Announcement: Nextgen Reader will continue to work

14 March, 2013

Categories: Google Reader, Nextgen Reader, ngreader, Uncategorized, Windows 8, Windows Phone, WP8

Google announced today that it’s shutting down Google Reader on July 1, 2013. It’s not a big surprise to us as we knew that it was going to happen someday but may be not so soon. Anyways, R.I.P. Google Reader – we loved you and we’ll miss you as developers although you never gave us an official API.

But, the even bigger surprise to us is your support for Nextgen Reader. Since the announcement, we’ve received hundreds of emails and messages on Twitter/Facebook/etc. Please be assured that Nextgen Reader will continue to work perfectly across Windows & Windows Phone and we’re already looking into various alternatives:

Hosting our own service on Windows Azure.
Newsblur support.
Normandy – Feedly support.

More importantly, if you have any thoughts or suggestions, please share them below in comments or feel free to send a mail, or reach us via Twitter and Facebook anytime.

We’ll share further details very soon… hopefully next week or before end of this month. Till then we request you to keep using Google Reader for next few weeks.

Thank you again for your patience and support!

chandramuralis

Awesome, good to know you guys are already started looking for alternative. All the best
Aleš

That is awesome. In the end I will most probably switch to service you guys will support. Hopefully one that has web access to its service and multiple platform support.
Thanks guys for a quick response in this “troubled” time All the best
http://nokia-news.com/ Joao Luis

AWESOME!!!!!! Thanks guys.
http://ktos.info Ktos

Thanks, guys. Great news!
ekucera00

Very glad to see my money was not wasted on NextGen Reader. Looking forward to the future support. My only requirement is that it syncs and knows what i have read and not read across multiple devices. I guess that was the appeal of Google Reader. Google is giving me less of a reason to keep my gmail address around.
- pljwebb
  
  Google reader was the only Google service that I remain a user of, now that they’re going to close it I guess there’s no more reason for me to keep my account open.
http://www.facebook.com/gxsaurav Saurav Srivastava

I never used Google Reader’s web service. On Symbian it was gNewsReader and on Windows 8/Windows Phone 8 I use you app.

The only use of Google Reader was to subscribe to RSS feeds and then sync apps in Windows/Devices with this list. Google Reader lets us export our feeds in OPML which can be imported to app like NextGen reader. That is all we needed.

Now that Google Reader is closing, I strongly recommend going with Feedly just due to the easy ability to subscribe to new feeds. You just need to start Chrome/Firefox, install the extension and subscribe to anything you need. Then, sync it with Nextgen reader. This seems to be the easiest way as you will not need to spend your time in making our own implementation.
CokeZero

Thanks, for that. Love the app, but its a shame that Google stops with Google Reader.
http://realfiction.net Frank Quednau

If you guys have a paypal, I would gladly donate, because ad-free newsfeed is where value lies for me. Normandy support would have the great benefit that they have one of the best readers on iX-devices, so the newsfeed world would still be device agnostic.
http://www.betleywhitehorne.com/ BWRic

When you decide what option you will be using please make sure we are all told how to upgrade/move so we don’t miss it!
OldDogSparky

I still use the web interface of Google Reader when at my desktop, but I would transition to NextGen Readers Win 8 client after I make the move to Win 8 on my desktop. Right now, really the only benefit of Google Reader is to keep the read/unread status of my feeds. Nextgen Reader is still my preferred way to access them when not at my desktop.

