“What is RSS?”
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It has been around in its current form (version 2.0, launched by Dave Winer) for 16 years. You can read more about the history of RSS here
Version 2.0 is based on XML, and is now the widely ubiquitous version. It’s supported by a variety of clients and servers for aggregation and reading.
“Ok, But How Does that Even Work?”
In the RSS model, one service or device acts as the Aggregator/Server, while others act as Readers/Clients. The aggregator checks with each of your Sources (which would be blogs, youtube channels, podcast feeds, etc.) and gets any new content. It also manages read-history so you can keep track of what you have already seen.
Readers are the client side of the equation. They get all the unread articles from the RSS aggregator, and then present it in a human readable format.
Some readers are also aggregators, and some aggregators are also readers.
You can find RSS feeds all over the internet, and often modern RSS clients are able to create an RSS-like feed even from sites which don’t explicitly support the protocol.
“Why Should I Use RSS?”
It’s a slower and more curated way to get content from the internet. It’s a filter. You can get new articles, videos, podcasts, etc. through RSS without wading through a deluge of the information that Google or others think you want.
No algorithm, purely personal curation of information.
It also means built-in ad blocking, since in most cases, you are not actually visiting the website to get the information. The aggregator collects all the content in the background for you.
For blogs, it means you can keep up with each post, without needing to clutter an email inbox with newsletters.
Services like kill-the-newsletter are also able to convert Newsletter-only sites into RSS feeds for free, without you needing to host or manage anything.
What I Recommend
If you have an iPhone or iPad and are getting started with RSS, start with NetNewsWire.
It’s free, and supports iCloud storage for syncing subscriptions and read history between devices.
It acts as both Aggregator and Reader, and can find RSS feeds on sites automatically, when given the site’s base URL.
If you ever grow out of it, you can export your entire subscription list in .opml which is a widely accepted format among RSS readers.
I have used NetNewsWire for the last 4 years, and only recently have I found myself looking for something more capable.
It handles 200+ concurrent subscriptions with ease.
What I Use
FreshRSS Server with plugins for the web-reader to add embedded youtube videos, and read time projections. Wallabag server as a read-later provider.
Both FreshRSS and Wallabag are free and open source, and are running on a Raspberry Pi 4 through Docker, and accessed remotely over a Tailscale) VPN connection.
My reader of choice these days is ReadKit. It’s available on Mac OS, iPadOS, and iOS, and supports both RSS and ReadLater subscriptions simultaneously. The interface and UI are also beautiful, and are well suited to Liquid Glass.
ReadKit is primarily a reader, but does support built-in aggregation. A one time purchase or subscription is required to remove the 20 source cap for the builtin aggregator.
Give it a Try
If you’re in the Apple ecosystem, try downloading NetNewsWire, or any other RSS reader.
You can test it out by adding this blog, https://kicking-cans.com/rss.xml.
Happy reading!