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Why Everyone Should Still Use an RSS Reader in 2024

Whatever the linguistic details, one of the main roles of RSS is to supply directly to you a steady stream of updates from a website. Every new article published on that site is served up in a list that can be interpreted by an RSS reader.

Unfortunately, RSS is no longer how most of us consume "content." (Google famously killed its beloved Google Reader more than a decade ago.) It's now the norm to check social media or the front pages of many different sites to see what's new. But I think RSS still has a place in your life: Especially for those who don't want to miss anything or have algorithms choosing what they read, it remains one of the best ways to navigate the internet. Here's a primer on what RSS can (still!) do for you, and how to get started with it, even in this late era of online existence.

spaduf ,
@spaduf@slrpnk.net avatar

Does anybody have any recommendations for FOSS RSS readers with actual content surfacing features? So many RSS feeds are full of junk (this is particularly a problem with feeds with wildly disparate posting frequencies) and I've always felt they'd be a lot more useful if people were putting more effort into a modern way to sort through extremely dense feeds.

Artisian ,
@Artisian@lemmy.world avatar

Not FOSS, but ad free and its been able to find the hidden RSS feeds for things OK. FeedDemon at: http://bradsoft.com/

Probably not what you are after, but maybe someone with a similar question.

bushparty ,

RSS has always been great! Thankfully I never relied on Google Reader and have been using Newsify for 5+ years. Great app with a great newspaper view as well as an identical web version. Keept me off of Google and don't have to rely on Feedly either.

Newsify also supports Feedly accounts though I've never needed to consider migrating. I think I've had a couple full text issues with certain items but it's been amazing great and I've really enjoyed their product and price point for subscription ($50CAD/yr, I believe)

usyless ,
@usyless@lemmy.world avatar

What did you try to mean by, whatever the linguistic details. What are you talking about when you say linguistic details?

OfficerBribe ,

Read the whole article, it is weirdly quoted here.

SuperSpruce ,

Downloaded Feeder. It seems like a really good way to read the articles, but I also like looking at the comments, as they often mimic the threads here on Lemmy, and can add information missing in the articles, auxillary information, and cool anecdotes. I'll see if this becomes the way I look at the articles.

nutsack ,

people don't do RSS anymore because websites don't do posts. everything is on some shitty proprietary social media shithole

cashews_best_nut ,
@cashews_best_nut@lemmy.world avatar

I have a really intense desire to nibble an attractive mans toes.

Even stranger I have a need to tell someone about it.

Congratulations to you, I guess?

0xD ,

Hope you find something to fulfill your wish!

nutsack ,

I don't know why you're being downloaded I think this is an important post

cashews_best_nut ,
@cashews_best_nut@lemmy.world avatar

Thank you! At least someone understands.

morrowind ,
@morrowind@lemmy.ml avatar

I'm confused if you're mocking op or this is actually some challenge you're doing

cashews_best_nut ,
@cashews_best_nut@lemmy.world avatar

I live a life of whimsical nonsense and was probably horny for a moment so just blurted out what was on my mind. I find it amusing the number of downvotes I got.

morrowind ,
@morrowind@lemmy.ml avatar

I'm guessing most people thought you were mocking OP. Especially that last sentence would be sarcastic-mean, if it made any sense

Godric ,

Got Feeder to try RSS on my PC based on this post, added a bunch of cool sites, was enjoying it, and then quickly got smacked in the face with "upgrade to view more posts".

Anyone recommend an RSS reader that doesn't have stupid "fuck you, pay me" limitations?

eluvatar ,

https://www.inoreader.com/ used it for years it's great!

helpImTrappedOnline ,

I use Thunderbird for RSS...however I should also admit I only have two things - xkcd and another comic that hasn't been posted in so long I think it might be dead.

f4f4f4f4f4f4f4f4 , (edited )

Oof. The real Feeder is a FOSS Android app, get it on F-Droid.

On PC, there are two Firefox plugins, one to bring back "live bookmarks" (RSS feeds), and one to bring back the radio-waves-like icon in the address bar of sites with RSS feeds available. Let me check...

Edit: It's just one plugin, Livemarks. If you put the bookmark it creates into the bookmarks toolbar, then it becomes a drop-down menu of the headlines/RSS items. 👍

Godric ,

Thanks, I'm trying that

books ,

What's the cost?

I downloaded Feedly and they want 8 bucks a month, which seems high considering they don't actually create the content. I'm all for paying developers but that's more than I pay fo other actual new sources

morrowind ,
@morrowind@lemmy.ml avatar

It's for the service. It's not a local rss reader, it works like email. Local/offline ones are usually cheap/free

Helkriz ,

I'm using Feeder app and it's the best. Others are resource heavy and light apps won't load the whole story instead redirects. Which is a problem. Feeder on the other hand, free open source privacy respecting light app which shows the whole story in the app itself. Very very useful and not a disturbing one.

Holzkohlen ,

I use Feeder on Android, it's open source.

1lya ,
@1lya@lemmy.world avatar

What if I told you that I have never used Google to view RSS news feeds? It seems to me that these stereotypes about people’s attachment to Google services only take place somewhere in the USA and Europe.

fne8w2ah ,

Inoreader ftw!

snek ,
@snek@lemmy.world avatar

Because if you don't save shit in your RSS feed, you might never ever again find it using google or other search engines.

