UPDATE #1: Feedly has now responded to the news and has a transition guide posted here.
UPDATE #2: No matter what you decide to do, you may want to use Google Takeout to export your existing data — in this case, your Reader but you can also download your information from other Google products — so you can keep a record.
UPDATE #3: I’m getting a lot of questions on how to customize Feedly to mimic Google Reader. Feedly just tackled that in a new blog post here (hint: change your view to Titles).
Just an hour ago, this post was half-written in my drafts and called “Why I’ve Dumped Google Reader (and What I’m Using Now).” And on February 27th, I tweeted this:
But with the news that Google is shutting down Google Reader (spring cleaning, they call it — I call it evil, honestly, even though I’m usually pretty patient with free services…), I wanted to scramble and publish it ASAP, as I’m sure you’re wondering what to do next.
There are several good alternatives, and I’ve tried most.
But absolutely, my favorite is a service called Feedly.
I’ve been using it instead of Google Reader for about a month and on the web and on mobile, it’s a much better experience.
First and foremost, in the wake of the Google Reader change, Feedly actually imports your existing Google Reader feeds. So I’d head there now and start the migration. It pulls over exactly what you have on Reader — your folders, tags, etc., so you won’t lose anything.
Inherently, the user interface and navigation is superior on Feedly — you can mark categories as read, rather than all posts. You can easily save for later, share to your favorite social networking sites, log in with your Facebook and Twitter pages to see what your friends are sharing, etc.
And a bonus note on navigation — the mobile experience is phenomenal. I use Feedly on my iPhone and on my Google Nexus 7, which runs on Android, and both platforms allow quick and, frankly, fun features: short swipe to mark a single post as read, long swipe to mark entire page read, etc.
Speaking of “mark as read,” to me this is the single most important feature of Feedly — it’s completely customizable so you can mark everything above a certain point as read, posts older than a day/week as read, etc. Because I have so many subscriptions and so little time, I love being able to really keep track of what is new to me when I visit.
You also control the layout — you can have a magazine style, or view in a mosaic/tiled page (those are just a few of the options). If you make Feedly your default reader, any time you click on an RSS icon, the feed will be added to your listening station.
You can see how many subscribers a blog has, see recommendations based on what you’ve read, etc.
I wholeheartedly endorse Feedly, and planned to urge you to make the switch before Google Reader kicked the bucket. So it’s my recommended option for moving your RSS feeds with no muss, no fuss now.
P.S. I’ve already started moving my own feed/RSS link away from Feedburner, which is another Google product. Look for my how-to post soon, but spoiler alert: I’m moving to FeedBlitz.
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About Katy
You. Are. A. Lifesaver.
#thatisall
THANK YOU!!! I am trying to figure out how to start my new life without Google Reader!
I KNEW you’d have the answer, you always do! thanks Katy!
I’ve been using Feedly for a while now and I.Love.It. I also love the apps. It’s set up so beautifully.
Thank you for the suggestion! I hate change and this is a big one. As a news junkie, I read so many news blogs (like TPM or ThinkProgress) that update 400 times per day. So much easier to read in a reader or I would have to be on the site all day. Will give Feedly a shot.
I think I may try FEEDLY. Dammit! Google what are you doing to humanity!!
Thank you Katy!!!!!! <3
Katy, you are so on top of it! Thank you! My panic attack has been curbed.
I’m confused about where tags are in Feedly. I’ve imported all my feeds, but I am so nervous to lose my precious tags (mostly recipes). How do I find/search stuff that I’ve previously tagged in Google Reader?
Thanks!
Too many products, Google. Time to settle on a handful that you can handle without expiration date
Thanks for the heads up, sweetie. You rock!
When I opened Reader and saw the announcement, I immediately thought you would have a post for us. Thank you!!
Thanks! Going to check it out now.
Thank you, thank you! This is so helpful. I didn’t like GR very much anyway.
Have you figured out how to add a new subscription in Feedly? I can’t seem to figure it out!
Sara – if you hover over the bars that hold your pop out of your profile/folders/etc. you’ll see it say +add website. Click that, then go and type or copy and paste the url into the search bar, it takes it a few seconds to find what you’re looking for, but then click add and tell it what folder you want it to go under.
hope that helps!
I’m SO happy you posted this! I just logged in to catch up on my favorite blogs and felt a panic come over me when I saw that pop up. Then I saw this while browsing my reads and got so excited! Thank you! I’m looking forward to checking out Freedly!
Don’t know what I’d do without you and your advice. I am now Feedly-ing on my computer and my Iphone.
Thank you so much for the info. I was wondering which service I would be using because I had no clue what else what else was out there.
Does Feedly have a “next” button like Google Reader? That’s my favorite feature!!!
I wondered the same thing – I’ve tried Feedly for a week or so and really like the layout but I think I’m going to go with Bloglovin’ for that very feature!
You can use the “j” and “k” shortcuts (among a list of shortcuts) to jump between posts like a Next button but as far as I can see for now, there’s nothing you can click with the mouse.
Thanks!! That’s really helpful and definitely makes a difference in my decision
do you know if the shortcuts take you to the blog post on its native site, or just to the next post within the feedly app? that’s the killer part of the google next button.
I don’t think there’s a shortcut for that although I see a feature request has been submitted to Feedly.
I believe there is a shortcut key for it – not something you click with the mouse.
Thank you for this info!
Thank you! Someone emailed me the news last night and today I saw it for myself when I opened my reader. My reply to the email was something like “I’m sure Katy will have a suggestion.” And, sure enough:) Coincidentally for me, I have a big trip coming in July and combined with my lack of blogging for the past many months, had been slowly unsubscribing from some of the many blogs I used to read.
