My RSS Workflow
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication
There is something so wonderfully magical about RSS. In this world where everything is so closed, its RSS for me that brings everything under one metaphorical roof.
For over five years, Feedbin has been managing my RSS feeds. Its fast, its reliable and it's simple yet feature rich interface works perfectly. Over the years, I have used many third party apps that sync with Feedbin but no app is as fast as the Feedbin app or the Feedbin website.
I have also tried other RSS feed services such as Feedly, but I feel at home with Feedbin. I also tried iCloud sync with Reeder but comparatively it's slower and less reliable. The Reader app is beautiful though, but we all know, beauty only takes you so far in this world.
One of my regrets is not picking up the Feedbin 10th anniversary tee:
I have over 600 RSS feeds that Feedbin tracks. It's super quick too, so if there is a new blog post, generally, I see it pretty quickly (within 30 minutes if not a lot earlier).
Feedbin is where I triage and save the good stuff to read later. Anything that I want to read, simply STAR it and it shows up in my read it later app of choice, Readwise Reader. There is nothing wrong with reading the blogposts in Feedbin itself but with Reader, my highlights are saved to my Readwise account.
Back in 2013 (11 years ago), Feedbin introduced a feature called "Starred Entry Feed". It basically provides an RSS feed of all the items I have starred. I add this RSS feed to Readwise Reader. Simple and pretty straightforward.
This system works really well. The icing on the cake is that this entire workflow is platform agnostic, meaning regardless of the device, the workflow stays the same.
I use the web version of Feedbin on Windows and macOS. On iOS and iPadOS, I only need the Feedbin app. For Android, I install a PWA version of Feedbin, which works well too.
Readwise Reader app is one of the nicest read it later app I have used. It is optimised for an e-ink display which means its delightful to read on my Boox Palma:
MereCivilian
The team at Readwise has really sweat on the details and that is clear when using the app. The experience is consistently delightful regardless of the device and/or platform.
As of 2024 and for the foreseeable future, this is my RSS workflow.
Blog post written and editted on Surface Pro 11