Zite Announces Google Reader Alternative

[MacRumors]

Following Wednesday's news that Google would be shutting down its RSS aggregation platform Google Reader in July, personalized magazine company Zite today*announced that it had built a functional replacement that does not utilize Google's infrastructure.

Zite has long included support for Google Reader, using the platform to allow readers to import customized feeds into the app. Zite's replacement for Google Reader was built in just six hours and is simple to set up.

Users are able to link a Google Reader account to the app and then access those feeds through the app's Quicklist section.

Zite notes that the current hastily pulled together implementation of Google Reader offers just basic functionality, which will be improved in the future.

Note that this is a basic feed reading only. There are definitely some limitations:
-The "Google Reader" section will only appear after you've restarted the app or added another category (something we'll fix in the near future)

-Not every RSS feed is currently indexed by us, which is something we'll be working on.

-There's no way to edit your feeds (something we hope to add an interface for, probably on the Web)

-No folder support (we're thinking about the best way to implement or eliminate the need for folders)

-No ongoing syncing with Google Reader (you can force a sync by re-linking, though)

-No prominent count of unread articles (just kidding, this is a feature!)

Other companies are also planning to release Google Reader alternatives. Digg has announced that it will be creating a reader of its own and Feedly has developed a clone of the Google Reader API called Normandy, which will allow users to seamlessly transition to the service.

Universal app*Zite, which received an update earlier this week, is available for download from the App Store. [Direct Link]

Article Link: Zite Announces Google Reader Alternative

[troop231]

Still really ticked off that Google is shutting down Reader

[GIZBUG]

Didn't know ZITE was still a relevant player in the IOS world...

[nagromme]

If Google destroyed the feed reader market by giving Reader away free, killing off other devs... then let's hope some can rise to fill the vacuum now. And let's pay something for them this time. If you never pay anything, then you're the product being sold.

Normandy sounds promising--let's hope for several good options by summer.

P.S. I found this story the same way I find all MacRumors stories... with Google Reader And I use RSS for the headline links, but I always click through to the real site to view articles. So neither MR nor Google loses ad revenue.

[Razeus]

Originally Posted by GIZBUG

Didn't know ZITE was still a relevant player in the IOS world...

I use it rather than Flipboard and the like. It's really a neat app.

[nutmac]

Call me a traditionalist, but I am not really sold on customized "river of news" type of clients such as Flipboard or Zite (for that, I prefer good old Twitter).

So far, there doesn't appear to be a clear alternative to email-style RSS aggregator, short of installing $30 Fever on your own a hosted server anyway.

[spacehog371]

Originally Posted by GIZBUG

Didn't know ZITE was still a relevant player in the IOS world...

What?

Zite is far better than Flipboard. Most people I show Zite to stop using Flipboard soon after.

----------

Originally Posted by nutmac

Call me a traditionalist, but I am not really sold on customized "river of news" type of clients such as Flipboard or Zite (for that, I prefer good old Twitter).

So far, there doesn't appear to be a clear alternative to email-style RSS aggregator, short of installing $30 Fever on your own a hosted server anyway.

Zite and Flipboard are only similar in the way they display content.

Have you tried using Zite? You have to use it in order for it to learn what you like. The more you use it, the more accurate it gets.

[Gemütlichkeit]

I've loved Reader Notifier since it integrates into notification center. Works perfectly. They announced they'll be changing their setup from google reader too.

https://itunes.apple.com/app/reader-...502?ls=1&mt=12

[testcard]

Zite is a great app - definitely worth trying.

[Blakjack]

Originally Posted by GIZBUG

Didn't know ZITE was still a relevant player in the IOS world...

Huh?!! Zites been kicking ars. Much better than Flipboard.

[dugbug]

I am making my iOS google-optional readers free for a few days.

They sync and can import/export with google reader but have their own RSS engine were designed to work without google. So try them and if you like them enjoy. I am sorry that this has happened to everyone, I know a lot of folks liked google reader.

Should be free in store now (really free: no ads or any crap). Has built-in readability-like rendering, river mode, offline reading and searching, podcast management, etc. Busted my butt on them. Knock yourselves out

feedHopper (iPad): https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/feed...1998?ls=1&mt=8

flitter (iphone): https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/flit...9198?ls=1&mt=8

[nutmac]

Originally Posted by spacehog371

Zite and Flipboard are only similar in the way they display content.

