RSS for the Rest of Us

Over the past decade, I've watched countless services come and go through my daily rotation: Reddit, Twitter X, Mastodon. I used to love these platforms for news, interesting reads, and—if we're being honest—memes and cat photos. But the last few years have brought what I'll diplomatically call "social media turbulence": leadership changes, discontinued third-party app support, shifting priorities, and general fracturing that would make a dropped phone screen jealous.

This chaos has forced me to reconsider what I allow into my daily routine, and more importantly, what I let occupy real estate in my brain. One service has never steered me wrong. There's no algorithmic timeline deciding what you see, no mysterious feed curation, and you'll never encounter accounts you didn't choose to follow.

I'm talking about RSS—Really Simple Syndication. I've been using it since around 2014, carefully curating my feeds for over a decade. For years, it played second fiddle to my other apps, relegated to occasional browsing rather than being my primary information source.

That changed completely over the last year. I've replaced nearly all my daily apps with RSS, and frankly, I should have done it sooner.

What Exactly Is RSS?

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication (or Rich Site Summary, depending on who you ask). Think of it as a universal language that websites use to announce "Hey, I just published something new!" It's essentially a standardized way for any website to share content updates.

The concept emerged in the late 1990s when people got tired of manually checking dozens of websites for updates—a problem that feels quaint now but was genuinely annoying back then. RSS provided an elegant solution: instead of visiting each site individually, you could subscribe to their RSS feeds and get all new content delivered to a single location—your RSS reader.

Here's how it works: when a website publishes a new article, podcast episode, or blog post, their RSS feed automatically updates with the essentials—title, brief description, publication date, and a link to the full piece. Your RSS reader periodically checks all your subscribed feeds and presents new content in one organized timeline.

What makes RSS special is that it's an open standard—not a product, not a platform, but a specification that belongs to everyone and no one. This is the same technology that powers the entire podcast ecosystem, allowing thousands of apps and services to flourish without any single company holding the keys to the kingdom. It's been developed and refined over decades by the community, which means no corporate overlord can suddenly decide to "pivot" or shut it down. Because it's a standard rather than a service, no company controls what you see, no algorithm decides what's "engaging" enough to show you, and no ads get inserted between articles. It's just the raw content from sources you've chosen to follow, presented chronologically.

Why RSS Might Be Right for You

I've introduced RSS to more and more people lately. For some, it clicks immediately; for others, not so much. After observing these reactions, I've realized why RSS feels so different from other information sources—and why that difference matters.

The Good Stuff

I feel dramatically better informed. I used to think getting news in digestible, tweet-sized chunks was sufficient. After switching primarily to RSS, I realized that while social media gave me impressive breadth, quality publications offer depth to stories that I'd never experienced before. Turns out there's more to most stories than fits in 280 characters.

One inbox to rule them all. I no longer juggle multiple apps throughout the day. I have a single destination for news, videos, social media posts, and yes, even comics. It's like having a personal assistant who sorts all your reading material into one neat pile.

Offline-friendly browsing. Not all feeds provide full-text content (more on this limitation later), but those that do let you download substantial high-quality reading material without needing an internet connection. Perfect for flights, commutes, or those mysterious dead zones your cellular provider swears don't exist.

Lower emotional exhaustion. Social media platforms optimize for engagement, which typically means triggering some kind of emotional response—outrage, excitement, fear, whatever keeps you scrolling. While RSS doesn't eliminate emotional content (I still need to watch my consumption, especially before bed), there's no algorithm actively amplifying the most emotionally charged material. The result feels notably calmer.

Actual competition exists. Don't like your RSS reader? Try another one! Sync service acting up? Switch to a different one! There's a healthy ecosystem of apps and services competing for your attention, unlike the near-monopolistic situations we see with most social platforms.

Privacy by default. RSS operates fundamentally differently from modern websites and social media. When you subscribe to a feed, you're not creating an account that tracks your reading habits, building an advertising profile, or handing over personal data. Your RSS reader simply fetches publicly available content without revealing who you are or what you're reading. No tracking pixels, no analytics cookies, no data brokers selling information about your interests to advertisers.

You're actually in control. With RSS, you decide exactly what enters your information stream. No algorithm hides articles it thinks won't engage you, no promoted posts clutter your timeline, and no "recommended for you" sections push unwanted content. You can organize feeds into folders by topic or priority, and many readers offer powerful filtering to automatically hide articles with certain keywords or highlight ones matching your interests. If a feed becomes too noisy, you can unsubscribe instantly without losing anything else.

