16.4.13

Feedly - a clone of current Google Reader functionality is in development

Feedly

 
Chrome, Firefox, Android, iOS (free)

Feedly takes the visually appealing path to content aggregation by taking the contents of your feeds and displaying them in a visual, magazine-style tiled format, most notably in its mobile apps. That said, the various browser extensions have an interface far more reminiscent of a conventional RSS reader. You can subscribe to recommended feeds, import or search for your own content to subscribe to, and even save articles for later offline viewing either with Feedly's Saved For Later feature or through services like Pocket and Instapaper. Worryingly though, Feedly uses Google Reader for many of its back end functions; however, they have announced that a clone of current Google Reader functionality is in development (codenamed Normandy), and is expected to be online for seamless transitioning when Google Reader shuts down.

Verdict: Striking mobile app presentation, combined with a more traditional RSS reader experience on desktop browsers make for a great RSS reader. Still, there's the question as to whether Feedly's back end will be ready in time for Google Reader's shutdown.
Score: 4.5/5