Unfortunate news for fans of RSS feeds: Feedly, the leading standalone RSS reader in the world, has been dealing with technical difficulties for over a week, leaving paying users frustrated with the web app’s sluggish performance. Many users have expressed dissatisfaction, claiming that their support inquiries have gone unanswered. This isn’t good.
Founded after Google discontinued Google Reader in 2013, Feedly has grown to become one of the most prominent RSS newsreaders, boasting 15 million users. This makes it a larger platform compared to competitors such as Inoreader and various desktop applications like NetNewsWire and Reeder.
However, the platform currently faces multiple ongoing challenges affecting both free and paying users. The most pressing issue is a notable slowdown of the web application, which has complicated users’ ability to browse feeds effectively. Users on community forums have indicated that the app is incredibly slow, rendering it “unusable.”
Moreover, complaints have surfaced regarding the functionality of Feedly’s iOS app, particularly on the iOS 27 beta version. Additionally, the company abruptly discontinued the classic version of the mobile app weeks ago, which was favored by a niche group of users.
While many consumers have transitioned to dedicated news apps like Apple News and Google News, the market for RSS readers remains relatively limited. Nonetheless, Feedly has been shifting its focus towards AI, offering businesses tools to monitor emerging threats and curate specific intelligence via its platform.
Given the recent problems, questions arise about Feedly’s commitment to its core RSS user base as it pivots towards AI solutions, which are now prominently featured on its website.
In light of these matters, TechCrunch reached out to Feedly for clarification, especially since numerous users noted on community forums that their requests for technical support had been overlooked.
Feedly CEO Edwin Khodabakchian reassured TechCrunch that the company remains dedicated to RSS functionality.
“Even as we transition towards cyber threat intelligence, enhancing our RSS capabilities remains a priority since our CTI community relies on the news-reading feature,” he explained. “We aim to keep the Feedly News Reader as efficient and speedy as possible.”
Additionally, the CEO acknowledged the web app issues, attributing them to a bug. He stated that the front-end team is actively working on a fix and believes the problem relates to the “Mark as Read” feature in accounts with extensive folder structures. A fix was released recently, and the company is assessing whether this resolves the issue for all users.
Khodabakchian also indicated that the Feedly Classic app was “retired two weeks ago due to not complying with certain iOS and Android standards,” though it had been taken off the App Store much earlier. He noted that at the time of its closure, the app had only a few hundred active users and that existing users were not informed prior to the shutdown.
Furthermore, Khodabakchian mentioned he was unaware of the issues impacting the iOS app’s loading capability but promised an investigation. He assured users that quick resolutions are in progress as the company remains committed to improving its main iOS and Android applications.
