Aehso’s Output

Google Reader on the N800 and Wii

I was trying to use Google Reader on my N800 at the weekend and it just didn’t work well enough to be usable. The page layout and text size really isn’t suited to a 800×480 display, I was scrolling far too much to reach important buttons/links and some of the AJAX controls (such as the tree nodes) just did not seem to react to touchscreen input.

However Google Mobile Reader has more than saved the day. This stripped down version of reader is designed primarily at mobile phone handset users, but it works very well on the N800.

The main page, once logged in, shows the ten most recent posts with convenient page-forward and mark-as-read-and-page-forward links:

The Subscriptions page is simplicity itself - a flat list of feeds, with feeds that contain new posts at the top of the list.

Each Feed page (http://www.google.com/reader/m/view/feed%2F<HTTP-encoded-feed-URL>) is almost as simple but with one line of the entry body under each item, and additional navigation/mark links at the bottom:

Each Entry page (as above with additional query string) is also simple, with convenient links to see the original feed entry page, along with links to star, mark as read and move to next.

Note my recurring use of the term ’simple’. In this environment, simplicity really does win the day and in this case it adds up to a very usable service. The fact that it is perfectly synchronized with my laptop feed reader is a significant plus. I left NetNewsWire behind a long time ago because I just couldn’t coordinate reading sessions across my home mac and my work pc. This is really another type of client that I want to read the same data access the same service with.

And then I noticed that they have a custom Google Reader for the Wii too, with bonus Wiimote integration! It is going to take a lot to get me to ever switch to a different feed reader.

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