidebar and voila! Your browser is now populated with RSS feeds.
How to Use Chrome’s RSS Reader Extension
While Chrome doesn’t have the same built-in functionality as Safari, it does have a rich library of extensions that can do almost anything you need.
RSS Feed Reader is an awesome extension I would highly recommend for Chrome users. It puts a minimalist RSS reader right there next to the omnibar.
The icon shows you how many stories are unread, with options for marking as read or mass-making as read. Clicking stories opens them in a new tab, which is better than Safari’s current-tab approach.
Best of all, all the stuff I just listed can be changed. I greatly prefer stories to open in a new tab when clicking through RSS links, but you may prefer to use the current window. It’s nice to have the option.
How to Use RSS in Firefox
For Firefox, there are plenty of good extensions as well. I liked Brief, a minimalist RSS reader that hooks into your browser. Click on its menu bar icon and it opens up a new tab with RSS feeds.
The experience is more akin to a traditional RSS app that simply operates within a web browser than something redesigned like RSS Feed Reader for Chrome.
Adding feeds is confusing as hell, though. Doesn’t help that the in-extension tutorial doesn’t work. To subscribe to a feed in Brief, here’s what you do:
Best Rss Reader For Mac
Visit the feed page you want to add in the browser. Firefox should recognize the page as a live feed. Add it as a live bookmark by pressing “Subscribe Now.”
Now open up Brief by clicking on the menu bar icon. Click “Organize” on the left. Now to to Bookmarks Toolbar on the left navigation. Find the site you saved, right-click it, and select copy.
Go back to “Subscribed Feeds” and paste it into the right-hand side. Close the window. Now you have an RSS feed. Simple, right?
If Brief wasn’t such a decent RSS reader, this confusing setup process would be inexcusable. However, it’s quite nice once you get it going.
Out of all of these, RSS Feed Reader for Chrome impressed the most. It is robust, fast, simple and customizable. It checks every box and isn’t a total pain to set up like Brief.
You could always try to bypass all this RSS extension stuff by using something like Feedly. Feedly syncs your feeds across all platforms and offers browser extensions for all the major browsers.
However, it’s also serving you ads or charging money for a “pro” account. It’s a business in a way different from a homegrown RSS extension.
Whichever option you use, all are good for RSS.
We’ve told you about the main web-based alternatives to Google’s beloved but departed RSS service, which defined the RSS reading genre so well most competitors stopped bothering to compete. Feedly is probably the most feature filledFeedly, Reviewed: What Makes It Such A Popular Google Reader Replacement?Feedly, Reviewed: What Makes It Such A Popular Google Reader Replacement?Now that Google Reader is but a distant memory, the fight for the future of RSS is truly on. One of the most notable products fighting the good fight is Feedly. Google Reader wasn't an...Read More, Newsblur is easy to useNewsblur: A Friendly & Feature Rich Online Feed Reader SoftwareNewsblur: A Friendly & Feature Rich Online Feed Reader SoftwareRead More and Feedbin, while not free, is worth the $2 a monthFeedbin: A Google Reader Replacement That May Be Worth $2 Per MonthFeedbin: A Google Reader Replacement That May Be Worth $2 Per MonthGoogle Reader is sun-setting and shutting down on July 1st. Like most Google services, it was free – and in a world where many Web services are free, it's easy to forget that developers need...Read More.
But what about desktop apps? The Mac has long been home to some of the best desktop RSS apps out there, but many depended on Google Reader for syncing and basic functionality. What are the best alternatives to the now-broken clients like Reeder? Here are the best I’ve found.
ReadKit ($6.99)
Originally built to sync with read later services like Instapaper and Pocket, ReadKit is probably the best RSS app for Mac out there right now. Why? It syncs with Feedly, Newsblur, Feedbin and more – meaning you can use ReadKit on your Mac and keep reading on your portable device without any hiccups.