Whichever service the Nextgen Reader supports for maintaining the read/unread status of items in my list of feeds, I’ll transition to that service. My long term concern is that any service that takes over for Google Reader will eventually charge (or die) since paying the bills is a necessity. Since I already pay for web hosting, perhaps an open-source way of doing that on my own hosting service would be the way to go. Do you think there any feed services out there that can maintain the “free” model long term?
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http://www.facebook.com/allison.dad Michael Cattle

I, too, will be moving with you from Google Reader to the next service you support. All three options look good, and whichever option you choose, it would be nice to have one that has a web-based reader available for my non-Windows 8 work PC. The big key feature I’m looking for is synchronization of read/unread items across all devices. If you host your own service on Windows Azure, it would be wonderful if the service itself could either be open source or purchasable, so that I can self-host it on my own Azure account and access it from your client.
vedichymn

The Old Reader is apparently working on API access, that may be worth looking at as well:

http://theoldreader.com/
Eric Hill

Good to hear you will keep going. If Feedly is not going to be able to support IE, I’d rather you found another way than Feedly.
http://www.liza-shaw.com/ Liza Shaw

i use google reader to sync with nextgen across multiple devices so would hate to loose nextgen. I do have a feedly account too, so if NG supported that instead, would be perfect.
http://www.esphoneblog.com/ Jonne Eilimö

Good to hear! I had to check out your site immediately when I saw that Google Reader was out of the picture. Great to hear your continued support! As I’ve written in my posts earlier, Nextgen Reader continues to be my most used app on WP8. Keep it up!
http://www.facebook.com/franz.pentenrieder Franz Pentenrieder

“Hosting our own service on Windows Azure”, that would be a great option. I would gladly pay for that!
- http://wp7app.de/ Thomas
  
  Second that.
- Aleš
  
  Yeah, but only if it would be avaliable on most used platforms from day 1. And not just mobile website for other non-windows devices. I would pay extra for nextgen reader, however I think feedly or other alternatives would be a better bet for those of us with multiple devices (and not all of them are in windows ecosystem).
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LPHeadstrong

From what I hear Feedly is where most people will go to after Google Reader. The whole “Normandy” thing sounds interesting.

I use NextGen Reader a lot but only using the free version (waiting for a WP8 device before I buy it).

Nice to know it’ll continue to work regardless of what direction is taken. Thanks guys
http://www.themobilefanatics.com Mike Macias

The timing is funny because I was just getting ready to write-up my Windows Phone review of NextGen for my #onmyphone series over at Windows Phone Fanatics. This news is terrible, but I have faith that you will make a great alternative that I can use across all of my devices. I’m looking forward to seeing what NextGen will become, and it’s only fitting that you guys are called NextGen. Take that name and run with it!
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Jim

Nice to see that you’re looking for options. Love ngreader!!
http://twitter.com/mgombar mgombar

2 top priority items why I use Google Reader; 1) ability to read and stay in sync across my PC, Android Nexus 7 and Nokia Windows Phone 7.8 device. As I read them, I want them marked read on all my devices. 2) Starred items. I love to save off articles to read later. Will I be able to do that with Feedly? NextGen Reader service? Newsblur?
Steve

Great to hear you guys will be on top of this transition.

Along with being able to sync read/unread/starred article lists, I really need a web replacement for Google Reader also for times I am on my desktop PC. (I do use your Windows 8/RT Metro app but only when I am on a Windows tablet.) This web interface does not have to be from NextGen but needs to work on IE (like Google Reader did) as I’m a big everything-MS person. In other words, no Firefox or Chrome plugin type solution. Please consider this request if you decide to go with a new backend service from another company. But if you guys are up for it, by all means go for implementing your own service on Azure! I do believe there is a market for such service and, having seen your work, I’m sure you guys are perfectly capable of pulling it off.

Keep up the good work!
StrAbZ

I think those are good ideas. I also think Marco Arment made a good point (http://www.marco.org/2013/03/14/baby-steps-replacing-google-reader) we need another centralized sync service, or at least use the domain name idea, which will allow users to select their Google Reader like provider.
http://www.facebook.com/aliabdin Ali Abdin

Glad you will find us an alternative!
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felininho

Please add Newsblur support!
schlammbad

Although it would hurt the folks that use web-based readers (including myself), you could go with a solution that doesn’t need a backend reader service at all. Use SkyDrive and write your own background agent to keep feeds up to date and with the appropriate items marked as read as I read them on a device. When I jump from my phone to my tablet and back, they see the same feed and read content on my SkyDrive and, thus, stay in sync with each other.

