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Feedler and Mobile RSS have served me well in browsing my RSS subscription content that I added in Google Reader. What API are these apps using to get the list of subscriptions?

I want to create my own app that gets information from my Google Reader account (such as which items have been starred or tagged), but I don't see any reliable API that apps such as Feedler or Mobile RSS would be using. Do those apps pay a license fee to get access? Do they use some unreliable API?

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Questions about APIs aren't a good fit here as they don't have a user interface. While Google Reader is a web app, discussions of APIs are better at Stack Overflow or perhaps Programmers. This may be on-topic at Ask Different, but I doubt it. (Check the FAQ.) See also: meta.webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/740/… – Al Everett Sep 13 '12 at 14:06
My apologies. If there's any way to move the topic, please do. Otherwise, is it okay to repost the question there or would that be spamming? – Sridhar-Sarnobat Sep 13 '12 at 19:31

closed as off topic by Eight Days of Malaise, Al Everett, Barry♦ Sep 15 '12 at 20:08

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1 Answer

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Google Reader doesn't have an official API at present. Various sources have suggested that one is/was intended, but seven years on there is still nothing.

Currently everyone is using the 'unofficial' API - a reverse engineering of the various AJAX calls the Google Reader web app makes. As with the recent sudden disappearance of the unofficial Google weather API, this means using it runs the risk of unannounced changes or removal.

That said, there are plenty of resources available to help with using it such as this fairly comprehensive doco. You should be able to find implementations in most languages as well.

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Thanks for the information. That solves a lot of my doubts. I'll leave the question open a little longer before marking as correct, in case anyone has any more experience or insights they can share. – Sridhar-Sarnobat Sep 13 '12 at 19:32
That undoc link is very useful. Does it mean if you know how to make REST service invocations you essentially have your desired API (with no guaranteed future support)? – Sridhar-Sarnobat Sep 13 '12 at 19:34
That's right, the service itself is quite simple. – John C Sep 13 '12 at 23:43
Thanks again John. – Sridhar-Sarnobat Sep 14 '12 at 21:03

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