Read-Me: Google Reader Desktop Application With Unity Integration

Read-Me is a Google Reader desktop application that doesn't come with many features and instead, it tries to improve the readability.

The application features an interesting interface with partially hidden javasacript buttons that show up on hover (they can be completely hidden by clicking the top left button) and it also incorporates some of the Google Reader web interface features: you can share articles on Twitter, Read it Later or by email, it uses the same keyboard shortcuts (j to go to the next item, k for the previous item, etc.) and more.

Recently, Read-Me has received Unity support so it now displays the number of unread items and a progress bar in the Unity launcher and it also incorporates quicklists:

One thing that I'd really like to see in Read-me is offline support. This feature would make it a lot more useful, at least for me, as I'd be able to use it while travelling. Another missing feature is the lack of support for selecting a folder or a single feed to read.

In the future, Lorenzo, the Read-Me developer, plans to add Ubuntu Messaging menu support so you can easily see new unread item titles while the application runs in the background and can easily be opened from the Messaging menu. Ubuntu Messaging Menu will also be supported by Google Reader Indicator, which will later on be completely incorporated into Read-Me.

Install Read-Me in Ubuntu

Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin users can install Read-Me from its PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:atareao/read-me
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install read-me

There are no packages for Ubuntu 11.10, but you can still install Read-Me in Oneiric. Firstly, add the Atareao main PPA (required for a newer GNOME Keyring package):

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:atareao/atareao
sudo apt-get update

Then you can manually download and install the Precise Read-Me .deb in Oneiric.

To use Read-Me simply enter your username and password and all your unread Google Reader items will show up in the application so you can start reading them immediately.

Report any bugs you may find @ Launchpad.

via atareao.es