Feedly Review

I don't know about you, dear blog readers, but I was devastated when Google Reader went to the big RSS party in the sky. How on earth would I efficiently spend 3 hours on the couch in my pajamas reading about the lives of people I'd never met? To be honest, my time reading blogs decreased quite a bit. I just never found a great alternative. 

Enter: Feedly.

Their slogan is "Read More. Know More." Simple, direct, and nerdy. How could you not love it? 

I am probably late to the game on this, but I just discovered Feedly. It's is a free RSS service that organizes all of the blogs you read into one place. That's a MILLION times better than trying to remember all of the blogs you like and having to individually peruse their sites. It's also way better, in my opinion, than getting 400 emails in your inbox. You can read from the web or using their free apps. They're available for Apple and Android devices (but I can only speak for the Apple side of things).

Personally, I enjoyed reading on their iPad much more than I did on the web service. The iPad app presents the posts in each category in a magazine or "tile" format. It's really appealing to the eye, and easy to pick exactly what you want to read without scrolling through a million posts. (Yes, that IS my blog you see in there. I subscribed to it so I can see what my readers see. Lame? Perhaps. Useful? Definitely.) When you're done reading a post, you simply swipe it away to go to the next.

The web interface reminds me of a pared-down version of Google Reader. I like the sleek appearance, but it may be too bare bones for some people. It's functional and fairly easy to use, but there aren't a lot of bells and whistles with the web service. One thing I did love is that all of your blogs are tied to your login, so you can start reading on one device and catch up on another. 

Overall, I think it's a great tool. It's easy to use, visually appealing, and best of all, it's free. They do have a paid service, which I admittedly don't know much about, but I think I'll stick with the free version. What can I say? I'm cheap. 

Verdict: A-

What RSS reader do you use?

*Even though I'm the Boxanista and many of the reviews will center around subscription boxes, I will be reviewing all kinds of products and services. I want to bring you all of the little gems I find. It may include beauty products, foods, clothing, or really anything I'm feeling like rambling on about that particular day. I'm definitely a digital native, so some of the reviews will be "virtual unboxings" like this one.  If you would like to see reviews about any specific products, please let me know.