Google now lets you ‘follow’ sites using the mobile Chrome browser, kind of like Google Reader

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Google Reader lives on only in our hearts, but the mobile version of Google Chrome is getting the next best thing. That’s a new “follow” button that turns your new tab page into a type of RSS feed.

Google first introduced this new feature earlier this year, but you needed to be running the experimental (re: breaks easily) version of Chrome on your device to use it.

Now you can use it on the public build of mobile Chrome, where it lives in the overflow menu. Note, this is only available for Android users at this time.

Want to give it a spin? While on any website, you’ll see a new +Follow button in the Chrome menu, which works just like following a social media account.

Opening a new tab on Chrome’s mobile browser will now show a new feed, Following, with recent posts from the sites you follow. Each site will have its own little section, so it might take you a while to scroll through if you follow lots of different sites.

If you’re using an Android device, and can’t see the Follow button on your browser, you might need you to enable it. Google is rolling the feature out now, but you can get it quicker by typing chrome://flags into the address bar, then searching for Web Feed and enabling it.

And yes, iOS users of Chrome are going to get the feature eventually. Eventually being “sometime next year” according to Chrome’s director of engineering, Adrienne Porter Felt.

This feature does not replace the old traditional RSS feed. But having your favorite sites in one place means you no longer have to deal with Google’s Discover algorithm, which aggregates links to articles according to your Google activity.

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.