RSS Readers Revisited and Reanalyzed

It seems I am obsessed with finding the perfect RSS Reader. I continue to refine what is important and what is the most useful. Here is an attempt to organize my thought about RSS Readers in general.

There are several ways to discuss and organize RSS Readers. You may disagree with the following analysis, but I feel it makes sense. RSS Readers can be organized in three levels. Typically, the discussion will start with Desktop versus Online aggregators. I believe it is more helpful to end with that discussion, and begin with presentation.

Level One: Journal/Newspaper Versus Email

There are essentially two types of styles to RSS Readers. The most prevalent is the Email style. This is typically a three frame format. The Top Left Frame includes a list of feeds. Next to each feed is a set of numbers (10/15). The last number refers to the number of articles/posts in the feed. The first number refers to how many have yet to be read. The Bottom Left Frame will often display the headlines of a selected feed. The Main Right Frame will display the contents of the headline. There are variations of course, but this is the general layout of most Readers. It feels and acts much like reading email. Examples of these kind of Readers include FeedDemon and Bloglines.

The Journal/Newspaper style is best demonstrated by Yahoo. MyYahoo, which is essentially based on Yahoo News, is a Newspaper kind of style. Stories are presented on a page in three or two columns, organized in “blocks” based on feeds. Others in this style present stories like a blog: one column with a list of stories. The more I read, the more I get the sense that users are preferring this style over the email style. This is especially true for people who subscribe to lots of feeds and need to scan through items quickly. Other examples of this style are Surfpack and Rojo.

Level Two: Headline Only or Headline and Summary

The next level of organization is based on whether the Reader presents the user with only Headlines or presents some form of a Headline plus a Summary. MyYahoo strictly presents headlines only. Klipfolio (though more than an RSS Reader) displays headlines only for feeds. By and large most Readers offer some form of Headline and Summary. The problem with the headline only approach, especially if most of the feeds subscribed to are blogs, is that people write lousy headlines. If a user primarily subscribes to commercial news feeds, then headlines are usually written with a higher level of professionalism (ie one can tell what the article is actually about from the headline). Typically, Email style Readers are Headline and Summary Readers as well. Journal type of Readers vary. Whereas, MyYahoo is headlines only, Surfpack offers flexibility to users to determine whether they want headlines only or Headlines and Summary. Rojo is an example of a journal style reader that displays a headline and summary.

Level Three: Online or Desktop

A Desktop RSS Reader is an application that resides on the computer. It is but another tool like a browser or an email client. Examples of Desktop RSS Readers are FeedDemon, Abilon, Sharpreader and Feed Reader.

An Online RSS Reader is typically offered as a service. Users sign up in order to use the service. With a username and password, users can access an online service to read and organize RSS feeds. Examples of online RSS Readers would be Bloglines, Pluck, Newsgator, and Rojo.

What are the pros and cons of each?

Desktop readers typically are feature rich and offer the most flexibility and customization to the user. However, they are only accessible on the computer on which it was installed. Conversely, the biggest pro to online readers is their accessibility from any computer that has an Internet connection. Which is best? For the traveler, an online Reader is the best way to go. Unless of course, one has a laptop. I have wrestled with having to maintain a list of feeds at home and another at work. Clearly, an online Reader alleviates this issue. However, I believe the way to truly settle the question is not to focus on accessibility, but rather on features. Which Reader works best for your needs?

Desktop readers can be further divided into Integrated or Standalone applications. FeedDemon, Abilon, SharpReader are all standalone applications. That is, they are a separate program. Integrated desktop readers use an already existing application and are merged into its functionality. NewsGator for Outlook is one such example. It uses Outlook as its main interface. Think of it as a “plugin” for Outlook. Sage is a desktop reader that truly is a “plugin” with the Firefox browser.

Integrated Readers have the advantage of using the functionality of the parent application they are plugged into. Plus, it eliminates the need for another application to be open. In the case of Sage, if Firefox is open, then RSS Reading is a simply one click away.

So the first question to ask is “How do you want to read feeds?” It is not an easy question to answer. To truly answer it, one must actually try out a variety of readers. I have tried to organize the various readers by category below. This list is by no means comprehensive.

Another issue to consider is the integration between an online service and a desktop application. Newsgator and FeedDemon now have such a relationship. Bloglines has (or soon to be had?) such a relationship with FeedDemon as well.

Journal Headline Only Online

MyYahoo

Journal Headline Only Desktop

Klipfolio

Journal Headline and Summary Online

Rojo
Pluck Web Edition

Journal Headline and Summary Desktop Standalone

?

Journal Headline and Summary Desktop Integrated

Surfpack (integrates with IE and Firefox, though it probably safer to say it uses IE or Firefox as opposed to true integration)
Sage (integrates with Firefox)

Email Headline and Summary Online

Bloglines (very popular)
Pluck
Newsgator Online

Email Headline and Summary Desktop Standalone (the most common)

FeedDemon (very popular)
Feedreader
Sharpreader
Abilon

Email Headline and Summary Desktop Integrated

Newsgator (integrates with Outlook)

Other Issues:

Speed: This can be argued many ways, but in my experience, online services have been slower. This is because there are two connections to worry about instead of one: the connection to the online service and the service’s connection to the feed. Whereas a desktop reader there is only one connection: between the reader and the feed.

Clippings: The ability to save/clip/flag a post/article for future reference is very handy. This is one of the features that first attracted me to NewsGator.

Organization: Journal Readers organize by Pages and “Blocks”. Email style Readers organize by folders. Neither is ideal, though I prefer Pages and “Blocks” over folders. The most flexible way to organize is by tags. Right now Rojo is the only one I am aware of that organizes this way.

Multiple Feeds as One: One problem with most Email style readers is that each individual feed has to be seen seperately. It is very helpful to be able to categorize multiple feeds under one theme/title/banner/tag and then view them collectively as one feed. Rojo and Klipfolio are able to accomplish this task. This can be accomplish in other Journal style Readers that allow for the creation of multiple pages. For example, I could create a page in Surfpack/MyYahoo that is nothing but feeds about RSS. Each feed would still display separately, but at least all would be organize and viewable in one place.

I would like to make this list as comprehensive as possible. However, it is impossible for me to evaluate all RSS Readers. Know the category a particular reader fits in? Email me and I will add it.