New Google Reader for iPhone

Sometimes, iPhone (and iPod touch) owners are caught between a rock and a hard place.   The mobile browser is so good, yet not quite good enough to handle certain web applications.   On the other hand, you always feel a little disappointed when you get presented with a simple mobile friendly site, you know it’s capable of so much more.

The most frustrating of all the web apps on the iPhone is Google Reader.   The iPhone can’t quite handle the full version but you feel short changed by the fairly (and justifiably) crippled mobile version.   Thankfully, Google have today announced that there’s a new iPhone version of Google Reader.   This is fantastic news for those iPhone users that also happen to use Google Reader, which I’d bet would be a fair number of users (let’s face it, demand must be there before something like this gets built).   I’ve had a quick play around (you’ll have to go to http://www.google.com/reader/i/ to access this version, it’s not automatic) and it’s very slick.

They’ve tried their best to mirror the desktop interface in an iPhone friendly way, and have done an excellent job.   It’s fast, usable, slick and so far, despite the beta tag, seems reliable.   They’ve also done a nice job of integrating some AJAX interface elements, similar to the desktop version of Google Reader.   To put it simply, if you use the list view in the normal Google Reader, you’ll be right at home here.

If you have an iPhone or iPod touch and use Google Reader, be sure to check it out and let us know your thoughts in the comments.