How to Set Up Your Reader Feed

A two-part “Unified Inbox” setup is the key to keeping newsletters, RSS feeds, and Twitter updates from turning into the same kind of clutter people already see in email. Readwise’s Reader Feed separates automatically delivered items (RSS, email newsletters, Twitter lists) from manually saved documents in a Library, so high-signal reading stays distinct from noisy streams. The approach matters because Readwise tested a single-inbox model and found it drowned saved documents under active email newsletters and high-volume RSS content—making the system feel less like a calm reading space and more like another chaotic feed.

In Reader, the Library acts as a permanent storehouse for documents the user explicitly wants to keep for later or reference. The Feed is where subscriptions land automatically, and users can triage items by moving only what they care about into the Library while letting the rest drop. That separation is also tied to how Readwise combines “read-it-later” behavior (like Instapaper or Pocket) with RSS feed reading (like Google Reader or Feedly). Keeping those functions in separate sections produces a smoother experience: users can skim quickly without losing track of what they intentionally saved.

For RSS, Reader can detect feeds directly from domains saved in the Library. When a document’s domain supports RSS, a subscribe button appears; subscribing imports the five most recent items from that author and then keeps adding new articles going forward. Users can also scan the entire Library via Manage Feeds to find suggested RSS subscriptions, then use Readwise’s classification to separate high-signal from low-signal feeds—subscribing to the former and unsubscribing from the latter over time.

Migrating existing RSS collections is supported through OPML: users download an OPML file from another service (such as Feedly or Feedbin) and drag it into Reader to import everything at once. Readwise also flags a limitation: Reader isn’t built for extremely high-volume feeds that generate hundreds or thousands of articles per day; in those cases, a dedicated feed reader app is recommended. For targeted discovery, users can search by author or paste a feed URL in the RSS search box, unsubscribe from feeds, and organize feeds into folders in the sidebar.

Email newsletters and Twitter lists are handled with similar “feed-first” thinking. For newsletters, Readwise recommends using companion RSS feeds when available—citing better parsing and richer metadata (including thumbnails) from platforms like Substack, Ghost, and WordPress. If a companion RSS feed isn’t available or the newsletter is paid and paywalled, users can subscribe using a custom Reader email address, including separate forwarding addresses for sending items to the Library versus to the Feed. Newsletter parsing can be adjusted between Clean View (distraction-free HTML) and Original View (preserving styling), with trade-offs like forced white backgrounds in dark mode and overridden font preferences.

Twitter lists provide a way to escape the default timeline’s “hype and trolling” by building a custom feed from accounts in a public list. Subscribing to a list delivers two digests per day—morning and evening—containing new tweets from those accounts.

Once content starts flowing, the system’s value depends on fast triage. On mobile, a skim UI lets users swipe up/down to move through items, save for later, or start reading; on desktop, keyboard shortcuts (J/k for navigation, Space to mark seen, L to move to later, and E to archive) help users process large volumes without getting stuck. Users are also encouraged to periodically clear the “seen” section to keep the workflow clean, while still getting a chance to skip items they previously highlighted but forgot to save.