Admittedly, I do like the fact that an online service is fetching the feed content for me when I’m offline instead of one of my devices having to do the heavy lifting, as would be required with this solution. But, the downside is that it creates this service dependency that we now face with Google dropping Reader. Something like SkyDrive is very unlikely to be dropped for a very, very long time.

I guess, technically, you could still offer offline data collection via some service for those that want it. But, for those willing to run a background task, they would be immune from services being pulled or having to put a server load or expense on the Next team.
sodablue

It’s really disappointing. I used Nextgen Reader on my Lumia 900 when I’m mobile, but I’ve always used the google website to read at my desktop. Most of my feeds are technical blogs, and code samples and diagrams don’t always work well on the mobile so I’ll flag the article to read it later using the website. I like that every device stays in sync.

I can see why google doesn’t want to maintain this any long, as there’s no money in it… no possibility of money, but it costs money to keep it running. I’m going to have to think about that, I think there has to be a durable solution to this.
Steve

I want something I can sync across devices. So, your own service may not be the best approach. Newsblur looks nice.
http://www.facebook.com/sebastian.pfohl Sebastian Pfohl

could you please consider TinyTiny RSS on your plans? I have tested it yesterday and found it great. Anyone can host his own Instance on a shared host. it has a JSON based Sync API and you could import the feeds from Google Reader via OPML. With a little rick, you can also import your starred items. Works great in any browser i have tested. If you can sync in both ways reading state and/or starred items, it would be great!
Miha Pecnik

Great news, living without Google (Reader) might not be as bad after all.
http://blog.davor.se/ Davor Babic

Please consider doing something like this http://www.marco.org/2013/03/14/baby-steps-replacing-google-reader
Greg Hongkong

It would be great if you could provide feedly support because then I can still read across all platforms.
http://twitter.com/kevinkuebler Kevin Kuebler

Great news! I love NextGen Reader on my Surface and would hate to lose the ability to use it for reading all my blog feeds. Can’t wait to find out what the replacement is.
http://www.kurotsuki.web.id/ Kurotsuki Kaitou

Hosting it on your own azure server might not a good idea. The cost for running it can cripple your services to your users. Joining Normandy might be a better choice if lots of RSS app devs also at the same boat. Having unified server always as benefit for multi-platform users.
http://www.facebook.com/garrett.jansen Garrett Jansen

I’m not appalled by the sound of you guys hosting your own service but would prefer Feedly (maybe even NewsBlur) to that that though due to the ability to use it on non-windows devices. I just enjoy being platform agnostic.
StHubi

Thanks for the positive message! I already feared, that my money for the Windows 8 and Windows Phone version of your great app was wasted, when I read the news about Google Reader.

The most important feature for me was the synchronization over several devices. The possibility to use other devices at once by starting the Google Reader web site was nice, but not an essential requirement for me. It would still be nice though to have this option.

The big question is: What do the users have to do for the transition?
BTownTKD

I fully support NextGen Reader in their transition to a new provider. My only hope is that transferring my current feeds list will be quick and painless.

I sort-of wish Microsoft would quickly step in to fill the void, and add a new “Reader” service to their suite of “Live” services. It’s pretty much a no-brainer if they’re trying to compete with Google. It would actually be enough to make me switch away from Gmail and GCal too, just to have all of my services under one roof, again.
http://www.blackseals.net/ Andyt

Hello, do you thought about supporting Tiny Tiny RSS? It’s a self hosted web-based RSS Reader. Maybe evereyone will be able to host it themselves. Your App will need an input mask for URL and of course username and password. Tiny Tiny RSS have an API. => http://tt-rss.org/
Shoey5

Feedly is probably the way to go so it’s pretty much becoming the accepted alternative. Azure would be good but only problem with it is you are restricted to the number of devices (platforms) you can keep in sync.
TheEmirOfGroofunkistan

