July 1st is upon us, the day Google chose as the day it would finally shut down Google Reader. Ever since the announcement was made, the search for a viable Google Reader alternative has begun. Various companies and startups have thrown their hat in the ring, AOL came out with its own reader, so did Digg and Feedly got popular after Google’s announcement. Go Read is yet another Google Reader alternative, one could even call it a clone considering that the UI is strikingly similar to Reader. Its been developed by just one person, who wrote majority of the code after getting done with his day job, his name is Matt Jibson.
Go Read went live last Thursday, up till now 8000 people have signed up for it. Jibson calls himself a big fan of Google Reader, and says that this is the best clone he could develop within a few months, he believes that the interface of Reader “was done right.” Go Read has all of the basic features, feeds can be swiftly imported and Reader’s keyboard shortcuts work here as well. Search functionality isn’t there yet, but Jibson says that he will keeping adding features, as fast as he can code them.
His plan is to cover the running costs by implementing a subscription model, non-subscribers will be displayed ads. Jibson says there’s no goal of making a profit, adding that he might consider it if user experience is not compromised.
Filed in . Read more about Google Reader.