RSS Hacks

13 Aug, 2025

A tired guide for tired folks...

What's RSS?

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) or just Syndication are terms referring either to aggregated webpage content in the format of a simplified yet standardized feed, allowing people and applications to access and monitor updates from those sources of information, or referring to the applications that parse that kinda of information (in this case, the "RSS" is a short for "RSS Reader"). Even if each RSS variant has its own technical specifications as formats and protocols, the term was popularly made the synonym of many other simplified syndication technologies such as Atom. For the purposes of this (tired) guide, I won't discern about those specifications.

Why the RSS?

Maybe you're a regular viewer/reader/supporter of any source of information in the web who is overwhelmed by the growing crapification of mainstream platforms where creators usually share their updates.

Maybe you're a creator in those mainstream platforms and don't intend to move but want to expand your reach to the growing community of folks who are leaving corporate platforms and social media, then you definently should set up your own crowdfunding method and an RSS.

Maybe you're a self-crafter and a community member queering the binary consumer-creator, wishing to go back to those days of a less centralized and monetized, more creative or independent and personal web.

Maybe you need a slow, curated, small web to overcome anxiety and other diseases amplified by the current web of corporations.

Maybe you're just curious about the ancient technology (/j) of an RSS Feed cus it's not something you've experienced at all, since you're younger.

Maybe you're nostalgic of the golden era of RSS technology cus you were definitely there, building and experiencing it.

I could list the reasons endlessly, but the truth is: if you somehow managed to figure out this blog post, it means that you're already aware of your own motivations.

Applications

The following are just suggestions, you're free to use your favorite ones or those situated to your own contexts and needs.

Desktop:

RSS Guard (Cross-Platform)
Alligator (Cross-Platform)
Akregator (Cross-Platform)

Mobile:

Android: Feeder
iOS (never had an Apple device, so I haven't tried this one, but the dev duo rocks): NetNewsWire
postmarketOS and most of the other linux phones/tablets/mobile devices (I hope): Alligator (lightweight, but it's possible that those other flatpak options are also going to work).

Web-browsers:

Vivaldi: is a chromium-like web-browser with a built-in feed reader, neat privacy-oriented praxis (despite of being closed-source) and, most important, not involved in any sort of controversies in regards of misleading libertarian bs nor the funding of anti-LGBTQ/hate groups, unlike their primary chromium-like open-source adversary.
Other mainstream web-browsers: I don't feel comfortable in recommending, but there are well-known add-on options. If you find yourself in need to know what are those, send me a message (contact information in the "About" section of this blog). Sometimes context forces us into using the tools we wouldn't if solely guided by our own volition. And for the RSS thriving (more like its renaissance), it's more strategic to weaken at least the crapified platforms influence.

Finding Stuff and Setting it Up

Users subscribe to feeds either by entering its URL into the reader or by clicking on the browser's syndication icon. Some well-known publishing platforms provide a standardized address for all their affiliated websites, blogs, fast-blogs or pages:

If a source is built using Wordpress or hosted on Write.as or Bearblog, you just need to add /feed at the end of its URL. Visually it will look like this: https://sample.wordpress.com/feed/ or https://write.as/sample/feed/ or https://bearblog.dev/sample/feed/. You can also do this to categories and pages of a Wordpress built source, so you can get feeds for specific topics or areas of a website or blog. For WriteFreely instances other than Write.as, the pattern will look like the following: https://instance.name/sample/feed/.
If a source is hosted on Blogger, you'll add /feeds/posts/default by the end of its URL. It looks like this: https://sample.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default/.
If hosted on Medium, just add /feed/ before the alias of a source in the URL. Visually it looks like this: https://medium.com/feed/@sample.
If hosted on Mastodon, you'll add .rss by the end of a source in the URL. Here is how it looks like: https://instance.name/@source.rss. You can also subscribe to categories (tags) adding /tags/ + the tag of your interest + .rss past the name of your preferred instance, visually it looks like the following path: https://instance.name/tags/SampleTag.rss. Note that you could have completely different feeds for the same tag if using different instances as sources to retrieve information. It all depends on the instance's federation behaviour/defines. In other words, if you'd like to receive updates on the /gamedev tag, it would be interesting to use any game-making related instance known by its good practices in federating with other game-making related instances, instead of a generalist instance or any other instance related to a different subject.
If a source is hosted on SmolPub, you'll need to add /atom.xml by the end of its URL, it will look like this: https://sample.smol.pub/atom.xml.

And so on... I'll be back to this post to add more information in regards of other platforms, but I guess this is already enough to try and start subscribing to tons of cool stuff!

Following YouTube channels updates through an RSS Reader

If you'd like to follow your favorite channels but don't want to make your own YouTube account - even if you want to leave YouTube right now, but still would like to watch stuff that's been published there - for a myriad of reasons, you could try this pattern: https://www.youtube.com + /feeds/ + videos.xml + ?channel_id= + the string of letters and numbers past channel/ in the actual URL (you're able to find the ID instead of just the @username using the inspecting URL function of any web-browser in the channel's main page or, alternatively, using the YouTube API to retrieve that information).

The following list is a suggestion of known and/or interesting channels to add to your reader. Specially if you intend to watch the content using alternative frontend redirects in a web-browser or mobile app to avoid YouTube ads/tracking, do not forget to support indie creators throughout their crowdfundings whenever you can:

The Stuff I follow

This is not an extensive list, but among other things I've subscribed you could find these sources:

AI-Free Statement

At no point in making this blog post did I use AI. This includes the sources/tools reviews, logical organization, writing, raising the overall information, analyzing and proofreading it. I do not cite any references that used AI, to the extent of what it's possible to know.

Creative Commons Statement

This blog post is released under the CC-BY-NC-SA license, which means you're free to use its contents to anything other than commercializing it or producing hateful/malicious variants of it.

I'd love to see your zines of it and maybe I myself will craft my own soon! :3

#TiredGuide #YTboycott

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