Do you know how Feedly will operate once Google Reader ceases to exist? It seems to be linked so closely with Google Reader that I wonder if it will implode once it can no longer link up.
I’m waiting for a comment from them BUT based on their latest blog posts, they import your existing feeds, so once you’ve moved things over to Feedly, it keeps its own records and if/when Google Reader disappears, you’ll be safe (see the Update #1 I posted at the top of this page for Feedly’s explanation).
Thanks for this! Also, happy to spy my blog under your “Fitbloggin’” category!
Eagle eyes!
Thanks for the pointers, Katy! My Google panic has disappeared.
Thank you for this, Katy. I think I like it already!
YOu save us every time! THANK YOU!
Thanks for being so awesome! I knew you’d know what do!
Thanks Katy!
I was at a loss when I logged into my Google reader this morning. But I knew you would have the answer of what the heck do I do now!? Thanks, as always, for the great info!
Thank you!!!
This is more than GREAT! Thank you so much…
Happy Thursday!
I left a comment on the feedly blog, but do you know if there is a way to mark all posts to go oldest to newest instead of the new-old. You can do it for each blog but there doesn’t seem to be a way to do for all.
Click the gear button on the top/right of the screen and check “oldest first.” Let me know if that doesn’t work!
Unfortunately it only allows you to do that for individual blogs not a global option (entire feed or categories). I’ll do it individually as I read. Just thought I’d check to see if I missed something! Thanks for responding so fast.
Hmmm…can you explain more? (I promise, I’m not doubting you, I just want to be able to answer the same questions for others.)
On my home page, if I click “All” on the left sidebar, I have the option — using the gear logo — to order by oldest first. I was also successful doing this by category.
One note though…that option only exists for me when I’m in “titles” view, so make sure you’re not on Magazine mode or one of the other alternatives.
I am not very tech savvy but it seems like Feedly only works with Firefox? Does that mean it won’t work with Internet Explorer? Do you use Firefox? Do you like it? I’ve never used anything but IE!
I use it in Chrome and it works perfectly, and I know that Firefox is also supported.
What happens when you try it with IE? Many tools no longer support IE as much (and certainly not older versions) because it’s just not as stable as FF and Chrome, but I believe you can use it — IE just doesn’t offer add-ons and other tools.
Do you know how to get feedly to work when offline? I would always load up my greader before I went to the gym and then would read through (sans pics) without wifi. When I got home I would mark them as read. But with feedly, it doesn’t seem to have the option to load all available posts but rather only a few at a time. Suggestions?.
I read on the blog today that offline reading is not supported but it’s coming soon. You can vote on features on their site if you want to let them know that you really want it!
Thanks so much for getting back to me so quickly! The problem is, whenever I try to go to feedly.com, I get redirected to the App Store….. I guess I’ll just wait for a while and then try again when they’ve got things updated a bit….
You wrote: “you can mark everything above a certain point as read”.
I’m curious how you do that, because I can’t find that option and I’d really like to use that option.
Michel,
It works in Magazine mode, but I’m still looking for the same option in other views like Titles. Stay tuned (I’m having to get up to speed with all of Feedly’s features faster than I expected!).
Hi! Thanks so much for this helpful and timely post. At the end you mentioned feedly enables you to find out how many subscribers a blog has. Can you explain how to find this feature on feedly? It was so easy on Google Reader and now I don’t know where to look on feedly.
Thanks!
Interesting…the subscriber count is there when you first add a feed (go to “Add a Website” and put in a URL and you’ll see) but I’m having trouble seeing it for existing subscriptions. I’ll keep digging (but at least you have a cheater’s way of figuring it out).
Your header is adorable, by the way.
I started using feedly a few weeks ago, and I love it. Glad to see it’s going to be a “seamless” transition.
Just signed up for them and WOW! I love all the different layouts to view posts. Although I have a feeling I will miss my “Next” button.
Did you see the list of keyboard shortcuts? You can’t use the mouse like you did with Google Reader, but you can use the keyboard to quickly shuttle through.
Thank you!!
Thanks for the information. I have downloaded the Feedly and used it fine yesterday but not today it won’t let me in. I don’t see any login place and it just takes me to the download page. Am I doing something wrong?
Did you download to a desktop, or are you using in a browser (or perhaps a mobile device?). Let me know and I’ll try and help!
I downloaded it to my browser. I’m using Google Chrome. I also put it on my phone and it seems to be working fine on that. Thanks!
Thanks!
Thanks for all this info!! I just spent the morning researching and switched over to Feedly. So far, so good! Everything seems pretty intuitive and was easy to set up. Thank you!
I asked my computer guru about this and he said right now Feedly is just a front end for Google Reader but they are working to be stand alone by July 1st. Just thought I should share this heads up.
Thanks — it’s fascinating to watch this all unfold! I just read that 500,000 people flocked to Feedly last week. Can you imagine that development room?
From what I understand, and let me know if your guru has a better explanation, is that they have cloned the Google tools os that when Reader shuts down, there really is a seamless transition…so Feedly will have its own back end but users shouldn’t notice much difference.
Thanks for the advice! I’m gonna look into it
One question – what are your thoughts on Bloglovin’ vs. Feedly?
Thank you so much for sharing this. I was devastated at the Google Reader announcement, and the number of alternatives was overwhelming. As a blogging pro, I’m thankful for your endorsement of Feedly. Getting it now!
So, I haven’t logged into Google Reader in a while (busy, working, mom) and when I did today I got the notification that Reader would be shutting down. I immediately thought, “Katy will know what to do!” and started scrolling through your posts. Thanks for the information and I can’t wait to make the switch!
Thank you so much for sharing, Katy!! I just downloaded the app and made the switch from Google Reader. I know I am nowhere near using this to it’s full potential, but I really appreciate you sharing so much information. Very helpful!!!