What is RSS?

RSS is a way to follow websites without checking them.

You know the routine with a site you like. You bookmark it, you remember to drop in now and then, and most of the time nothing new is there. RSS turns that around. When a site publishes something, it comes to you, into one list next to your other sites.

How it works

Most sites keep a running list of everything they publish, called a feed. When something new goes out, it goes on the list. The list itself is an XML file that looks like this.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rss version="2.0">
	<channel>
		<title>Example Blog</title>
		<link>https://example.com</link>
		<description>Notes and updates from the example blog</description>
		<item>
			<title>A new post</title>
			<link>https://example.com/a-new-post</link>
			<description>The first few lines of the post</description>
		</item>
	</channel>
</rss>

That’s all a feed is. A reader is the app that checks your feeds every so often and pulls in whatever’s new, so you never have to go looking.

What you get

News sites, blogs, podcasts, and YouTube channels all publish feeds, so they can sit side by side in the same list.

What you subscribed to is what you see. There’s no algorithm between you and the site deciding something isn’t worth showing you today. The site publishes, and it shows up.

The list is yours. Your subscriptions export to an OPML file you can carry into any other reader, so switching apps never means starting over.

Common questions

Is RSS still a thing? Yes. Most news organizations, nearly every blog platform, every podcast, and YouTube publish feeds today. The web never stopped.

Do I need to understand the file above? No. You paste a website’s address into your reader and it finds the feed. That’s the whole job.

Can I follow Instagram or Twitter? No. Neither publishes feeds, and neither leaves a practical way to build one. Follow their website, newsletter, Bluesky, or Mastodon feeds instead.

Follow your first feed

This takes a minute.

1. Open Discover, the compass button in the sidebar
2. Paste the address of a site you read
3. Pick the feed from the list, and new entries start arriving in your library

If you’re not sure a site has a feed, the feed finder checks for you. When you want a specific platform, there’s a guide for each, YouTube, Substack, Reddit, or any website at all.