Instead of improving the mobile web app, Google decided to release a native Android app for Google Reader. The application supports multiple accounts, synchronizes your subscriptions and works offline. It also lets you search your feeds -- a feature that's inexplicably missing from the mobile web app.
Google Reader for Android uses infinite scrolling, has bigger touch areas, it integrates with the operating system's "send to" actions and has a neat trick in the settings that lets you navigate between articles using your phone's volume keys.
Yes, what happened to all the HTML5 offline stuff? Google killed Gears, and then utterly failed to replace it.
ReplyDeleteThis app is excellent. I wish the developers would move the 'Mark All As Read" to the bottom of the window. On the HTC Evo, you need to hit Menu to click. Also, when you Mark As As Read, it does not advance you back to the Feeds list like the web app. You need to hit the back arrow. Navigation on the bottom of the window would make this a killer app.
ReplyDelete"Blogger following" not working on Google Reader for Android though.
ReplyDeleteFYI you can search via their mobile html interface as well.
ReplyDeleteGreat app.
ReplyDeleteIt's true as the earlier poster said, you can search on the web app.
ReplyDeleteOne main feature missing from the Reader app is being able to download files e.g mp3s in podcast feeds which you can do in the web app.
Nice to be able to read image alt text.
I love this new application. The one thing that I have found so far that I dislike is that the web app will launch links in the mobile web page, where this app launches links in the full web page. Anyway to have this app launch links to articles in the mobile web site by default?
ReplyDeleteI've been waiting for this app to come out for a while. Looks great!
ReplyDeleteAll I wanted was a "Share" plugin for the browser. This giant app is the only way I know to provide it, so I spent hours yesterday getting apps2card working since my Milestone XT720 has almost no app space and is stuck at 2.1.
ReplyDeleteThis is terrific. Shame though it came two days after I paid for a third-party reader app.
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting tidbit: Enabling favicons in the Android app enables them in the full web version of Google Reader! Neat!
ReplyDeleteThe Google Reader app doesn't have the same 'Keep unread' checkbox behavior as the Web version for Android or Desktop. In the Web version of Google Reader for Android or the Desktop version, if you mark an item as 'Keep Unread', and then you click on the 'Mark all as read' button, Google Reader will mark everything as read except your 'Keep unread' items. In other words, the 'Keep unread' checkbox overrides the 'Mark all as read' button. This behavior was very convenient and it is missing in the Google Reader app for Android.
ReplyDeleteAnother very annoying navigation weakness - when you click through to read items, the only way to return back to the home page is to click on the back button. I wish there was a menu button for returning to the Google Reader home page from any where in the app.
Its not available in Malaysia android market. Are we not good readers or what?!!!
ReplyDeleteNot available in Egypt android market too. I have to use paid apps market enabler on a rooted device to download it. That's odd...
ReplyDeleteno sync for offline reading like other 3rd part apps
ReplyDeletehas been using huge amounts of cpu/battery/autosync time; autosync icon is showing for a couple of minutes after startup - even though the app doesn't seem to store articles for offline reading.
ReplyDeletemy account has 100s of feeds and 1000s of posts - no other reading app does that.
uninstalled, waiting for update.
It won't connect to sync for me most of the time. This may be related to the other issues I'm having looking at any secure websites or checking my exchange email.
ReplyDeleteI'm in Ireland (eMobile) on Galaxy S running 2.2.
Unfortunately I'm going to have to stick with NewsRob for the time being.
Is this app only available in specific countries? Why? It's free, isn't it? What is the point of restricting it? And if it is restricted, why not say so in the announcement (http://googlereader.blogspot.com/2010/11/android-google-reader-app-is-here.html), to stop the rest of us wasting our time looking for it?
ReplyDeleteThis seems to be yet another example of Google forgetting that anyone outside the US exists.
has been using huge amounts of cpu/battery/autosync time.had to uninstall as battery dies every night.
ReplyDeleteCPU usage is bad, uninstalling for now. Why is CPU being used when nothing going on in background?
ReplyDeleteIt's slow. That can be improved over time I guess.
ReplyDeleteThe main function missing is the ability to choose which subscriptions to exclude.
For example, I group (or label) my subscriptions, but one label is that of things I would rather browse at leisure.
I want to view only my 'not at leisure' subscriptions via mobile - but I end up with having to scroll through masses of things I'd rather not view via mobile, but only would rather view when I'm at my PC with the time and a full screen.
Come on Google - it's not rocket science, as they say !
Thanks
Can the reader app notify when unread things are detected? I can use a "google notifier" third party app for that but it requires my login info and I'm not supplying that to anyone..
ReplyDeleteI would love for it to remember the place I was at in an article when I close the application.
ReplyDeleteI can't get the google reader app on the motorola Defy to show images for the Lamebook feed (http://feeds.feedburner.com/Lamebook). Any suggestions?
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy the Google Reader app, but it's podcast support is atrocious.
ReplyDeletelooking for new ebook reader app, Bookhungama is best option. Download for FREE!!!
ReplyDeleteAvalable for Android and ios.