Feedly...
Friday, 31 July 2020
I think it was something like seven years ago or so now that Google Reader was axed by its parent company and those of us who use RSS feeds to follow blogs and news sites were sent out in search of a new aggregator.
I opted for an app called Feedly and have been mostly happy using it to the limited scale that I do. With the small number of sites I follow, I can easily use the free version of the app and never have to worry. They supplemented their free version with a Pro version that hardcore users paid to access.
I was all good.
Until earlier this week when I suddenly had a very large and intrusive ad show up in my feed. It looked a little like this...
There are ads and then there are ADS!
The only way to get rid of them is to upgrade to Pro.
Yeah, so there is now an ad-supported free version, a mid-range Pro version, and a high-end Pro+ version that is bundled with something called Leo.
The kicker is that there is absolutely no explanation within Feedly as to what these higher level versions are all about. What’s Leo? I can’t find it in the App Store. What are you giving me for my $8 or $16/month aside from no ads? I’m not going to go seeking out the answers. You want me as a customer, give me the damn information right here on the screen!
Not that it matters, though. We all know how I feel about subscription models on apps. They’re complete and utter bullshit!
I’m going to stick with the free Feedly for now. We’ll see how bad the ads get. If it’s just one here and there, I’ll deal. If it gets bad, I’ll seek out another solution.
Any suggestions I can check out now?
Feedbin is a really good alternative. Cheaper at, I think, $2 a month? I used them for years before pulling the plug and hosting all that RSS nonsense myself.
https://kevinspencer.org/daily/2020/05/rss-is-still-a-thing/
Posted by: Kevin Spencer | Saturday, 01 August 2020 at 09:56 AM
I remember that solution of yours. I do t think I have the backbone or know-how to support it, though. And even $2/month is more than I feel am aggregator is worth for what I use it for. One time fee of up to $10? Sure.
Posted by: kapgar | Saturday, 01 August 2020 at 10:40 AM