Just when I thought I was closer to giving up on Firefox, a new application, in the form of a plugin, has become a major addiction for me (and a saviour for the spiraling browser). I’m talking, of course, about Feedly.
Feedly was brought to my attention (as many other applications have) by the omnipresent Robert Scoble. He posted on FriendFeed:
I love http://www.feedly.com — it is how I read my Google Reader feeds now. Requires Firefox, but if you have it very nice headline display
I thought, Firefox plugin? No thanks. But something about the UI bit my curiosity and I decided to install it.
The truth is, it’s much more than an RSS reader. It’s an extension to FriendFeed, to a point where I’m wondering why FriendFeed hasn’t purchased them yet.
It took me literally minutes to import my Google Reader OPML into Feedly, and once you do this you are presented with two main ways to consume the content. One is a ‘digest’ (pictured above) which looks like a blog or an online magazine, built from the items on my feeds. It’s a very cool way to get an overview of what’s going on early in the morning, while you consume your first cup of coffee.
The other display is the ‘Latest’ display, which looks like the list you would see in Google Reader, except everything happens very fast because the items are coming from the plugin and not over HTTP. You can also use keyboard shortcuts, much like GReader’s, that allow you to do many operations, including some that are specific to feedly.
At this point you will think “That’s it? Looks like there’s nothing compelling about this.” And if you don’t use FriendFeed, that might be true. The presentation layer is much better than Google Reader’s, but if you’re okay with the way you see feeds on the plain vanilla format that GReader has, then that’s fine.
Now if you are a FriendFeed addict as I am, please read on.
Feedly is a Firefox plugin, which means it can “see” what sites you are visiting. It also enables you to link your FriendFeed account with Feedly, and this is when the fun begins.
From this point on, every page you visit, you will see a “Feedly navbar” on the lower right, which allows you, with a click of the mouse, to share any content, site, blog post or image to Feedly. But not only that, you will be able to see if there are FriendFeed conversations happening around that piece of content.
This feature alone makes Feedly a must-have for any FriendFeed user. It has changed the way I consume and share content, and the coolest thing is that Feedly supports the SUP methodology that FriendFeed uses, so that things that you react to on Feedly are immediately posted to your FriendFeed page. You can even “like” and comment right from the application and see the conversations around the posts back on FriendFeed.
I am very impressed with the application and it is supported very well on Twitter, FriendFeed and Get Satisfaction. I think the only downside to Feedly is that it only works with Firefox, but hopefully, versions for the iPhone, Android and other browser will come soon.
Meanwhile, kiss your RSS Reader goodbye and give Feedly a try.
P.S.: You can also read a review of Feedly by Corvida here, and by Louis Gray here.
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