RSS feed

What is RSS?

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) allows web sites to publish and automatically update feeds with new articles and blog posts. Web browsers, online services, and desktop and mobile applications can then use these feeds to aggregate all of the articles – it is no longer necessary to check all the individual web sites for updates, simply subscribe to their RSS feed and the feed reader does all the work.

How to use RSS

There are many options for reading and managing RSS feeds. Most modern web browsers have some built-in functionality for reading RSS feeds.

• Safari's built-in RSS
• Firefox live bookmarks
• Internet Explorer 9
• Opera

Online services can be accessed from any computer, tablet or phone with a web browser and an internet connection.

• Google Reader
• Good Noows
• Bloglines

Desktop and mobile applications either synchronise with an online service or work independently, maintaining their own list of feeds. Desktop applications are available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux systems.

• Windows: Feed Notifier or FeedDemon
• Mac: NetNewsWire or Vienna
• Linux: Liferea or Akgregator
• Cross-platform (Windows, Linux and Mac): RSSOwl or BottomFeeder

There are also many mobile applications for iOS, Android and other phone platforms.

• iOS: Reeder or Byline
• Android: gReader, NewsRob

Note: Links to third-party applications and services are given for your convenience and do not express or imply any endorsement of them. Many other applications and services are available.