The Not-So-Good Stuff

Learning curve ahead. Before you can even start, you need to understand what RSS is and how to use it. This means learning feed mechanics, categorization, different feed formats, discovering which websites offer RSS, and figuring out how readers sync across devices. It's not rocket science, but it's not exactly intuitive either.

High-energy consumption required. You're doing everything yourself—finding feeds to follow, determining quality sources, building structure in your reader. There's minimal hand-holding or automated curation. Think of it as the difference between having a personal chef and shopping for groceries yourself.

Significant upfront investment. Getting an initial collection of quality feeds requires genuine effort. You'll need to research, test, and curate. I recommend starting slowly and building gradually with feeds you know you want, rather than trying to replace your entire information diet overnight.

Inconsistent feed quality. A "full text" RSS feed provides complete articles directly in your reader, including images and formatting. However, many sites only offer "partial" feeds with just the first paragraph or a brief excerpt, forcing you to click through to their website for the full article. Some feeds strip out images, author information, or proper formatting, creating an incomplete reading experience. Others provide only bare-bones summaries that don't give you enough context to decide if the full article is worth your time.

No algorithmic curation. There are starter sets to help you find initial feeds, but there's no recommendation algorithm doing the heavy lifting. All curation falls on you, which can feel overwhelming compared to platforms that serve up endless, personalized content.

Zero social interaction. RSS is fundamentally solitary. No likes to give or receive, no comment sections, no easy way to share articles with friends or see what others are reading. You can't follow interesting people to discover content through their recommendations. There's no community aspect, no discussions, no viral moments. While this can be refreshing for focused reading, you lose the serendipitous discovery that comes from social sharing and the feeling of participating in larger conversations.

How I Use RSS as My Everything App

RSS has become my universal content platform—successfully replacing all my news apps, social media accounts, and video feeds. Since there's no algorithm elevating content for me, I need to create my own structure. My philosophy: always have something interesting to read (mimicking that infinite timeline feeling), but prioritize ruthlessly since I don't have infinite time.

Here's my folder system, numbered intentionally because I read them in this exact order. When I start a reading session, I begin with Priority, then Secondary, then Videos. When I pick up my phone later, I start back at Priority again:

1. ⭐️ Priority - Feeds I always read, kept to an absolute minimum. This is exclusively people and blogs I know personally. If someone I actually know wrote it, it gets read.
2. 💫 Primary - My daily news diet. This is where I get current events and industry news. I keep high-volume sources to a minimum, but some publications earn their place despite posting frequently. Variety is key here.
3. 📺 Videos - Aggregates videos from various platforms. While I still subscribe directly on YouTube and other platforms, this ensures I never miss content from creators I care about.
4. 👍 Social - Social media feeds from Mastodon, Twitter, Instagram. More on how this works later.
5. 👽 Reddit - Exactly like Social, but... you know, you “Read it”.
6. ✨ Volume - High-quality sources that post frequently. These feeds have excellent content but too much volume for my daily folders. Think Hacker News, Product Hunt, Slashdot.
7. 💛 More - Feeds that didn't make the daily cut. These are sources I might return to when I have extra time, and occasionally they get promoted to my regular rotation.
8. 👍👍 More Socials - For when I'm feeling particularly bingeworthy.

This creates a lot of content—far more than I can read daily. And that's completely intentional.

First, I don't read every article. Instead, I skim headlines and open what genuinely interests me. This gives my brain options and keeps me engaged long-term. Articles in higher-priority folders are more likely to get read, but even Priority articles aren't sacred if they don't grab my attention.

Second, my reading varies dramatically by day, and I think about it in tiers:

"Minimum" is nothing at all. I can take breaks from RSS without FOMO anxiety. When I return from a conscious or unconscious break, I catch up with Priority feeds and call it good. Important news has a way of reaching you regardless.

"Average" covers folders 1-4. Most days, I get 2-3 solid RSS sessions, meaning I need to fit the best content into about 30 minutes total.

"Binge" goes through folders 5-8. Some days I'm glued to my phone anyway. Rather than mindlessly doomscroll social media, I have a surplus of curated content waiting. It's procrastination, but at least it's educational procrastination.

