Unless you’ve been living under a rock in the tech world, you’ve probably heard that Google Reader is shutting down. As a blogger, this is hitting me pretty hard. Feedreaders collects posts from websites and blog and gathers them in one place to read. This is fantastic because it means I can get caught up with all the blogs I follow in one place. I don’t have to check my email, browse through Twitter, and cruise through Facebook to see what my blogs are up. Obviously that’s a huge time saver.
Since hearing the news this week, I’ve been frantically searching the internet trying to find a suitable replacement. Let me tell you, it’s HARD trying to find a decent free, cloud based feedreader.
I’ve been playing around with feedly for the last few days. I’m liking it well enough so far.
You’re able to make it look pretty similar to Google Reader which is nice.
You also have the option for a magazine like appearance.
The thing I like best right now is the fact that it’s directly using your Google Reader account. It imports everything from there and you’re good to go. Not to mention they’ve been working on something that will make the transition easy peasy when Google Reader shuts down.
The mobile app looks pretty good as well.
I guess what annoys me the most about Google Reader shutting down is I chose it because I thought it would be reliable. I knew there were other readers out there but I didn’t know how long they’d be around. Surely Google would be around for a while. I wouldn’t have to scramble to find a new service. I guess that’s not the case. Now it’s got me questioning other products I use from them: gmail, Google docs, and Google calendar. How long are they going to be around?
So tell me, what readers have you been trying lately? How are you liking them?
The Cheap Reader 
I’ve been worrying about this too! I tried Bloglovin’ yesterday, and that seems good. It was easy to get all my blogs there from google reader. But I like how Feedly looks, too, so I think I will also look into that. Thanks for this post 🙂
It’s fun playing around with all the options! I hope we can find something we actually like though.
Wooooot I spotted my blog in there 😉 haha
I agree – Seems like Feedly is working best for me BUUUUT. I don’t see a way to use it on Internet Explorer so far and that’s the only browser we have at work. I may need to find an alternative 😦
Yeah, the fact that feedly is more of an extension than a proper reader is a real bummer.
I really like Blog Lovin. I tried some of the other recommendations, and they’re SLOW.Or, at least were when I tried them. 🙂
I started playing with Blog Loving this morning!
I think slowness is going to be a big problem for a while since all these reader sites are gaining TONS of new users.
I tried Bloglovin today and so far I like it better than Feedly. It looks like google reader and you can import your subscriptions.
Bloglovin is looking pretty cool!
Add another to the list of Bloglovin likers. That’s what I’m going with, at any rate. 🙂