Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Great, free alternative to Google Reader: The Old Reader

Needed to find a new RSS reader in the wake of Google's recent decision to kill off Google Reader, which takes effect on July 1. I'm guessing some of you are still hunting for an ideal replacement too.

After some initial reading and experimentation, I've decided to go with The Old Reader, the best free alternative styled after, wait for it... the old Google Reader. You can see a screenshot of the reader (and my newly imported RSS subscriptions) below. 



Since the Old Reader development team (a small, volunteer crew) was caught off guard by Google's announcement and the influx of new users, there was a queue for new users importing feeds into TOR (see: "How to export your Google Reader feeds"). 

If you want to import your feeds into The Old Reader, you'll probably be placed in the queue but it shouldn't take more than a week or so. In the meantime, you might want to try some of the other Google Reader alternatives for Mac, PC, and mobile users. 

Personally, I found patience to be a virtue here, even though I was just experimenting with the import of a small RSS list (I'm sure I could've just as easily added my RSS subscriptions manually). I really like the simple, clean layout and interface of The Old Reader - it's my favorite of the lot.

Hope this RSS solution helps you out, and don't forget to subscribe to our feed to keep up with the latest.