Have you tried using Zite? You have to use it in order for it to learn what you like. The more you use it, the more accurate it gets.

I have used both since day 1. But I prefer to micromanage my news via email-style RSS client (Reeder) and rely on Twitter feeds for river-of-news.

[Michael Scrip]

Not only am I pissed that Google is getting rid of Google Reader... I'm still upset that Google is getting rid of iGoogle too.

It's my start page... with 5 Google products + weather.

It's clear I'm using quite a few Google services... why not have them on one screen? Will they offer a new solution like iGoogle?

[macFabri]

If you want Push Notifications go for Simple RSS Push. Its universal App and does the job very well. You can import all your Google Reader feeds and the App have many options such like folders, saved searches and bookmarks on the cloud.

[jive turkey]

One thing these new potential Google Reader replacements, from Digg to Zine, seem to have in common is a desire to use "deep personalization technology that can analyze user reading habits and pick the best stories from their Google Reader instead of getting inundated with hundreds of articles."

And you know what? That sucks.

I'm holding out hope that The Old Reader (if I can ever make it through the queue) or Newsblur can fill the void for those of us who live inside Google Reader and depend on RSS to do our jobs efficiently. Someone please give us something that simply gathers info from the sources we want and lets us read what WE want, when WE want it, without you trying to decide what it is you think we should want to read. Some of us need to go through "hundreds of articles" because often times the bit of info we need is in some obscure place.

One thing for sure is that, in this age of free everything on the 'Net, I won't mind in the least paying for a good GR alternative.

[docal97]

Originally Posted by dugbug

I am making my iOS google-optional readers free for a few days.

They sync and can import/export with google reader but have their own RSS engine were designed to work without google. So try them and if you like them enjoy. I am sorry that this has happened to everyone, I know a lot of folks liked google reader.

Should be free in store now (really free: no ads or any crap). Has built-in readability-like rendering, river mode, offline reading and searching, podcast management, etc. Busted my butt on them. Knock yourselves out

feedHopper (iPad): https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/feed...1998?ls=1&mt=8

flitter (iphone): https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/flit...9198?ls=1&mt=8

I was just checking.... Flitter does not appear to be listed for 'free'.

[aaron987]

So far, there doesn't appear to be a clear alternative to email-style RSS aggregator, short of installing $30 Fever on your own a hosted server anyway.

I'm holding out hope that The Old Reader (if I can ever make it through the queue) or Newsblur can fill the void for those of us who live inside Google Reader and depend on RSS to do our jobs efficiently. Someone please give us something that simply gathers info from the sources we want and lets us read what WE want, when WE want it, without you trying to decide what it is you think we should want to read. Some of us need to go through "hundreds of articles" because often times the bit of info we need is in some obscure place.

If that is how you read your news, then I have an alternative that you might like. Check out Feed Fiend. The focus is on simplicity, which sounds like something you are looking for. In fact, I built it because I wanted something simple, so you can rest assured that it will stay simple. It is also totally free.

*Disclaimer: I own Feed Fiend.

[rhett7660]

Originally Posted by GIZBUG

Didn't know ZITE was still a relevant player in the IOS world...

Originally Posted by Razeus

I use it rather than Flipboard and the like. It's really a neat app.

Zite is a pretty killer app. My favorite app and by the responses in the iPad thread a lot of people like it.

Glad to see them do this, going to try it out!!!

[new-to-mac]

use zite everyday... never really enjoyed flipboard for some reason

[afd]

Originally Posted by troop231

Still really ticked off that Google is shutting down Reader

Am still really ticked off that Apple shut down Rss support in safari, that's the only reason I started using Google Reader.

[hybra]

+1 to Zite vs Flipboard

[Northgrove]

If Flipboard launched a neat web version for reading on a desktop or laptop with minimum features being auto-mark as read as you read the pages and folder support, my move would likely be complete. It's a platform with a lot of potential.

But it's still not there for me. I also tried Feedly, but while iOS does auto-mark as read, the web version doesn't so it's horribly tedious to read on that one. "Open, skip, close, open, read, close, open, skip, close", ok... that was three, of which I read one...

I think we'll see many feature rich services pop up before July though, especially now that RSS reading has the attention from so many seeking solutions. This must be a huge boost for their motivation.