Apple OS X Lion: How to Make Mail Your RSS Reader

Most Mac users have Mail open at work all day. Who why not make it your RSS reader, too? There's not much to it. Here’s how to set up Mail to handle all your RSS feeds.

First, open Mail. From the dropdown, select Preferences.

Then click the RSS icon.

Now, from the Default RSS Reader dropdown, select Mail.

Select options for how often you want to check for updates and when to remove feed articles. Close out of RSS.

Now, from the upper left menu bar, select Mail. Select Preferences. Click the Show button.

At the bottom of the left panel, click on +

Select Add RSS Feeds.

In the next screen, notice the default RSS feeds available. Google News is one. To add a new one, click the Add button.

In the next dialog, type in the site's RSS feed address. Click Add.

After entering the feed address, the headlines will start to populate.

If you don't know the RSS feed URL, just click on that familiar RSS feed button.

Mail will open and show the feed URL. Click the Add button.

Double-click on an RSS headline in Mail to read the full article.

Because a lot of Mac users have Mail open all the time at any rate, this is a great way to keep up with the latest headlines from your favorite sites.

You don't need to rely on a separate third-party application. And yes, you also can make Mail your RSS reader on Snow Leopard systems. Watch the How To section for instructions on how to do that, too.

Based in Blanket, TX, Duane Craig is a senior contributor at BYTE. Follow him @DuaneCraig and email him at duane@duanecraig.com.