Feedly has been dealing with technical problems for more than a week, with users reporting severe slowdowns in its web app and issues affecting its iOS app. Some paying customers also said their support requests went unanswered while the company investigated the problems.
Feedly CEO Edwin Khodabakchian told TechCrunch that the company is still prioritizing RSS functionality even as it expands its focus on cyber threat intelligence. He said the company wants to keep the Feedly News Reader fast and streamlined because its business customers also rely on its news-reading features.
Web App Slowdown Traced to a Bug
The most widely reported problem involved Feedly’s web app, which users on Reddit described as extremely slow and, in some cases, unusable. Feedly said its front-end team traced the issue to a bug related to using “Mark as Read” on accounts with many folders.
The company released a fix on Friday and is still checking whether it resolved the issue for all affected users. Feedly later added the incident to its status page so users could see that the problem was under investigation.
Feedly has about 15 million users, according to information published on its website. The service became a major standalone RSS reader after Google shut down Google Reader in 2013.
Feedly Classic Was Retired Without Advance Notice
Users also reported problems with Feedly’s iOS app, including cases where the app would not load. Khodabakchian said he was not aware of those reports before being contacted but said the company would investigate and continue investing in its main iOS and Android apps.
He also confirmed that Feedly Classic, an older version of the mobile app, was retired about two weeks earlier because it no longer met some iOS and Android requirements. The company did not notify existing users before shutting it down.
Khodabakchian said Feedly Classic had only a few hundred active users at the time. The app had already been removed from the App Store before the final shutdown.
Feedly Continues Its Shift Toward AI-Based Intelligence
Feedly has increasingly positioned its business around AI-powered intelligence products for organizations that want to track emerging threats and other tailored information. Its homepage now emphasizes those services alongside its traditional news-reading tools.
The company’s shift has raised questions among some RSS users about how much attention Feedly is giving its original consumer product. Khodabakchian said the RSS reader remains important because Feedly’s cyber threat intelligence customers also depend on its news-reading capabilities.
TechCrunch contacted Feedly after several Reddit users said their requests for technical support had not received responses. The company subsequently acknowledged the web and iOS issues and began publishing updates through its status page.
Featured image credits: Graham Smith via Flickr
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