RSS is still the best way to track the news on the web, and these RSS readers can keep you right up to date.

Whatever the linguistic details, one of the main roles of RSS is to supply directly to you a steady stream of updates from a website. Every new article published on that site is served up in a list that can be interpreted by an RSS reader.

Unfortunately, RSS is no longer how most of us consume “content.” (Google famously killed its beloved Google Reader more than a decade ago.) It’s now the norm to check social media or the front pages of many different sites to see what’s new. But I think RSS still has a place in your life: Especially for those who don’t want to miss anything or have algorithms choosing what they read, it remains one of the best ways to navigate the internet. Here’s a primer on what RSS can (still!) do for you, and how to get started with it, even in this late era of online existence.

  • Godric@lemmy.worldEnglish
    131·
    9 months ago

    Got Feeder to try RSS on my PC based on this post, added a bunch of cool sites, was enjoying it, and then quickly got smacked in the face with “upgrade to view more posts”.

    Anyone recommend an RSS reader that doesn’t have stupid “fuck you, pay me” limitations?

    • f4f4f4f4f4f4f4f4@lemmy.worldEnglish
      11·
      9 months ago

      Oof. The real Feeder is a FOSS Android app, get it on F-Droid.

      On PC, there are two Firefox plugins, one to bring back “live bookmarks” (RSS feeds), and one to bring back the radio-waves-like icon in the address bar of sites with RSS feeds available. Let me check…

      Edit: It’s just one plugin, Livemarks. If you put the bookmark it creates into the bookmarks toolbar, then it becomes a drop-down menu of the headlines/RSS items. 👍

    • helpImTrappedOnline@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      9 months ago

      I use Thunderbird for RSS…however I should also admit I only have two things - xkcd and another comic that hasn’t been posted in so long I think it might be dead.

    • books@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      9 months ago

      What’s the cost?

      I downloaded Feedly and they want 8 bucks a month, which seems high considering they don’t actually create the content. I’m all for paying developers but that’s more than I pay fo other actual new sources

      • morrowind@lemmy.mlEnglish
        1·
        9 months ago

        It’s for the service. It’s not a local rss reader, it works like email. Local/offline ones are usually cheap/free