Along with my other posts on Virtualization, VDI, and Application Delivery I plan to randomly post iPad tips that show how I benefit from the iPad. Like many people I struggled the past few months trying to find a reason why I “need” or should get an iPad. I have been a happy iPhone user since the 3G and I started thinking about how it really changed how I do things. I knew I would not be disappointed by the iPad but I didn’t want to buy one just to buy one. Although I was fine with reading on the iPhone, I knew I would benefit from the real estate of the iPad. Yes, I could read on my laptop but I am easily distracted by Twitter and other things, plus it’s not the best screen to read on for more than 20 minutes. I decided to justify my purchase based on the notion I would at least benefit from the iPad as an eReader, which I quickly found I benefit from much more.

I have been on the search for a good RSS Reader for the iPad and have spent a good amount of time and money testing them. Finally I came across an app that fit my RSS and Blog reading style. The app’s name is “River of News”, see Figure 1 below.

Figure 1

This app relies solely on Google Reader, and will not work without your Gmail account. When launching the app for the first time log in with your Gmail account, and the app does the rest! Circled in red are my folders from Google Reader where I already had my feeds organized. Figure 1 shows the app in Landscape view, but when holding the iPad in Portrait view it gives you a way to read the first few sentences and quickly move on if you are not interested in the entire article or blog. See Figure 2.

Figure 2

I have tried apps like “Pulse” and “Flipboard” but each had limitations for me. I would consider myself a power reader of RSS feeds and blogs. If you are a more casual reader, and do not want to go out of your way to find specific blogs to follow, I highly recommend Flipboard. Flipboard has a great UI and is pre-populated with content from popular online news sites, blogs, etc. Flipboard’s genius is that it auto-populates content from the accounts you add into a magazine style reading view. It allows you to integrate your Facebook, Twitter, and Google Reader accounts giving you a very unique way of reading your feeds.

Feel free to comment on what RSS reader works best for you!