After Google, Microsoft is now also testing RSS-powered ‘Follow’ button and feed that would help you stay connected with your favourite websites. In Edge Canary builds for Windows, Microsoft has started testing a new feed that introduces native RSS functionality with Collections integration.
Platforms like Google News or Microsoft News have put an end to the classic days of RSS, which still powers popular aggregation tools.
Google News, Google Discover and Microsoft News are algorithm-based approaches to deliver content to the users, and plenty of people have been looking for a way to curate their news feed. Right now, if you want to subscribe to the RSS feed, you need to rely on RSS readers or use web apps like Feedly.
“We’ve heard it loud and clear,” Google said when the feature was reintroduced in Chrome for Android.
Microsoft’s implementation for the same feature is called “followable web” and it’s currently rolling out to select users running Edge Canary. The flag to enable this experimental feature appeared nearly three months ago and it has been reintroduced in the latest update as part of the company’s controlled beta testing.
As the name suggests, Followable Web allows users to access a curated feed of updates from their favourite websites using a Collections button within the toolbar. It’s also housed in the Collections panel and articles published by publications will appear in a modern feed when you open the browser next time.
At the moment, Edge’s RSS feed feature is part of Collections so you’ll need to tap on the Collections button. In future, it’s possible that the RSS feed feature will be moved into the toolbar of the browser with its own button.
Microsoft is also introducing a new “Follow” button which will be located in the address bar of the browser. The sites you visit in Edge will have a “follow” button in the address bar if they have a supported RSS feed, and updates from the site will also appear in a new side panel.