Practical Tips and Tricks

Start with Starter Sets

You probably know your interests but might not know which websites cover them well. These resources offer excellent recommendations:

• star🌻kov's RSS Starter Set
• You Need Feeds Starter Packs
• Feedly's Discovery Tool
• Awesome RSS Feeds on GitHub
• Inoreader's Curation

Embrace Read-Later Services

Sometimes you'll encounter a beautifully long article that deserves focused attention, but you're currently standing in line at the grocery store. Read-later services solve this perfectly.

These apps let you save articles with a single click for later consumption. They typically strip away ads and formatting distractions, presenting clean, readable text when you're ready. Many offer offline reading, highlighting, note-taking, and organization features.

Many RSS readers have this functionality built-in, so you might not need a separate service. But if you do:

• Safari Reading List - Free, built into Safari, syncs across Apple devices. Basic but perfectly functional.
• Pocket - Free tier available, ~$5/month for premium. Mozilla-owned with good parsing and recommendations.
• Instapaper - Free tier, $3/month premium. Excellent typography and highlighting features.
• Matter - Free version, $8/month premium. Modern interface with great text-to-speech and social features.
• Readwise Reader - ~$8/month. Combines read-later with powerful note-taking for knowledge management.
• Raindrop.io - Freemium, $3/month premium. More comprehensive bookmark manager with read-later functionality.

Integrate Social Media Through RSS

Here's something many people don't realize: your RSS reader can natively follow social media accounts from:

• YouTube
• Reddit
• Mastodon
• Bluesky
• Tumblr
• Pinterest

This is exactly what fills my Social folders. Instead of opening multiple apps, I see social media updates alongside my news feeds.

Syndicate Almost Any Website

After using RSS for a while, you'll discover that many websites don't offer native RSS feeds. Fortunately, there are workarounds.

RSS.app is the most straightforward solution. It monitors web pages for changes and automatically generates RSS feeds from new content. Simply paste any URL into RSS.app, and it creates a custom feed that updates whenever that page publishes something new.

The service uses AI to intelligently parse different website types—news sites, blogs, social media profiles—and extract relevant information like titles, dates, and descriptions. This means you can follow sites like Reuters or Associated Press through your RSS reader, even though they don't offer native feeds.

You can syndicate almost anything:

• News sites without RSS feeds (looking at you, major news outlets)
• Public social media accounts (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook)
• Basically any regularly updated website

Alternative services include FetchRSS and morss.

Create Custom Google News Feeds

Google News offers RSS feeds for any topic using this URL structure:

https://news.google.com/rss/search?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen&oc=11&q=TOPICGOESHERE

Replace TOPICGOESHERE with your search term. This is incredibly useful for monitoring:

• Your family/family-name
• You interests
• Your company
• Yourself

Keep in mind that popular or generic terms will generate lots of headlines, so be specific with your search terms.

Forward Newsletters to RSS

Some RSS services provide anonymous email addresses specifically for subscribing to newsletters. Think about it: would you rather consume newsletters cluttering your email inbox or organized in your RSS reader alongside your other content?

This feature bridges the gap between email-based content and your RSS workflow, creating a truly unified reading experience.

Your Turn to Try RSS

RSS represents the most customizable and flexible way to consume online content—but it's also among the hardest to get started with and maintain. If you can get past the quirks (like inconsistent feed quality), you'll likely fall in love with having complete control over your information diet.

Over the past decade, RSS has kept me connected to my favorite niches. Over the past year, it's proven that I don't need much to get exceptionally high-quality information—I just need the open web.

So, is RSS right for you? And if so, what would you like to read?

RSS Servers and Clients: The Technical Foundation

RSS operates on a simple but powerful model: servers (also called services or sync services) store and manage your feed subscriptions in the cloud, while clients (readers or apps) provide the interface for actually consuming content. This separation means seamless access across devices—read on your phone during your commute, catch up on your laptop at work, and pick up exactly where you left off on your tablet at home.

The server handles the heavy lifting: checking feeds for updates, downloading new content, and tracking what you've read. The client focuses on presenting this information in an enjoyable, readable format. Most people use one server service with multiple client apps across their devices.

RSS Servers/Services

RSS Clients/Readers

The key is finding the right combination of server and client that matches your reading habits, device preferences, and feature needs. Many people start with a free service like Feedly or Inoreader paired with their official mobile apps, then explore third-party clients once they understand their preferences.