If you want to browse and subscribe to feeds, you have many choices. Today, there are more than 2,000 different feed reading applications, also known as “news aggregators” (for text, mostly) or “podcatchers” (for podcasts). There are even readers that work exclusively on mobile devices.
Some require a small purchase price but are tops for ease-of-use and ship with dozens of feeds pre-loaded so you can explore the feed “universe” right away. Free readers are available as well; a search for “Feed reader” or “Feed aggregator” at popular search sites will yield many results. A handful of popular feed readers are listed in the sidebar on this page.
A typical interface for an RSS reader will display your feeds and the number of new (unread) entries within each of those feeds. You can also organize your feeds into categories and even clip and save your favorite entries (with certain applications).
If you prefer, you can use an online, web-based service to track and manage feeds. Online services give you the advantage of being able to access your RSS feed updates anywhere you can find a web browser. Also, upgrades and new features are added automatically.
Originally posted on June 12, 2006 @ 4:58 am