Plopp ,

What, search? Listen, you don't actually want that, you want recommendations from our amazing algorithm and AI based on overall connections between topics and trends and other very complex things. You don't even know what it is you're looking for, but we do, so here are some results that generate revenue for us. //Google

Andre ,

On IOS try feeeed

https://apps.apple.com/de/app/feeeed-rss-reader-and-more/id1600187490

SuspiciousUser ,

I love TinyTinyRSS (self hosted) and lire for iOS which syncs with it. Very powerful setup. I have issues with overusing social media sites so I have sites like Lemmy do the "Top Week" and so on for areas I'm interested in.

Dehydrated ,

Cool setup, mine is pretty similar, but I use self-hosted FreshRSS instead.

anarchy79 ,
@anarchy79@lemmy.world avatar

I've tried so many times. I went ahead and checked out feedly right now just to have them change my mind, and they failed miserably. You run into paywall issues right away, they don't list pretty major newspapers I would assume to have rss, and adding something like business insider or the independent gives you so much dung mixed with the things you are actually interested in.

Let's say I'm into business, but don't want car related news? What if I'm into investing yet don't want to hear about Trump?

If there was something like "more like this"/"less like this" function, then maybe, but just at a glance, one of many, I don't see how it could present me with the info I want in the structure I want.

Global events and news
Economical trends on both macro and micro level for specific domains
Exclude entertainment, sports, fashion, drama
Update every hour
Total headlines max 30 per day
Max visible 7 at a time.

I've tried, and it's not worth the hassle even trying to set that up. For me, at least.

Adding any RSS feed is like getting an information enema with raisins sprinkled in.

omnomed , (edited )

What shit app were you trying to use, get feeder and add the proper topic specific rss if you want to categorize like "business". I never even get the time to read through all the news because there are literally hundreds of articles being added to the feed daily.

And AntennaPod for your podcast needs.

Dehydrated ,

Read You is another great RSS client for Android

moon ,

I suggest you give it another try, it can actually do what you're asking it to do. Sounds like you just added the global feed of crap.

For better results, you typically have to search "<newspaper website> rss" and hope they have decent support. It's really hit or miss.

For example, the independent that you were asking for, actually has a huge amount of fine tuning you can do. Go ahead and check their link and add the categories you'd like to read about instead catching all that junk you don't care about:

https://www.independent.co.uk/service/rss-feeds-775086.html

BalpeenHammer ,

If RSS is so great why aren't people using it? Why isn't there a dozen readers on the market?

maybe it's just not that useful and that's why nobody is using it.

anarchy79 ,
@anarchy79@lemmy.world avatar

This is a common logical fallacy known as "argumentum ad populum" (appeal to popularity). You equate the popularity of the idea as a basis for determining its validity.

Compare, "if cars are so great, why is everyone still riding horses?"

Lifter ,

But it actually makes sense with technology. If you need help, you want there to be a large community and corpus of knowledge to draw from.

Ilflish ,

Not really. In fact technology is often a great example of good demand but little effort put in to meet it. Open source software is riddled with issues that people are too eager enough to report but not eager enough to fix for everyone . We have an example of Palworld finally filling a niche described in the market for almost 2 decades.

Sheeple ,
@Sheeple@lemmy.world avatar

Cassette Beasts? TemTem? Digimon? Saying no attempts to fill it were made is disgenuine

Ilflish ,

Should have been more clear, I'm talking about a 3D open world Pokemon. So the closest one to that is Digimon, which doesn't have captures. It took until Pokémon themselves created a poor version of what people asked for in this instance for another one to appear.

Sheeple ,
@Sheeple@lemmy.world avatar

oh I was never really desiring 3D pokémon in the first place so I suppose that coincides with my misunderstanding

anarchy79 ,
@anarchy79@lemmy.world avatar

I would argue that you can't do better for help and support than for old niche technologies and frameworks, because things like that always have a vibrant community of enthusiasts ready and eager to help.

Compare eMacs. Why isn't everyone using eMacs? It's basically superpowers for any client you install it on, and it installs on everything. Ridiculously hardcore fanbase, we're talking original flame wars on Usenet levels supporters.

Usenet, apropos, is quite topical on this matter. You should look it up. Fuck it here's the robot for ya:

Usenet is a global discussion system where users can post messages and read responses in subject-based forums called newsgroups. It's decentralized, meaning there's no central server or authority, and it operates across many different servers worldwide. Users can participate in a wide range of discussions, from technology and science to hobbies and arts. It's text-based and functions somewhat like a precursor to modern internet forums and social media, but with a more straightforward, less graphical interface.

Original RSS, from back in the day. Still active.

If you're interested: https://techjury.net/blog/what-is-usenet

BalpeenHammer ,

But everybody isn't riding horses. In order for your analogy to work it would have to like this. "If horses are so great why isn't everybody riding horses to work"

SuspiciousUser ,

The irony is saying that on a platform like Lemmy.

BalpeenHammer ,

I don't see it. What is the irony? How wildly popular is lemmy?

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