The news that Google Reader will be discontinuing their services as of July 1st has caused quite a stir among the numerous users of this RSS aggregator. The service has been almost unparalleled, with only a couple of other relatively well known readers out there a lot of its faithful users are now petitioning to keep it operational. However, they might be forced to accept the fact that their favorite feeds reader might be going down and start looking for a worthy replacement.
While offering the traditional set of features when it comes to organizing and storing feeds, Pulse comes with a couple of differences. First of all, there is their approach to the aesthetics which resulted in a pleasant to look at interface, with the news being presented in tiles. Apart from its layout and organization, Pulse is also distinguished by the fact that they are also using their own algorithms for finding interesting news, which means that you will be getting a different set of news from Pulse than you would from aggregates which rely solely on syncing their data with Google Reader. Naturally, you can still import your feeds from a different aggregate service. Aside from being able to use it on your PC, you can also find Android and iOS apps of Pulse.
If you are one of the people who don’t think that they’ll ever be able to find a completely suitable replacement for Google Reader, you might be relieved to find out that The Old Reader is practically a clone of your favorite aggregate. The Old Reader doesn’t only look quite similar to the service it’s modeled after; it can also boast some of the features that most of the users loved on Google Reader before they were removed in its later versions. This includes a number of organizing and sharing tools. You can import your data from Google Reader, and get accustomed to this service in no time. There are no apps for this service currently available for smartphones or tablets, but it will work without any glitches on your phone’s browser.
This was a famous news aggregator even before there was a necessity for a Google Reader replacement. In fact, Feedly has been gathering loyal supporters ever since 2008, and through a great number of updates and improvements to original idea. Feedly gives you plenty of organization options, letting you sort the articles in tiles, lists or images, depending on your preferences and habits. Apart from a great interface, Feedly is also characterized by their algorithm which tries (and very often succeeds) to offer you news that you might be interested in. You can find Feedly apps for iOS and Android as well as extensions for all major browsers.
NewsBlur doesn’t deviate too far from the standard set by Google Reader, but it does offer some interesting features not available in the more famous aggregate. One of its most interesting features is letting you view the articles that you reading in one of several ways, including as a pure text file or as they were originally published. A lot of focus has also been placed on sharing options and on news management. You can get apps for both Android and iOS, but free versions of the apps come with limits to the number of blogs you can follow, while premium version will cost you $24 per year.
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