This includes an episode title, an episode date, an episode description, and a link to download or stream the audio. An XML file is a text file that contains metadata about episodes. Podcast publishers create XML files of all available episodes.RSS feeds can also be integrated into social media sites using applications like The Old Reader. Yes, podcast apps use them, but so do news aggregators that operate within a web browser. People use RSS feeds to access podcasts, blog posts, and pretty much anything that can be described via an XML file. They fetch episodes as links from an XML feed, they download the audio, and then they play it back on your computer or mobile device. (Most podcast apps hide the link and collect the audio for you.) In fact, most podcast apps are combination audio players and RSS feed readers. Podcast RSS feeds help podcast fans stay up to date on the latest episodes, which appear in chronological order with a title, description, and link to the audio file. ( RDF stands for Resource Description Framework, which is an industry metadata standard that nobody talks about anymore.) The acronym can also stand for rich site summary or RDF site summary, though these are slightly antiquated terms. You can also add /feed/ to the end of any author page URL for author-specific feeds, like so.RSS stands for really simple syndication. Speaking of which, Ars Technica offers multiple segmented RSS feeds for readers. Luckily, there's an established market for old-school and reimagined RSS readers-and some very good options.
But it's highly unlikely that Google would invest so much into putting Discover-like feeds into its phones, web-based laptops, browsers, search engine, Nest hubs, and more, simply to surrender and say, "Actually, we'll just show you your headlines again." Discover feeds are also a space that Google controls, so it can infuse them with advertising, which it can't do with RSS. Last week, Chrome updated its guidance for site owners looking to have readers "Follow" their sites, asking them to make feed titles descriptive and to select a single feed for readers instead of offering multiple sections.Ĭhrome-watching blogs like to raise the specter of Google Reader in headlines when discussing Google's attempts to turn apps and devices into content hubs. There's some ambiguity there-but also evidence that Google is sticking with its long-gestating efforts to harness the open RSS standard in the Google ecosystem of "Follow." AdvertisementĮnlarge / Google's "Follow" button, now appearing in Chrome Canary builds. will use to communicate with the browser."
Tofel writes that the underlying code of the feature "strongly suggests" an RSS-based feed reader, based on the specific language of "web feeds." Then again, that same code section, powering the interaction between browser and sidebar, notes that it will be "the interface that Discover Feed content. Kevin Tofel of About Chromebooks thinks so. Enabling that #following-feed-sidepanel flag (now also available in Chrome's testing build, Canary) adds another option to the sidebar: Feed.įeeds? Like RSS feeds, the kind we once had in dear, departed Google Reader, slain for the sins of Google+? Over the weekend, the Chrome Story blog noticed a new flag in Gerrit, the unstable testing build of Chrome's open source counterpart Chromium. It's unlikely, but never say never when it comes to Google product decisions.Ĭhrome added a sidebar for browsing bookmarks and Reading List articles back in March. Tucked away inside a recent bleeding-edge Chrome build is a "Following feed" that has some bloggers dreaming of the return of Google Reader. Does Google enjoy teasing and sometimes outright torturing some of its products' most devoted fans? It can seem that way.