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Announcing the New Feedly Mobile and Welcoming 3 Million Reader Refugees

39 points by uladzislau 14y ago

pgrote 14y ago
I switched and like it so far. The Old Reader was my first choice in switching, but was too slow to update and display. Feedly seems to be doing a good job of balancing the new UI features and focusing on the backend replacement. Any idea how they will make money in the future?
- daliusd 14y ago
  I see adds already. Might be one source of income.
- madsushi 14y ago
  Amazon referral URLs, currently in place.
susi22 14y ago
Why the rush? I'm still using google reader and won't switch until maybe 1-2 weeks before the shutdown. Then I'll see what's available and decide.
- pgrote 14y ago
  I wanted to feel comfortable with wherever I moved and learn the lay of the land.
- taligent 14y ago
  There's also work involved. I have hundreds of Starred articles that I will have to write a script to move to whatever service I end up using.
bdfh42 14y ago
Me - I went to the Old Reader - running very well. http://theoldreader.com http://theoldreader.com
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- nacs 14y ago
  The problem with them is that their OPML import times are ridiculous. I've literally been waiting over 2 weeks for 1 OPML file with about 30-40 feeds in it to be imported now. They really need to step up during this advantageous time for them and spin up more servers to handle imports. I've been checking in every few days and their import rate seems to be less than a thousand OPML files a day (when I signed up weeks ago, it was around 25000 users ahead of me with OPML files to be imported and I'm still waiting). Not giving me much confidence in their company at this early stage.
  - owyn 14y ago
    I ran into the same issue. I'm not sure why it's so slow but I contacted them directly and they bumped my import to the head of the queue. I would recommend doing that. The site may be slow but at least their support is responsive. They also had some serious UI slowdowns for the first couple of days but it is better now. I've also noticed that the feeds don't update as rapidly, but that will probably improve over time and it's mostly only noticeable when compared directly to Google Reader.
TheBoff 14y ago
I'm one of them. As I just read, Feedly in the only titles or whole document mode is almost no different from Google Reader.
daigoba66 14y ago
I wonder how they count it? Because I definitely signed up, imported my feeds, and gave it a try. But I've stopped using it because it requires a browser extension/plugin which I find irritating. Am I counted in the 3 million?
- loceng 14y ago
  Probably. It's marketing.
- hamax 14y ago
  Similar here, but I haven't used Google Reader for more then 2 years. After all the buzz I thought I'd give rss readers another try. (It didn't last long.)
- waxy 14y ago
  Same here.
- rssident 14y ago
  Try http://rssident.com http://rssident.com It's all web based. No apps/plugins to install. Doesn't support importing OPML files yet but it does have it's own feed indexing service so it's not at risk when Google Reader API shuts down. A bunch of UI improvements are being tested now and will be released soon.
- fakeer 14y ago
  Most probably for tracking. I do not really see any other reason.
parfe 14y ago
The way posters here complained about Google shuttering their free offering I'd think people would shun switching to another free product, but nope! Bunch of whining free riders. Now I understand why Google dumped you.
- smackfu 14y ago
  Is there any actual evidence that paid services are more reliable than free ones? Seems like a non-viable paid service is just as bad as a non-viable free one. I guess paid services feel worse about shutting down... unless they get acquired.
- smsm42 14y ago
  You imply paid product somehow would be immune to being shut down. Which sounds about right - there's no precedent that product which charges subscription fees was ever discontinued. Or is there?
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- tommi 14y ago
  Hold on, who's the whining party here? ;) If you take out the whining people out of the three million, you still have a pretty good user base. A user base which just might be willing to pay if there's a good service. Heck, I'd pay if there was something significantly better than the free Feedly.
- taligent 14y ago
  Which paid solutions exist ? And there is a distinction here. Feedly exists because of feeds and hence are in the same camp as Dropbox, Evernote, LogMeIn and other companies that exist solely for one purpose. But the lesson from the Reader saga was clear. Google is an advertising company and if there isn't a clear way for them to advertise then the product has a high risk of being cancelled.
- jerf 14y ago
  I trialed several things. I went into Feedly with the expectation it wasn't free. I was actually surprised when it never charged me, and I find myself hoping they will, as I'm not really interested in following another service like this into the inevitable sludgy morass of ads that all free services like this degenerate into. So far it's the winner for me, since I've ended up moving a lot of my RSS consumption to my phone, which has made the final contenders a rather short list.
greggman 14y ago
I don't understand why Feedly needs browser extensions. As far as I can tell the only reason they need them is to spy on your behavior. Otherwise, as all the other online RSS readers show there's no need for browser extensions. That leads me to believe they are spying. Because, to repeat myself, why else would they need the extension?
- brownbat 14y ago
  A web-based Feedly is their top request: http://feedly.uservoice.com/forums/192636-suggestions/filters/top http://feedly.uservoice.com/forums/192636-suggestions/filter... Please pile on additional votes to keep the pressure up. For what it's worth, they claim they are not monitoring your browsing: http://blog.feedly.com/2008/06/18/feedly-and-privacy/ http://blog.feedly.com/2008/06/18/feedly-and-privacy/ But you're right, still a good idea to push for the web version regardless.
- hamburglar 14y ago
  Yeah, I won't use feedly because 1) wtf browser extention and 2) needs a google login? Come on! I'm supposed to believe this service is going to replace google reader and they can't demonstrate it running without google reader's backend yet? Nor without a browser extension? #1 gives the appearance of incompetence and #2 smells like vaporware.

