I migrated to Inoreader
I changed my RSS reader from Feedly to Inoreader.
The affordable Supporter plan I subscribed to is the lowest Inoreader tier but I chose it not because I want something cheap, it's just the plan happens to provide all the features I need. I left behind a lifetime Feedly Pro plan that allows me to use the product indefinitely at no cost.
Importing my feeds and folders from Feedly via the API was seamless and smooth.
Motivation
I had been using Feedly for ten years since March 13, 2013 when Google announced the shutdown of Google Reader. Over the years Feedly kept adding AI and enterprise features I didn't care about as an individual user. Although the Android app remained inadequate for a long time, Feedly is an okay product despite its frequent outages and performance issues.
I eventually grew dissatisfied with the reliability of Feedly and the company's drift away from the core RSS experience, which made me want to look for something new. A shameful new Feedly feature set the right timing to research a different newsreader.
I want a cloud RSS reader that synchronizes across platforms, particularly the web and Android. I had long heard great things about Inoreader, checked it out, loved it, and purchased a subscription.
First impressions
Inoreader has a clean and pleasant design with the right similarities to Feedly.
The general layout and the choice of keystrokes, mostly the same as Feedly, make the application immediately familiar and usable. Article presentation and formatting are better than Feedly's, which often doesn't render correctly certain page elements. For example, code blocks stand out nicely in Inoreader.
The web client is consistently fast and responsive. So far I haven't experienced the typical slowdowns and outages of Feedly.
What surprised me of Inoreader is text search actually works and instantaneously delivers accurate results. I hadn't seen these levels of search accuracy and performance in RSS readers since Google Reader. Compare this with Feedly's search, which takes several seconds and misses results I'm sure are there. Feedly search is an oxymoron.
A great Inoreader feature missing from Feedly is the ability to load the full text of the articles in partial feeds, it takes just a keypress. This alone is worth Inoreader.
The Chrome extension makes Inoreader double as a read later tool. My primary read later tool is Google Keep but I'm liking Inoreader's smooth workflow for saving and reading web pages.
The Android app has all the key features of the desktop version. For example, swiping down an article in a partial feed downloads the full text. Also, sharing to Inoreader a link to a website with an RSS feed prompts to subscribe to the feed or save the page for later. It's a no brainer, but the Feedly app doesn't support it.
Inoreader is making me rediscover RSS. Reading sessions felt like routine with Feedly, but Inoreader makes me eagerly anticipate sitting down and catching up with my favorite sources.
Discuss...
Email | Reply @amoroso@fosstodon.org