But there’s more here than just syncing: this app makes sharing with other apps easy and includes all the keyboard shortcuts you’d expect a modern reader app to include. It even offers Readability, allowing you to pull in full-text versions of articles in one keystroke.
Sure, it’s design is a not-so-subtle nod to Reeder, but that app’s Mac reincarnation is still forthcoming. And even when Reeder does come out, it will be hard for even that app to match the balance of features and simplicity ReadKit’s put together. It combines all of your online reading in one place. Read more about ReadKitIs ReadKit The Perfect Reeder Replacement For Mac? (Yes)Is ReadKit The Perfect Reeder Replacement For Mac? (Yes)Still looking for the perfect Mac RSS reader? It's here.Read More.
NewsNetWire ($10 pre-release, $20 thereafter)
Launched in 2002, NewsNetWire is the oldest RSS reader out there for Mac – and among the longest-developed programs on the platform. And now it’s experiencing a rebirth of sorts, with the fourth version expected soon.
You’ll immediately notice the app fits right in on modern Macs, with an interface that resembles a mail client. Browsing articles with the arrow key and space bar is easy, and a tabbed interface allows you to allow full versions of articles to load in the background.
NewsNetWire 4 is, as of this writing, in development. They’re currently offering a $10 pre-order with beta access, but the program will eventually cost $20.
Vienna (Free)
The free and open source alternative Vienna is a solid RSS reader that won’t cost you anything. The interface is simple, and browsing your feeds is easy. It also includes built-in sharing with Buffer.
Vienna supports Open Reader, an open source API web-based RSS services can use to provide syncing services. Major services like Feedly haven’t implemented this standard yet, however, so you’ll be limited to two relatively obscure services:
If you’d rather not pay for a desktop RSS reader, Vienna is well worth checking out – and it offers more syncing options than NetNewsWire. Read more about ViennaVienna: A RSS Feed Reader With Integrated Sharing [Mac]Vienna: A RSS Feed Reader With Integrated Sharing [Mac]Read More, if you’re interested.
Menu Bar Options
Best Rss Reader For Windows
Not sure you want a full-blown RSS reader for your desktop? There are menu bar options, like Feeds (free):
Simon outlined 3 menu bar apps for staying on top of your RSS feeds3 Great Menu Bar Apps to Stay on Top of Your RSS Feeds [Mac]3 Great Menu Bar Apps to Stay on Top of Your RSS Feeds [Mac]For me, RSS feeds are the ideal way to keep up to date with all the websites I'm interested in - a centralised news-pool, so you don't have to check your browser every five minutes...Read More. Check that list out if you’re interested.
There’s More…
Of course, it’s impossible to write about Mac RSS apps without discussing Reeder. This was long the clear leader for Mac RSS apps, but relied on Google Reader for pretty much everything. Updates capable of syncing with Feedly and more have been issued for the iPhone and iPad, but the Mac version remains broken. Stay tuned, though, because if the previous version is anything to go by it will be fast and feature filled.
And there are other apps worth checking out. Leaf is an attractive app that leaves some advanced features out in favor of simplicity, and is getting a lot of really great reviews.It doesn’t sync with anything post-Reader, but might be perfect for someone seeking a simple alternative that looks great.
I couldn’t possibly outline every RSS reader for Mac here, so I need your help: which awesome apps did I miss? Fill me in below, okay?
Best Rss Reader For Android
My main problem with NetNewsWire is that it won't allow you to comment on Google blogs from within the program. Commenting works for ALL other services.
What about Caffeinated? Tis a winner.
The correct name of the app is actually NetNewsWire, not NewsNetWire
I will use ReadKit when they will include the sync option with Theoldreader.
I hope Feedly has a desktop version.
It does.
I've been using Vienna ever since I switched to the Mac. I loved it then as I do now. Back then it didn't have the syncing, so now I'm left with trying to find a suitable iOS app to fully utilize that feature. I would love to find one that operates more like Vienna, but most want to aggregate feeds together into one long view.
They all look the same.