RSS Reader Feedly updated with 10 new features
The RSS Reader Feedly seems to have been a favorite choice of Google Reader users looking for a new home for their feeds, as more than 500,000 users made the switch to Feedly in the first 48 hours after the announcement of closure. While it is not clear how many of them stayed with the service, and how many signed up to test it next to other readers, it is fairly certain that the service benefited from Google's announcement.
Today the company announced that it has updated Feedly for Chrome, Safari and Firefox adding ten new features to the browser extensions. The company notes that Firefox and Safari users need to update the extension manually. Note that it is necessary to download the latest version from the Feedly website and not the Mozilla Add-ons repository as it does not seem to have been updated since October 2012.
Of the ten features that Feedly integrated into its reader today, two stick out as they move the service closer to Google Reader. When you open Feedly, you will immediately notice that the list view has been updated. What you previously could only achieve with a userscript for Feedly is now implemented in a native fashion. The denser list view gets rid of larger areas of white space to provide users who only browse titles with a compact view.
Even better in my opinion are two new keyboard shortcuts, n and p which let you browse through articles faster marking them read when you hit them without opening them in another view mode.
As far as the remaining eight changes go, here is the list:
- You can now sort feeds and categories alphabetically.
- The left selector menu has been updated, offering better contrasts and less caps.
- View modes can now be switched directly on a page using one of the icons that are displayed on it.
- Saving is now faster, just hit S to save the currently selected item. This is similar to starring items in Google REader.
- The recommendations algorithm has been improved.
- LinkedIn integration, you can now share to the service.
- Memory optimizations including memory leak fixes and no refreshes while you are reading articles.
- Firefox, Chrome and Safari versions are now updated at the same time.
Feedly is moving into the right direction with the latest changes. I only wish the company would upload the latest version of its browser extension for Firefox to the official Mozilla Add-ons repository as well so that users can utilize the automatic update feature of the browser and sleep a bit safer thanks to Mozilla's review.
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Is there a direct download link for this extension? Everytime i go to the feedly site I’m redirected to their home essentials page with their list of recommended feeds
thank you
Firefox: http://update.feedly.com/install/feedly.xpi
Google Chrome: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hipbfijinpcgfogaopmgehiegacbhmob
Any idea how to get rid of the “Show x more sources” in the left sources list? In Google Reader when i expand a folder i see all feeds, no need to click for seeing all sources.
There’s no reason for feedly to require an addon. They need to offer their service on the plain ol’ web.
Also, they need google reader API support and to stop using google reader’s backend, as it is obviously going away.
Anyone know if Feedly supports “Media RSS” feeds with multiple file enclosures — say, different formats of the same video clip?
NewsBlur supports those feeds, but last time I checked, Feedly just picks one of the file enclosures per item and ignores the rest.
The enhancements are nice. I wish they also would’ve moved the “open in a new tab” icon to the left next to the “save for later” icon, instead of having to go all the way to the right and hover to click it. Also, I wish they would create a preference to leave all your categories expanded when you re-open your browser, so you don’t have to click to expand all your categories again.
Feedly is looking better, but until they allow it to just work as a regular web page with no extension required, I’ll sit tight. A dev commented on their “10 new features…” post that it’s “the #1 community request. We are going to look into it as soon as the normandy migration [Feedly’s new backend] is complete.”
Feedly should create a mobile version. Not everyone has smartphones to install apps.