Remember how Google is killing Google Reader at the end of this month? Well, there haven’t been a huge number of updates on alternatives yet. Feedly updated to use their own cloud recently, and today Digg posted a Digg Reader Update:
Over the last 90 days, the Digg engineering team — all 5 of them — has been heads-down building an updated take on the RSS reader. For our first public release, in time to (just) beat the shutdown of Google Reader, our aim has been to nail the basics: a web and mobile reading experience that is clean, simple, functional, and fast. We’re also introducing a tool that allows users to elevate the most important stories to the top.
The biggest challenge in getting a “new” Google Reader alternative is not a good web interface. It’s important, but it’s getting that and a backend interface that’s supported by all the third party clients. IE: Reeder, Mr. Reader, and the tons of other iOS and Android feed readers that need a backend. For example I use Reeder on the iPhone and Mr. Reader on the iPad, and both have to use the same backend system or I’m screwed in my daily feed reading.
Sigh. I’m still hoping that Google will change their mind and keep Google Reader around for another few years.