Digg Rolls Out Beta Reader on iOS App for All, After Showing Desktop Reader to Some

Digg has been working on a reader ever since Google announced the imminent shutdown of its prominent Google Reader. Now it appears that Digg is close to finishing the first phase of the project, releasing a beta version of Digg's desktop reader earlier this week and then adding the reader to Digg's iOS app.

Instead of being its own app, Digg's Reader has been incorporated into the Digg app with an update in the iTunes app store. Part of the reasoning behind this is due to Digg's overall plan for its Reader, which it sees as a perfect place to expand their user-generated trending topic pool.

The Digg reader itself is quite similar to Google's (and, for that matter, nearly every RSS feed aggregation software). RSS feeds are stacked in a feed list menu on the left side of the screen. You can organize feeds into folders and add news feeds to the overall list or folders, though right now there isn't an option for deleting feeds or folders.

Articles appear either in expanded mode, with cover art, or as the headline-only list style common to every reader. You can import your Google Reader information straight from your Google account. You can also save or "Digg" articles (more on that later) and check out Popular articles. The Android version of the reader-added update to the Digg app is due out sometime before the end of July, according to Digg.

The real unique "Digg" part of the Digg reader is easier to see in the desktop beta, offered to people who signed up for Digg's survey (and thus, helped the social news company to figure out how to build their reader). Digg's desktop Reader is also very similar to Google's, according to PCMag. You can import your Google Reader subscriptions by signing up with your Google account, though Digg's reader doesn't import OPML files -  the kind you get from using Google Takeout to save your Reader data at off the cloud - and you won't have a Digg-specific username or password. Digg says they're working on the OPML issue, according to Mashable.

Digg's desktop reader has a similar layout to Google's, with feeds listed on the left, and items displayed on the right either in an expanded or collapsed view. Digg also copied Google Reader's keyboard shortcuts, so power users of Google Reader will feel more at home. Users have options to share or save, using Instapaper, Pocket, Readability, Twitter, or Facebook, as well as saving within Digg's reader. Tags, search, some view options, and options to mark stories as unread are not there, but Digg says they're coming soon.

What Digg adds to the conventional reader that no other service can, is Digg's specific social reading features. Depending on whether your settings are to public or private, you can either save an article or "Digg" it, adding your input to Digg's article popularity system, as well as giving more information so that Digg can suggest RSS feeds for you. On both the mobile and desktop readers, there's a "Popular" sorting option that brings trending articles from the Digg community (which is likely to expand) to your reader.

Right now, Digg - the site - mainly focuses on science, technology, viral, and weird news, but it will be interesting to see what's "Popular" if Digg can cross into the mainstream RSS reader market. It will also be interesting to see what "freemium" services Digg will add once the basic reader is up and running without too many bugs. Until then, rest easy that Digg is a place where you can migrate from Google Reader for free, and while you can't export your data from Digg yet, they're promising to add that feature in the next few months. But don't risk it, go to Google Takeout to get your Reader data and migrate to a new reader like Digg, Feedly, or the recently announced AOL before next Monday.