How App.net could be helpful to next generation RSS readers

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Guest post from App.net team member @voidfiles

Like many, I was dismayed when Google announced they were sunsetting Reader. Ever since I first figured out what that odd bright orange button was and subscribed to my first feed, I was hooked. I subscribed to anything with a feed. I was so enthralled with the ecosystem that I eventually started my own blog, where I write about blogs and RSS (it’s meta, I know). Before I was aware of what was happening to me, reading an aggregated stream of information shaped me, and I’m not alone.

RSS developers in the App.net community

App.net is not lacking in RSS luminaries – from Brent Simmons, the creator of NetNewsWire and Samuel Clay, the creator of NewsBlur to Brett Slatkin, the co-creator of the PuSH protocol and Julien Genestoux, the creator of Superfeedr. They are at home on App.net among this community of people who use RSS (many now seeking an alternative to Google Reader).

How the App.net API could be used by developers working on RSS-related projects

There are many ways that App.net can be used to augment and build on an existing feed reader. Here are a few (there are, no doubt, more):

  • Authentication: For starters, App.net users could login to your reader app using their App.net identity. Then they would be able to use their App.net social graph to find others who are also using the app. In fact, @samuelclay demonstrated this exact feature at the last App.net Hackathon.
  • Post API: An app that integrates with App.net could allow users to create a post that would show up in their public stream which links to an interesting blog post they found while using the app.
  • Message API: Instead of creating a public post an app could allow an App.net user to share a blog post privately with one or many friends.
  • File API: An app could use the File API to keep backups of a user’s OPML file.

Do you have more ideas about how the App.net APIs could be used by developers building the next generation of RSS readers? Please participate in the public discussion, or join the Patter room with the topic “Replacing Reader.”

Thanks,

@voidfiles

 

  • http://www.ouvre-boite.com Julien

    Thanks for the mention! The OPML file storing would be nice indeed!
    I would actually love to see app.net allow me follow feeds as I follow people. That would allow me to add a couple very important feeds that I love, rather than wait for people to Cross Post.
    I know Brett posts everything on his blog and syndicates everywhere… I’d make more sense if I could just follow his blog here in app.net!

  • Uli Kusterer

    Suggestion: Make RSS feeds full-blown followable entities. I can just “follow” an RSS feed somewhere, and it shows up (with its Favicon as the avatar) in my stream, just like any other ADN user’s statuses (though it’d be fine if posts >256 chars were truncated with an ellipsis and we’d always want a “More…” linking to the actual post). Would be a great way to instantly get more content for ADN users.

    • http://alexandersmith.co/ Benjamin Alexander

      Agreed.

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  • http://www.facebook.com/cathryne.linenweaver Cathryne Linenweaver

    A just as awesome alternative would be ownCloud’s News app. And for people who like offline reading on a Kindle or so: https://github.com/owncloud/apps/issues/779

  • http://jejohaneman.com/ Joe

    I would think the File API could be used as a sync system, much like the Google Reader API. Obviously, the syncing mechanism would have to account for the possibility of multiple apps accessing the same data (so you’d have to be careful about corrupting the data).

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