I vote for Feedly over Newsblur for price reasons…
- t8t
  
  But ‘free’ is what got us here in the first place…
  - TheEmirOfGroofunkistan
    
    I think it’s more google is so large they just don’t have time to care about this product. Other smaller places can have the time. Facebook, twitter, etc are “free” still.
http://www.facebook.com/mario.brandan Mario Brandan

Thanks for having a plan to move this product forward. Definitely my favorite reader on Windows 8. Azure hosting sounds like a great solution. Multiple datacenters, scales out as much as you want, and can have a paid option as well.
Keep up the great work!
http://www.facebook.com/people/Steve-Novoselac/56011561 Steve Novoselac

if anything, it would be nice if NextGen Reader supports the same thing as whatever Reeder does. That way folks that use Win8, WinPhon8, iPad, etc can use awesome reader products with same backend.
http://twitter.com/palelmvp Pilar Arguiñáriz L

Una muy buena noticia.
http://twitter.com/egret85 Everette Beatley

I think feedly seems like the best bet. The Normandy back end will automatically bring over the current Google reader info and the api will be the same. Only thing they are missing is a good cross browser web site solution, but judging by the feature requests on the support site, this should be fixed soon.
http://twitter.com/IscariotJ IscariotJ

Any chance of adding Feedbin as a method of sync?
NGW1031982

I am more inclined to want Feedly, as they have the ability to import everything from Google Reader.
If you can keep all the functions you have now with the next service, I don’t think it will be as difficult as it appears to be for users of NGR.
dazworker

Just one other person here said it so it probably won’t get too high on your list of options, but I would really like to see support for Fever.

It did get some buzz as one of the best alternatives to Google, and is also supported by Reeder for iOS (not an iOS user myself, but from what I understand it’s one of the most popular RSS apps there). While its ‘fever’ concept for filtering is a bit different and I do not know how hard it would be to implement, it’s really nice and useful. Later this year the dev wants to make so changes as well, guess he’ll do some work on the API then too.

I just set up an installation of Fever for myself and am about to switch to Win 8 (already tested it in a VM and tested Nextgen reader in there and loved it), so this would REALLY be great.
http://www.facebook.com/paul.robichaux Paul Robichaux

I’m adding a belated vote for Newsblur support. I am currently using their iOS app, their web site, and a combination of Metroblur and FeedMe on WP8, but I really, REALLY want to go back to Nextgen Reader, which is about a zillion times faster than either of the WP8 apps.
http://twitter.com/seandaniel Sean Daniel

I’d prefer Feedly (Normandy) support, given that Newsblur is a “for fee” service if you want anything of value out of it. If you host your own, Azure is the place to do it, but why build something that exists? seems like you can partner with Feedly who is missing a Windows 8 & Surface App. Business opportunity anyone?
http://www.facebook.com/shicks01 Scott Hicks

use True Switch to migrate you email. Google ill discontinue Google Syne as well. Its just a matter of time before their war with Apple and Microsoft starts to alienate customer completely when they fail to support Windows Phone 8 and iOS.
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http://www.facebook.com/irish.cn Chris Nicol

My preference would be feedly
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DanVincent

I would recommend NewsBlur support as your choice. I like their web interface, and would love to use both yours and theirs.
Ren Chengbin

Please support Newsblur. It’s one of the best paid RSS service.
ngreader

We’re adding support for Feedly. And now supports IE too: cloud.feedly.com
http://www.xboxteamportugal.com/ Rui Carriço

How can i sinc ND Reader with Feedly?
- ngreader
  
  Update should be available soon (submitted to store).
  - http://www.xboxteamportugal.com/ Rui Carriço
    
    Ok, i was going mad with this, every one telling me it supported feedly but the feeds didn’t sync. I’ll be waiting for the update.
    - ngreader
      
      It’s available just now.
      - http://www.xboxteamportugal.com/ Rui Carriço
        
        Downloading now! Thanks!!!
      - http://www.xboxteamportugal.com/ Rui Carriço
        
        Nice one, five stars
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