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> The default output format of a pipe is RSS. Do people still use RSS feeds? I work on a similar product[0], conceptually at least, to Pipes, and many of our

> The default output format of a pipe is RSS. Do people still use RSS feeds? I work on a similar product[0], conceptually at least, to Pipes, and many of our users have asked for RSS feeds as output. Until now I’ve rationalized that as low priority, but maybe I’m wrong? [0] https://magicloops.dev https://magicloops.dev

rtpg 2y ago
people totally use RSS feeds still. So many systems just make it by default, and I (and many other people) just use RSS readers for following blogs and whatnot. It's not a complicated thing to get setup! There's a bunch of details you can flub but at the end of the day it's a big thing of markup. The "good enough" thing is easy.
onion2k 2y ago
many of our users have asked for RSS feeds as output If your users are asking for it then it's locally popular regardless of how much use it gets on the general internet, and therefore it should be important to you. Local popularity (eg the market for your app) is significantly more important to product design than general popularity.
- JoshTriplett 2y ago
  Exactly. The user base for "people who want Pipes" is likely to disproportionately want RSS as a way of generating data they can consume.
gumby 2y ago
RSS is my main interface to the web
InsideOutSanta 2y ago
Is there anyone who doesn't use RSS, whether it is as infrastructure behind the scenes (e.g. for a podcast or some kind of notification system) or explicitly in a feed reader?
rcarmo 2y ago
I only read HN via RSS, and it is one of around two hundred feeds I filter, summarize and read every morning…
onli 2y ago
I can't judge the economic impact of that for you. But with a service like this, it's just so easy to do that you might want to prioritize it :) If your model is pull based, you create a second endpoint that puts the data you'd normally output directly (otionally minus the JSON dressing) into the content field of RSS items. If it's push based, you could even write into an XML file on your server somewhere and let users access that. In the end, RSS is just some XML dressing around your data, and can be as easily implemented as a html template. Storing your old data (a RSS feed should not contain only one item) might be the biggest hurdle, if you don't do that already. Or you just send your users to Pipes, they could use a download and "build feed" block to create a feed on their own ;) Edit: Though I noticed that the endpoint of your loops can be specific actions, like a text message, that wouldn't translate of course. More a "put it into the feed" target action then.
Pufferbo 2y ago
I exclusively consume YouTube via RSS.
- 8organicbits 2y ago
  Can you share more, what reader do you use? I think YouTube may be the service with the most RSS feeds, as each channel has one. I could see RSS working well for YouTube, especially if the ads still play.
  - shocks 2y ago
    I use https://miniflux.app/ https://miniflux.app/ to consume YT. Works great.
  - Pufferbo 2y ago
    I use Feeder: https://feeder.co/ https://feeder.co/ It’s not perfect and has a display limit of 50 for a feed’s most recent items, and you can’t sort feeds (unless you pay). But it works well enough. What’s nice is that it actually renders YT links in the reader, with the option to view them in “reader mode”, which conveniently prevents ads from showing.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
Pawka 2y ago
> Do people still use RSS feeds? Daily. For me RSS feed is the only option to pick what I want to read instead of reading what promoter wants me to read. If there are other ways - I would be happy to know.
stareatgoats 2y ago
> Do people still use RSS feeds? Another data point from me: I recently started unsubscribing from as many newsletters as possible, and have organized them into hierarchical tree structures in my RSS feed reader instead, according to priority and topics. With many hundred sources by now, some of them extremely prolific posters, I rarely make it past the top priority ones, but for the rest, there is the occasional browse, and a full-text search that I can use on specific topics. This setup allows me to consume newsletters and blogposts much more efficiently, and the mailbox gets mainly used for correspondence, not general stuff. Suits me just fine, and as an added bonus: I now more seldom have the feeling my every move-move is monitored and stored by who knows who, who knows where, for who knows what purpose.
- stareatgoats 2y ago
  edit: > move-move = mouse-move

rtpg 2y ago

people totally use RSS feeds still. So many systems just make it by default, and I (and many other people) just use RSS readers for following blogs and whatnot. It's not a complicated thing to get setup! There's a bunch of details you can flub but at the end of the day it's a big thing of markup. The "good enough" thing is easy.

onion2k 2y ago

many of our users have asked for RSS feeds as output If your users are asking for it then it's locally popular regardless of how much use it gets on the general internet, and therefore it should be important to you. Local popularity (eg the market for your app) is significantly more important to product design than general popularity.

JoshTriplett 2y ago
Exactly. The user base for "people who want Pipes" is likely to disproportionately want RSS as a way of generating data they can consume.

gumby 2y ago

RSS is my main interface to the web

InsideOutSanta 2y ago

Is there anyone who doesn't use RSS, whether it is as infrastructure behind the scenes (e.g. for a podcast or some kind of notification system) or explicitly in a feed reader?

rcarmo 2y ago

I only read HN via RSS, and it is one of around two hundred feeds I filter, summarize and read every morning…

onli 2y ago

I can't judge the economic impact of that for you. But with a service like this, it's just so easy to do that you might want to prioritize it :) If your model is pull based, you create a second endpoint that puts the data you'd normally output directly (otionally minus the JSON dressing) into the content field of RSS items. If it's push based, you could even write into an XML file on your server somewhere and let users access that. In the end, RSS is just some XML dressing around your data, and can be as easily implemented as a html template. Storing your old data (a RSS feed should not contain only one item) might be the biggest hurdle, if you don't do that already. Or you just send your users to Pipes, they could use a download and "build feed" block to create a feed on their own ;) Edit: Though I noticed that the endpoint of your loops can be specific actions, like a text message, that wouldn't translate of course. More a "put it into the feed" target action then.

Pufferbo 2y ago

I exclusively consume YouTube via RSS.

8organicbits 2y ago
Can you share more, what reader do you use? I think YouTube may be the service with the most RSS feeds, as each channel has one. I could see RSS working well for YouTube, especially if the ads still play.
- shocks 2y ago
  I use https://miniflux.app/ https://miniflux.app/ to consume YT. Works great.
- Pufferbo 2y ago
  I use Feeder: https://feeder.co/ https://feeder.co/ It’s not perfect and has a display limit of 50 for a feed’s most recent items, and you can’t sort feeds (unless you pay). But it works well enough. What’s nice is that it actually renders YT links in the reader, with the option to view them in “reader mode”, which conveniently prevents ads from showing.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

Pawka 2y ago

> Do people still use RSS feeds? Daily. For me RSS feed is the only option to pick what I want to read instead of reading what promoter wants me to read. If there are other ways - I would be happy to know.

stareatgoats 2y ago

> Do people still use RSS feeds? Another data point from me: I recently started unsubscribing from as many newsletters as possible, and have organized them into hierarchical tree structures in my RSS feed reader instead, according to priority and topics. With many hundred sources by now, some of them extremely prolific posters, I rarely make it past the top priority ones, but for the rest, there is the occasional browse, and a full-text search that I can use on specific topics. This setup allows me to consume newsletters and blogposts much more efficiently, and the mailbox gets mainly used for correspondence, not general stuff. Suits me just fine, and as an added bonus: I now more seldom have the feeling my every move-move is monitored and stored by who knows who, who knows where, for who knows what purpose.

stareatgoats 2y ago
edit: > move-move = mouse-move