Last year, Google has announced it started testing long-dead Google Reader’s RSS feature in Chrome for android with the ability to follow and get updates of favorite websites’ content right from a new tab. Welp, The Chrome RSS feed Reader’s follow feature is now made into the desktop platform as well where Google has readied the necessary bits for the same. Here is how you can enable and follow sites in Chrome on your desktop.
Highlights:
- After Android, Chrome for desktop to get RSS Reader also.
- The feature allows users to follow favorites websites and they can track content updates
- The feature may be available to other platforms such as iOS in the future, as of now, Chrome for Android will get it first.
- Websites with <Link> tag support Chrome’s follow feature.
Chrome is using Side Panel as a one-stop thing to access its features.
Google has now integrated a reading list, Bookmarks, and Journeys and lets you view Google Search results in the sidebar. Now feed is being brought into the Side Panel as well.
How to Enable RSS Feed Reader in Chrome on desktop
- Launch Chrome
- Visit chrome://flags
- Search for follow, for the highlighted “following feed in Sidepanel“, click on the dropdown arrow and select Enabled
- Restart the Chrome browser.
Note: First things first, the feature is still experimental and is being tested in Chrome 107.
How to follow sites in Chrome for desktop
- After enabling the flag, visit a favorite website you want to get updates
- Click on the share menu and select Follow.
The options to follow are also available on the tab context menu as well as Page right-click menu,
How to unfollow Sites in Chrome
- Now to unfollow the site, you can click on the Share menu
- and uncheck the following or select the “unfollow site” option. Unfollow site options will be available in the menu as we as tab and page right-click menus.
How to View feed in Chrome
- To view the feed, click on the Side Panel icon
- When the side panel appears on the left or right.
- Select Feed.
As of writing the article, the RSS feed is not displaying.
Follow sites: Chrome for Android vs Desktop
You should note the following sites aka RSS feed reader isn’t available to the Public in Chrome on Android either.
It is still being developed. Back in October 2021, the Chrome team announced it started testing RSS Reader in Chrome on Android from 94+.
Here is how you can enable it right now.
Enable RSS Reader in Chrome on Android
- Launch Chrome browser
- visit chrome://flags
- Search web feed
- Select Enabled and restart the browser.
When comes to Chrome on Android, users can able to subscribe to sites from the menu. And, the updates will appear on the new tab page.
When comes to Chrome for desktop, as of now, Google is trying to expose feed from Side Panel when you select the feed option in it.
Rest assured, more details on how you can able to see content updates (and manage following sites) whether it is from a new tab page or Side Panel will be revealed soon as the development progresses
Final words:
Since Google killed Google Reader in 2013, Chrome has been baking it into the Android verison followed by desktop, and other platforms.
What’s your take on getting desktop Chrome getting RSS reader built-in, let us know in the comments below.
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