this post was submitted on 14 Dec 2023
23 points (100.0% liked)

Ask Lemmy

25226 readers
2021 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either [email protected] or [email protected]. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email [email protected]. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

If I want to quickly pitch "you should follow X, Y, and Z using RSS because [problems with social media]" to people who have never heard of RSS, what readers should I recommend?

I want at least web (not self-hosted), Android, and iOS options. Native apps for Mac and Windows would be nice as well. Linux users probably already know what RSS is.

There absolutely must be a free option good for at least 25 feeds because unfamiliar tech is a hard enough sell without having to pay. I'll grudgingly accept ads if that's the tradeoff for something beginner-friendly.

top 20 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Fake4000 12 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Feeder is as good as it gets.

https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.nononsenseapps.feeder/

It's free and open source for android.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

+1 for feeder.

[–] macattack 8 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Feedly is the most user-friendly (albeit also perhaps privacy-unfriendly) option imo. I used them for years before I started self-hosting through FreshRSS. If you are targeting someone unfamiliar, I'd go that route

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Yeah I can vouch for Inoreader as well.

I have used Feedly before. But that was years ago. Feeder might be another service to consider.

All of these services should have (either first or third party) apps for Android and iOS.

[–] Usernameblankface 6 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Idk man. If one of my friends gave me that spiel I'd nod along and never actually download or subscribe or whatever. I have to be already interested in finding an RSS feed to have any interest in anyone's recommendation.

[–] Zak 1 points 6 months ago

Nobody is interested in finding an RSS feed. People are interested in getting updates when writers they like post new writing, when bands they like post new tour dates, etc....

One of the use cases I have in mind is styling an RSS feed as a web page and including a short explanation of how to use it. That comes with a need to suggest specific software.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

I don't think that RSS is a reasonable alternative for social media at all. Different use case for me.

I mean, I'd use it if I had a selection of known sources that publish content regularly that I like enough of to see all the content and have a website. Only a few sources actually meet that bar for me. Then, RSS lets me put a common interface on all of them, combines a list of new content.

I use something like Reddit or the Fediverse to take advantage of people finding useful content elsewhere, which is kind of a different use case.

I mean, you're on social media here, rather than just following an RSS feed, so presumably RSS doesn't replace social media for you either.

[–] Zak 3 points 6 months ago

I'm coming at it from the opposite side; social media isn't a reasonable alternative to RSS, but people often use it as such. RSS is as you say, for getting updates from specific sources without being at the mercy of a third-party's recommendation algorithm.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I’m really liking Unread on iPad and iPhone. That is all.

[–] BOFH666 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Really love the flym reader. Just works, no ads.

[–] Zak 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Unfortunately, Flym seems to be discontinued (according to its F-Droid entry). Google Play won't install it on newer versions of Android because it's built for older versions. I can't use it for this use case for that reason.

[–] BOFH666 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

That's too bad. And that will be a challenge for me, when I upgrade my current phone.

[–] Zak 2 points 6 months ago

It still installs and runs on Android 13, but Google Play won't give it to you. I'm going to assume from the username you don't need instructions.

[–] FlavorPacket 3 points 6 months ago

NewsBlur is awesome. Great web interface, native apps for mobile, super customizable, and the developer is a great dude. I’ve been using it for a few years now since I got tired of running my own ttrss instance.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

Don’t know if it might help but I’m using “Feeeed” RSS for Reddit and the likes Feeeed RSS IOS link and I’m using “RSS mobile” for news RSS mobile IOS link.

Hope they might be useful to you.

[–] berkeleyblue 2 points 6 months ago

I use Newsexplorer for upwards of 40 feeds now. Never had an issue.

[–] a_good_hunter 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

ttrss.

Yes the dev/forum can be harsh. It is still good software.

[–] Zak 4 points 6 months ago (1 children)

It may be, but self-hosted isn't suitable for the audience I'm talking about.

[–] a_good_hunter 1 points 6 months ago

My bad. 😑