That of imposing abrupt changes just by forcing users to use Google+ even to wash clothes, is undoubtedly a wake-up call to not completely depend on Google services, because as good as they are, they can stop working from suddenly. There are alternatives and, as in the case of Feedly, some can overcome the benefits of Google applications by a wide difference.
In short, in the next few days we will be thoroughly reviewing each of the excellent alternatives that have evolved together with Google Reader but which until now have obtained the prominence they deserve. Today’s turn is for Feedly and its fascinating reader of feeds who already begins to keep the throne of the deceased future who closes on July 1:
1. All the data in your Google Reader account remain the same
Added sites, folders, favorites, and tags you have in your Google Reader account, until July 1, will continue to sync automatically with Feedly. From then on it is foreseen that they will be maintained and then operate autonomously thanks to the Normandy project that Feedly is already preparing.
2. Complete configuration panel
Unlike Google Reader, Feedly does come with a configuration panel worthy of the name. It is quite complete and includes options to change fonts, link colors, default views mode, suffixes for tweets, favorite social networks to have them when sharing content, active social modules and automatic reading, among others.
3. Twitter, Facebook and financial information (value of shares and news) integrated into the home page
The social part is quite important in Feedly so, in the form of widgets on the home page, the necessary streams from Facebook and Twitter in addition to that you can create tweets even within articles. There is also space to track the value of certain shares on the market (in preferences can be added or removed) and relevant news from Yahoo Finance.
4. Keyboard shortcuts and optionally Mark as automatic read
Another thing that Google Reader’s Feedly maintains is the distribution of the most important keyboard shortcuts, for example, those of moving between posts. In the case of the option Mark as read, a verification icon is available in the upper right, although a striking alternative is to enable (in preferences) such action automatically while doing scroll.
5. Elegant interface, themes and multiple view modes: magazine, mosaic, condensed to Google Reader and more
Something unforgivable about Google Reader is that they have not bothered at least to enable personalization details such as themes in Gmail, improve the interface to give it that touch of digital magazine present in many apps reading mobile phones, give an elegant finish to the edges or optimize the distribution of the buttons. Fortunately, Feedly comes with all the above included, starting with multiple view modes to please both those who prefer a very simple and condensed interface such as Google Reader, or another much more visual distribution.
6. Omnipotent search engine and aggregator of new sources including YouTube channels and themes in Google News
Another charming point of Feedly is the search engine that is displayed by pressing the button with the icon of a magnifying glass on the right side of the page: it offers recommendations by categories, it allows you to add sites just by typing one or another keyword, it makes it possible to search by topics on Google News and YouTube (which also offers channels and more search results), and finally includes a couple of filters to quickly search for information on a specific blog, for example, where we are located.
7. Context menu when selecting text (tweet, search Feedly, search Google, translate)
You can select a word or a fragment of text within a certain article so that a small menu is instantly displayed with options to write it and send it in a tweet directly, search Feedly by filtering for those words, expand the information by consulting Google and even translate the selected text.
8. Share on social networks (including Buffer) and save content in Evernote, Pocket, Instapaper, etc.
It is no longer necessary to use Ifttt for tasks that by default should bring Google Reader, with Feedly you can share content on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest and LinkedIn directly from the interface or through Buffer. But that’s not all, the interesting thing is that it includes options to save articles in Pocket, Instapaper, and even Evernote.
9. Elegant mobile applications for iOS, Android and Kindle
Applications at the height of Flipboard, Google Currents and Pulse, fully fluid, instantly synchronized with changes made on other devices, fully customizable, pleasant on different screen sizes, intuitive and full of striking colors.
10. Index / Organize / History and Mini Toolbar for the browser
Finally there are the special pages next to the button preferences at the bottom left of Feedly: Index for an overview of all blogs and categories along with the number of items to read, Organize with a similar view but with options to rearrange drag and drop, and finally History, to review previously read items. Mini Toolbar is a floating bar with social buttons that can be enabled to appear on all pages when browsing, making it easy to track blogs. Regarding this, since Google removed from the Chrome Web Store your RSS extension, a clone has already been published using your code on Github.