In today's world of nonstop information overload, maintaining full control over the information you consume is incredibly difficult. This is especially true in crypto, where you need to keep up with Twitter, YouTube, Medium, and Substack to track the latest industry developments, while also monitoring on-chain data to follow whale movements.
Bottom line: in crypto, information is directly tied to profit. If you can effectively control your information flow, or learn things before others do and act on it, the compounding gains over time will be very substantial.
On-chain data is relatively easy to find and track -- there are plenty of crypto tools that process this data and sell it as SaaS products, like Nansen（在新标签页中打开） (opens in a new tab) or Dune Analytics（在新标签页中打开） (opens in a new tab). But for other types of published content, there isn't yet a timely and accurate tool we can rely on. Thankfully, we still have RSS.
In this article, I'll cover:
- What exactly is RSS?
- How do we get RSS feeds?
- What are some good RSS apps? (Android/iOS/Windows)
- My personal RSS feed collection
1. What Is RSS?
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a standardized format for aggregating updated content from multiple websites and automatically notifying subscribers. With RSS, you no longer need to manually check websites for new content. RSS can consolidate updates from multiple sites and present them in summary form, helping you quickly identify important information and selectively read what matters.
In simpler terms, RSS breaks down the information silos between different websites and apps, presenting everything in a briefing-style format. With an RSS app and the feeds you want to subscribe to, you'll never be trapped by algorithm-driven content again. Instead, you'll feel like a "head of state" who gets a daily briefing from their staff -- effortlessly staying on top of everything that matters to you.
Now that I've covered what makes RSS so powerful, let's talk about how to actually get RSS feeds.
2. How Do We Get RSS Feeds?
RSS has its own special format. Without any software to render it, raw feeds look something like this:
This XML format is a common RSS format. Once you have a feed in this format and subscribe to it in your app, you'll continuously receive updates from that site.
So how do we find these feeds?
- First, you'll need Google Chrome.
- Search for the plugins you need in the Chrome Web Store.
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Option 1: RSS Radar（在新标签页中打开） (opens in a new tab)
This plugin has tons of benefits. Once installed, it automatically detects any RSS feeds on any webpage. It can even subscribe to basically all social media platforms -- Twitter, YouTube, and even Telegram channels, not to mention regular websites.
After a simple installation, you can intuitively see all available feeds. Just click subscribe, copy the feed URL into your app, and you'll start receiving updates immediately. You can also categorize feeds however you like to organize your information.
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Option 2: Install the Violentmonkey（在新标签页中打开） (opens in a new tab) extension
Violentmonkey can do way more than just RSS subscriptions, but we'll save that for another time. After installing the extension, head to Greasy Fork（在新标签页中打开） (opens in a new tab) to search for scripts.
Search for RSS and install this script: "RSS+ : Show Site All RSS（在新标签页中打开） (opens in a new tab)"
Once installed, you'll see an option in the bottom-right corner of any website to add its RSS feed to your preferred app.
3. What Are Some Good RSS Apps?
Feedly（在新标签页中打开） (opens in a new tab) Has a nice-looking interface, good for people who care about aesthetics. Paid. Has some unique proprietary features.
Inoreader（在新标签页中打开） (opens in a new tab) Supports Chinese, with a decent UX. Paid, with some really useful features.
Feedbro（在新标签页中打开） (opens in a new tab) Hands down, the best one I've found so far! The biggest advantage is that it's completely free. It supports some simple rules and four different themes, and you can import unlimited OPML files -- meaning you'll never be limited by the number of subscriptions.
There are other apps out there, each with their own strengths, but I think these three are the most representative and more than enough for most people. If you find something better, let me know so we can make this guide even better!
4. RSS Feed Collection
An RSS feed collection is an OPML file that someone has organized and categorized for you. There are other formats too, but most apps support OPML.
1. @Zhixiong Pan's RSSAggregatorforWeb3（在新标签页中打开） (opens in a new tab)
This is a fairly comprehensive crypto RSS collection, well-categorized too. I felt some of the sources were a bit redundant though, so I trimmed a few out. Feel free to customize it based on your own preferences.
2. @zlexdl.eth's Mirror Author Directory（在新标签页中打开） (opens in a new tab)
This one focuses on articles from Mirror. It's fairly comprehensive, but you'll need to filter out some lower-quality pieces yourself.
3. My Personal Collection
I've combined the two sources above and added some of my own. It also includes information beyond just crypto, so you can download it here（在新标签页中打开） (opens in a new tab). I've also uploaded the OPML files from both sources to the repo, so you can grab everything directly from the GitHub repository.