Google Reader support

[jzamoras]

Hi, can you add support to google reader as aggregator?

Best,
Jaime

[marwatk]

Hi Jamie,

I'm not sure I follow, can you give me a description of what you'd like it to do? I'm always looking for ways to make it better...

-Marcus

[jzamoras]

Google has its own rss aggregator called google reader. The idea behind this is integrate all feeds they read in one aggregator. Podtrapper should detect which feeds are actually podcasts.

Hope this helps.


Best,
Jaime

[marwatk]

Oh, you mean the Google reader for blackberry? Ah, I was thinking the one for desktop, and couldn't figure out how they would go together

I'll look into that, I'm not sure if Google exposes any of their data, but it's definitely worth looking into.

Thanks for the suggestion.

-Marcus

[jzamoras]

FYI, freerange and viigo already does that.

[lil_sunshine]

Jamie,
Let me see if I can explain what we mean by google reader support. We want to be able to import some or all of our subscriptions from google reader right into your podcatcher without having to type the urls in again. I believe google reader is open source. So, you should not have any problem getting the code or permissions.

I use an open source RSS Reader called BeyondPod to download my RSS feeds and my podcasts on my Windows Mobile smartphone. It is fantastic. I can't find anything like it for Blackberries. First off, I want a reader that combines my RSS feeds and podcasts. Second, I want to be able to import my subscriptions from google reader into my mobile podcatcher and keep them in their categories. Third, I want a slick polished interface.

Give me Beyondpod on a Blackberry and your Podtrapper will be a bargin at twice the price.

[jzamoras]

The idea using greader is keep all feeds in one place. I can easily make a podcast folder in greader.

Best,
Jaime

[marwatk]

Hi lil_sunshine,

I'm not going to say generic RSS reading will never be in PodTrapper, but it's not likely. I know a lot of people see RSS and Podcasts as the same thing (probably stemming from them both being published as RSS), but for me the two are very different from a usage perspective, and I actually prefer them separate. Plus, viigo is already a great RSS reader, so I'd spend development time reinventing the wheel.

Sorry if this is disappointing, I hate projecting myself onto my users, but I can't see a real reason to include it. Definitely let me know if/why you think otherwise.

-Marcus

[lil_sunshine]

Hi lil_sunshine,

I'm not going to say generic RSS reading will never be in PodTrapper, but it's not likely. I know a lot of people see RSS and Podcasts as the same thing (probably stemming from them both being published as RSS), but for me the two are very different from a usage perspective, and I actually prefer them separate. Plus, viigo is already a great RSS reader, so I'd spend development time reinventing the wheel.

Sorry if this is disappointing, I hate projecting myself onto my users, but I can't see a real reason to include it. Definitely let me know if/why you think otherwise.

-Marcus

Having a separate RSS reader is not a big deal. It's just that I can't stand Viigo. However, I do subscribe to podcasts in google reader as well. So, it would still be cool to be able to be able to import my google reader podcast subscriptions into PodTrapper. It would be a lot easier than having to manually look up or type in all of my podcast subscriptions. The way it works on Beyondpod is that I log into my google reader account from the BeyondPod app, then I select the feeds that I want to import and save them to BeyondPod. No typing in urls. No searching podcast content menus. No getting on the plane and realizing that I forgot to add This American Life to my Podtrapper subscriptions.