39 points by uladzislau 14y ago

I switched and like it so far. The Old Reader was my first choice in switching, but was too slow to update and display. Feedly seems to be doing a good job of balancing the new UI features and focusing on the backend replacement. Any idea how they will make money in the future?

daliusd 14y ago
I see adds already. Might be one source of income.
madsushi 14y ago
Amazon referral URLs, currently in place.

susi22 14y ago

Why the rush? I'm still using google reader and won't switch until maybe 1-2 weeks before the shutdown. Then I'll see what's available and decide.

pgrote 14y ago
I wanted to feel comfortable with wherever I moved and learn the lay of the land.
taligent 14y ago
There's also work involved. I have hundreds of Starred articles that I will have to write a script to move to whatever service I end up using.

bdfh42 14y ago

Me - I went to the Old Reader - running very well. http://theoldreader.com http://theoldreader.com

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
nacs 14y ago
The problem with them is that their OPML import times are ridiculous. I've literally been waiting over 2 weeks for 1 OPML file with about 30-40 feeds in it to be imported now. They really need to step up during this advantageous time for them and spin up more servers to handle imports. I've been checking in every few days and their import rate seems to be less than a thousand OPML files a day (when I signed up weeks ago, it was around 25000 users ahead of me with OPML files to be imported and I'm still waiting). Not giving me much confidence in their company at this early stage.
- owyn 14y ago
  I ran into the same issue. I'm not sure why it's so slow but I contacted them directly and they bumped my import to the head of the queue. I would recommend doing that. The site may be slow but at least their support is responsive. They also had some serious UI slowdowns for the first couple of days but it is better now. I've also noticed that the feeds don't update as rapidly, but that will probably improve over time and it's mostly only noticeable when compared directly to Google Reader.

TheBoff 14y ago

I'm one of them. As I just read, Feedly in the only titles or whole document mode is almost no different from Google Reader.

daigoba66 14y ago

I wonder how they count it? Because I definitely signed up, imported my feeds, and gave it a try. But I've stopped using it because it requires a browser extension/plugin which I find irritating. Am I counted in the 3 million?

loceng 14y ago
Probably. It's marketing.
hamax 14y ago
Similar here, but I haven't used Google Reader for more then 2 years. After all the buzz I thought I'd give rss readers another try. (It didn't last long.)
waxy 14y ago
Same here.
rssident 14y ago
Try http://rssident.com http://rssident.com It's all web based. No apps/plugins to install. Doesn't support importing OPML files yet but it does have it's own feed indexing service so it's not at risk when Google Reader API shuts down. A bunch of UI improvements are being tested now and will be released soon.
fakeer 14y ago
Most probably for tracking. I do not really see any other reason.

parfe 14y ago

The way posters here complained about Google shuttering their free offering I'd think people would shun switching to another free product, but nope! Bunch of whining free riders. Now I understand why Google dumped you.

smackfu 14y ago
Is there any actual evidence that paid services are more reliable than free ones? Seems like a non-viable paid service is just as bad as a non-viable free one. I guess paid services feel worse about shutting down... unless they get acquired.
smsm42 14y ago
You imply paid product somehow would be immune to being shut down. Which sounds about right - there's no precedent that product which charges subscription fees was ever discontinued. Or is there?
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
tommi 14y ago
Hold on, who's the whining party here? ;) If you take out the whining people out of the three million, you still have a pretty good user base. A user base which just might be willing to pay if there's a good service. Heck, I'd pay if there was something significantly better than the free Feedly.
taligent 14y ago
Which paid solutions exist ? And there is a distinction here. Feedly exists because of feeds and hence are in the same camp as Dropbox, Evernote, LogMeIn and other companies that exist solely for one purpose. But the lesson from the Reader saga was clear. Google is an advertising company and if there isn't a clear way for them to advertise then the product has a high risk of being cancelled.
jerf 14y ago
I trialed several things. I went into Feedly with the expectation it wasn't free. I was actually surprised when it never charged me, and I find myself hoping they will, as I'm not really interested in following another service like this into the inevitable sludgy morass of ads that all free services like this degenerate into. So far it's the winner for me, since I've ended up moving a lot of my RSS consumption to my phone, which has made the final contenders a rather short list.

greggman 14y ago

I don't understand why Feedly needs browser extensions. As far as I can tell the only reason they need them is to spy on your behavior. Otherwise, as all the other online RSS readers show there's no need for browser extensions. That leads me to believe they are spying. Because, to repeat myself, why else would they need the extension?

brownbat 14y ago
A web-based Feedly is their top request: http://feedly.uservoice.com/forums/192636-suggestions/filters/top http://feedly.uservoice.com/forums/192636-suggestions/filter... Please pile on additional votes to keep the pressure up. For what it's worth, they claim they are not monitoring your browsing: http://blog.feedly.com/2008/06/18/feedly-and-privacy/ http://blog.feedly.com/2008/06/18/feedly-and-privacy/ But you're right, still a good idea to push for the web version regardless.
hamburglar 14y ago
Yeah, I won't use feedly because 1) wtf browser extention and 2) needs a google login? Come on! I'm supposed to believe this service is going to replace google reader and they can't demonstrate it running without google reader's backend yet? Nor without a browser extension? #1 gives the appearance of incompetence and #2 smells like vaporware.