Google Reader will be cremated in July; RIP Google Reader!

As a part of this spring-cleaning, Google has decided to burn down it’s not so popular Google Reader. Google is bringing it down on July 1^st. It started of as a feed parser, which turned into feed reader. It was launched as a Google Lab project in 2005. Later it was integrated with iGoogle along with added social features. In 2011, Google fired its social features and started all social features under a separate with as Google +1. After this, a lot of people lost interest in feeds and browsers dropped support for reading feeds.

Why is it good to dismantle Google Reader?

Although it is good to have immediate access to all latest information as soon as it is made available to readers, but not all websites support RSS feeds. So, it is not possible to subscribe to all your favorite websites. Another problem is that a lot of feeds are updated frequently, and not all of them are of your interest. Therefore, it takes time to sort feeds that are of your interest from this large pool of data. A lot of feeds on Google Reader do not display images. Although its not an important part, but images help to locate something interesting faster and attracts you to read on.

Best alternatives for Google Reader

There is no consolation for Google Reader admirers, but fortunately there are enough handsome alternatives, which you will enjoy using.

Feedly

It is a free RSS reader, which combines organizational qualities of Google’s software along with magazine-style design. Feeds are easily added and organized and the Today tab makes it easy to scroll latest feeds of the day. It is available as an extension of Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox and other mobile apps for iOS and Android.

Pulse

Pulse is another friendly reader with free iOS and Android apps. Pulse updates feed in tile format where stores appear as a series of clickable photo tiles. You can click on each link to read further. In full-view mode, you can tap the next or previous arrow to read the next story. There are Facebook and Twitter fast share buttons to share feeds quickly. While registering for the first time, you can choose to follow specific subjects such as technology or sport.

Flipboard

It is social magazine for Android and iOS with gorgeous design making it look like a digital magazine. In addition to RSS feeds, you can add Twitter and Facebook feeds to make it more dynamic and visually appealing. The only drawback of Flipboard is that it is only for mobile.

Twitter

Though Twitter is not an RSS reader, but social network is another alternative to keep up with the latest news. You can create separate lists based on topics and add accounts that you like to follow. It is the best way to separate feeds of your interest from the rest. You can use Twitter on any platform (desktop, tablets or smartphones).