Feedly + RSSHub Radar, while not the perfect RSS feed solution, is good enough for now.
background
1. RSS introduction
RSS (simple Information aggregation, also known as syndication) is a format for describing and synchronizing web content. RSS can be one of three interpretations: Really Simple Syndication, Resource Description Framework (RDF) Site Summary, or Rich Site Summary. But all three explanations refer to the same Syndication technique.
To put it bluntly, it can be very convenient to subscribe to the latest content of the website through RSS, which is convenient for centralized management of information. Before The announcement of Google Reader’s closure, THE popularity of RSS feeds was at its peak.
Since Google Reader was shut down in 2013, RSS seems to have been on the wane. With the impact of weibo and wechat in the mobile Internet era, THERE seems to be no room for RSS to survive, but I personally feel that in recent years, THERE are signs of a revival.
In fact, wechat subscription number is also a kind of RSS, no matter from the form or inherent, there are RSS shadow everywhere. But there are also differences between the two. RSS’s pursuit of a pure reading experience, without ads, is anti-business; Subscription account not only meets users’ “subscription” needs, but also combines advertising with content, which is a business model of content realization.
For more on the history of RSS, see “HISTORY of RSS, 16 Years of Blood and Tears”.
For an analysis of the closure of Google Reader, see “Why Google Reader Closed.”
2. Personal needs
Every now and then, while searching the web, you come across some great blogs that you used to bookmark in your browser for later review, but then forget about over time, let alone read newer articles. Different blogs update frequency is also different, how to get the updated content of these blogs at any time is a big problem.
Although the public account has a subscription function, but not all the main content has a public account, and even if there is a public account, many articles may not be published in the public account, the most important is that wechat interference is too much, you are reading the article is likely to be interrupted by a message.
RSS feeds were born for this purpose. Centralized management of all blogs and simultaneous updates completely met my needs, avoiding the embarrassment of good blogs being bookmarked and forgotten, and also providing a better reading atmosphere.
RSS subscription tools
Since RSS feeds fit my needs, the next step was to find a suitable RSS feed tool.
I look for RSS feeds based on the following criteria:
- Support for multiple platforms
- Reading record synchronization is supported
- Supports favorites or marks
- No need to deploy yourself (because the two servers are almost full)
Based on my Mac + Android and occasional iPad, I found two RSS feeds that fit the bill: “Feedly” and “Inoreader.”
Both have Web, Android, and iOS; Reading records can be synchronized; Support for favorites or tags; And the free account function is enough, after comparison, I choose Feedly.
First, feedly is aesthetically better and more modern than Inoreader. Inoreader’s ads occupy the top and right side of the page and affect the reading experience, while Feedly’s ads are embedded in the article list and have little impact. On mobile, too, Feedly looks more comfortable.
Feedly Web interface display:
Inoreader Web interface display:
Feedly Android interface display:
Inoreader Android interface display:
Second, feedly is much easier to tag, floating directly above the navigation bar, whereas Inoreader slides to the bottom of the article.
Feedly added the tag:
Inoreader add tag:
Finally, Feedly access is much faster than Inoreader.
Of course, personal experience is a little bit of detail to open the gap, different people have different feelings, the above is just a few aspects I pay attention to.
Before selecting Feedly, I also tried the following RSS feed tools:
- Feedbro
- FreshRSS
- NetNewsWire
- Winds
- Reeder 4
The above tools also have their own highlights, but for me personally, can not meet my needs, so I temporarily eliminated, interested can check.
Used with the RSSHub Radar
With feedly, the next step is to add your blog’s RSS feed address.
RRS addresses generally have three kinds, here is my blog as an example:
- juemuren4449.com/rss
- juemuren4449.com/feed
- juemuren4449.com/atom.xml
As you can see, it’s common to add RSS, feed, or atom.xml to the end of your blog address.
If you want to add an RSS feed to your blog, of course, you can do the same as above, or look for the feed entry on the web page, if you can get data like the picture below, then the link is available, go to the RSS feed tool to add a link.
However, the above method is still troublesome, here is a simple way to add: use “RSSHub Radar”, currently supported by Chrome.
Chrome Extension download
RSSHub Radar is easy to use. When it detects that an RSS feed is available on the current page, it displays a digital prompt on the plugin icon. Click “Subscribe to Feedly” and then click “Follow” on the new page.
Is it more convenient than adding it manually?
RSSHub Radar is a derivative project of “RSSHub”. RSSHub’s slogan is:
Everything can be RSS
Check the RSSHub document and you can find that in addition to adding RSS in the traditional sense of blog, you can even add RSS such as B site, Weibo and Twitter, which can almost integrate all your information access channels together. It is really powerful.
Less than perfect
With feedly + RSSHub Radar, you can get information efficiently and quickly to achieve personalized reading experience. It already looks perfect. Why do I say it’s not so perfect?
While Feedly’s access speed is much faster than Inoreader’s, it’s still a foreign service and image retrieval is slow and doesn’t have the smooth feel of domestic software. And when the subscription list is selected “Magazine View” or “Cards View”, the article without pictures will be empty without automatic text filling.
Feedly’s default article style is fine, but you can’t customize it; And part of the article content display is incomplete, need to visit the original web page.
Feedly’s free version supports up to three subscription folders and up to 100 feeds, which is good enough for me right now, but doesn’t support search or filtering, albeit a low-frequency feature.
That’s why I say “less than perfect.”
All in all, feedly works well for a free RSS feed that syncs data across multiple platforms. In the future, when you buy Qunhui, you might consider deploying your own RSS subscription service, or buying a feedly membership or something better.
You are welcome to share your questions about RSS feeds.
Welcome to personal blog: Gravedigger’s Shovel