Industry coverage, news, original feature articles, how to guides, videos, podcasts and reviews of BlackBerry service providers, software, accessories, hosted exchange providers and more
One internet feature I’m surprised hasn’t caught on more widely is RSS. It’s a wonderful tool which brings you the stuff you want to read, without you ever going to fetch it. It allows for quick scanning of headlines to determine reading worthiness. It’s basically your own personal magazine. I know that some BlackBerry users use Viigo for their RSS feeds on the go, and, if you wish, you can import your Google Reader feeds into Viigo. For those that want the true Google Reader experience, though, we’re stuck with a simple web interface. Recently, however, Ronen at BerryReview demonstrated how to use the Android and iPhone optimized WebApp from your OS 4.6 and higher browser.
To use this Java-based app, head to http://www.google.com/reader/i/ from your BlackBerry browser. The page will load, but your feeds won’t. Click Menu, select Add Bookmark, and on that screen scroll to the bottom and set JavaScript to Enabled. Then close down your browser and start it back up. Go to the bookmark, and you’ll see a list of your latest items. Click on the headline, and it will drop down and give you the article’s full content, without having to load a new page.
As Ronen notes, this isn’t a perfect solution. The read/unread status does not travel back and forth between the device and your account, so it’s only good for reading your latest items. Images sometimes do not load properly either. But if you can handle these inconveniences, the Java-enabled Google Reader WebApp does provide a better reading experience than its WAP counterpart, which is what Google suggests you use.
Does anyone else remember Google once having a Reader app for BlackBerry? I could have sworn I had it on my 8830 at some point.
Subscribe to the BBGeeks RSS Feed
Add to De.licio.us | 
Digg This! | 
Technorati
Filed under : Quick Tips 8 Comments
Top Selling BlackBerry Skin Cases:
Related Posts:
Google Sync for BlackBerryIntroducing Feed Reader Fridays
Google Mobile Feed Reader Review
BBGeeks BlackBerry Feed Reader Awards
Keep your RSS feeds simple with Arr! SS
8 Comments ↓
I don’t recall there ever being one officially from Google, but if you go here (http://productideas.appspot.com/#9/e=22493&t=blackberry) you can express your desire for one.
For anyone with a storm there is a great app called Unread. Gives you all of the basic functionality including synchronization of read and unread items.
http://software.crackberry.com/product.asp?id=36579
Not sure why you go to the length of recruiting the Java app. On my Bold 9700 I open the browser and point to http://reader.google.com
Since I am already logged in to my Google account (where I have set up a bunch of RSS feeds to read on my desktop and laptop) the screen comes back and shows me the newest, shiniest items on a screen titled “ChagriLama’s reading List” (the name I gave my RSS feeds when I originally set them up.)
I see 9 messages (changeable in the Setting Menu, see later). Pressing Menu – P – P shows the list in a page view, nicer to read than column view, if your eyes can take the strain…
There are several links of note:
“0. more…” — takes you to the the next batch of 9 items.
“# mark these items as read” — means what it says. BTW, unlike the note in the article, this status change DOES TRAVEL to the Account. What I mark as read will NO LONGER show as unread on the Desktop/Laptop!!!)
“Tags” — shows the list of tags used
“Subscription” — Perhaps the most interesting: This open the list of ALL THE SUBSCRIPTIONS you set up to various RSS feeds. Their name appears in bold letters if there are unread items in those feeds followed by the number of items. Feeds with no items are in regular font.
“Settings” — allows you to change the number of items per page (5, 10, 20), and an option to reformat the the linked webpages for mobile browsers.
“Sign Out” – well, you know what this means…
Have at it! Enjoy…
I use the app called UnRead. It works well on my Storm 2. I bought it through Crackberry.com’s app store. It reads all of my GoogleReader feeds and syncs back to GoogleReader what I’ve read.
Chagri, I wrote this so people can avoid the WAP site, which is what you’re loading. I, among others, do not enjoy it.
Nobody is trying Snaptu? I used Viigo but now prefer Snaptu over Viigo, why? try it yourself,:)
P.S. they can both import google reader items…however, I think we really need a function that can organize the feeds by folders and categories
I don’t know why people keep saying that there’s no proper read/unread sync status between an RSS client and Google Reader.
I’m using an app called Arr! SS which costed me US$ 1.99 and it two-way syncs correctly with Google Reader.
I know it doesn’t have a friendly UI, but it works. It’s great to read news when i’m out of home and when i return they are marked as read on NetNewsWire on my Mac.
It worked in opera without additional java setting. It is just too wide, you have to go left and right to read things. But maybe it is just setting in opera. Thanks anyway, it is best we can have for now. Works with feed directories and I did not have problems with loading pictures from feeds.
Leave a Reply