Every morning, I open my RSS reader before anything else. No algorithmic feed, no trending topics, no engagement bait. Just the articles and updates I specifically chose to follow, in chronological order, with no surprises.

Most people have never heard of RSS, or they think it died with Google Reader in 2013. It didn’t. RSS is alive and well, and if you care about controlling what information reaches your brain, it’s worth your attention.

What RSS actually is

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a standardised format that websites use to publish updates. When a blog publishes a new post, the RSS feed updates automatically. Your RSS reader checks those feeds periodically and shows you the new stuff. That’s it.

No algorithm decides what to show you. No company tracks what you click on to serve you more of the same. No advertiser pays to insert content into your feed. You subscribe to sources you trust, and you get everything they publish. Nothing more, nothing less.

Why it fell out of fashion

Google killed Google Reader in 2013, and most casual RSS users never found a replacement. Social media filled the gap — Twitter became the default news feed for tech-savvy users, Facebook for everyone else.

The trade was attractive at first. Social media was easier to use, more social (obviously), and the algorithmic feed felt helpful. Instead of reading everything a source published, the algorithm showed you the “best” stuff.

What people didn’t realise was that “best” meant “most engaging,” which meant “most likely to provoke a reaction.” Over time, the feeds optimised for outrage, controversy, and emotional manipulation. The algorithm doesn’t care if you’re informed. It cares if you’re engaged.

What you gain by switching back

The first thing you notice when switching to RSS is the quiet. No notifications fighting for your attention. No infinite scroll designed to keep you trapped. You read what’s there, you’re done, and you close the app. There’s a definite end, which is something social media deliberately avoids giving you.

The second thing is the quality. When you hand-pick your sources, the average quality of what you read goes up dramatically. You stop reading whatever the algorithm shoves in your face and start reading what you actually chose.

The third thing is the speed. RSS readers are fast. There’s no loading of images you don’t want, no video auto-playing, no cookie consent popups, no newsletter subscription modals. Just text. Clean, fast, readable text.

Good RSS readers in 2026

If you want to try RSS, here are some solid options:

Miniflux is my favourite — it’s a self-hosted, minimalist reader with a clean web interface. If self-hosting sounds intimidating, Feedbin is an excellent paid option ($5/month) with a beautiful interface and podcast support. NetNewsWire is free and open-source, available for Mac and iOS, and it’s genuinely one of the best-designed apps on either platform.

On Android, Feeder is free and solid, though it lacks sync between devices. For cross-platform sync without paying for a service, FreshRSS is a self-hosted option that works well.

The limitation

RSS won’t work for everything. Most social media platforms don’t offer RSS feeds (by design — they want you using their app). Some news sites have gutted their RSS feeds to force you onto their websites. You’ll still need other sources for breaking news and social interaction.

But for blogs, newsletters, podcasts, and independent publications, RSS remains the best way to follow content creators without letting a corporation decide what you see.

Setting it up takes 20 minutes

Find an RSS reader. Add the feeds you care about. Most blogs have an RSS feed — look for the orange RSS icon or try adding /feed or /rss to the end of the URL. Many newsletters publish to RSS as well.

Give it a week. I suspect you’ll find, as I did, that you’re reading more thoughtfully and spending less time doom-scrolling.

The technology is 25 years old. It’s boring. It’s simple. And in a world that’s optimised for distraction, boring and simple might be exactly what you need.