End of Google Reader and gReader combo: offline reading Android alternatives

Google Reader users have seen the end nearing of their favorite RSS aggregator and for a while now the webinterface makes it perfectly clear:

Reader will not be available after July 1, 2013. Please be sure to back up your data.

Yes, it stops in 1 month! As a long-time fan I’ve been using Google Reader for aggregating my news and blogs I’m interested in, and used the gReader Android app to synchronize with my account, download updates for offline use so I could browse and read through them while travelling to work. In the train that is. I’ve come to rely heavily on the offline reading feature, since there are many 3G network black spots on the route from and to work – and the wifi inside the train is sometimes far from performing. gReader and my Google Reader account work perfect together: at home gReader updates all feeds, and immediately downloads all article content (incl. images) and transforms them into a simplified format.

As soon as Readers’ retirement got out, the future of gReader also became unsure and a group has been opened to discuss alternatives. Apart from the suggested alternative RSS readers, gReader itself needs to find an alternative API which mimics the Google Reader API to stay useful. Sofar I have seen promises and possibilities of compatible API’s popping up, but even if one was out there and 100% compatible Google urls are still hardcoded in the gReader app.

So, I’m looking for an alternative Android RSS reader which supports offline reading the way I am used to. Well, may be not entirely but as close as possible:

• it should at least by possible to always read the entire article – albeit simplified with Google Mobilizer or Instapaper Mobilizer – without a 3G or wifi-connection, and not just the first paragraph
• it should be able to import OPML so I can load the exported Google Reader feeds easily (I have a few…)
• connecting directly with Google Reader accounts is nice, but who knows how long this will work after D-Day…

The current public’s favorite Feedly doesn’t quite cut it right now, but FeedR News Reader and RssDemon look promising. I’ll try these for a while and report back. I’m also open for suggestions in the mean time.

In the mean time, head over to Google Takeout to download your Reader data as soon as possible!