JSON Feed support

[SilverEzhik]

JSON Feed is basically RSS but with JSON instead of XML: https://www.jsonfeed.org/

It seems to be supported by a good amount of RSS apps, including Feedbin, Inoreader, NetNewsWire, so I think it would be good to detect it too.

[robalexdev]

I think I'm slightly opposed to adding JSON feed support, but I'd be interested in more opinions here.

The value of JSON Feed seems to be a preference for working with JSON over XML, which is a pretty small value add. Currently with RSS/Atom website owners don't touch the XML format (as their framework generates it) nor do subscribers (as their feed reader parses it for them). In a world with RSS, Atom, and JSON Feed we still have web frameworks and feed readers handling XML. I'm not sure anyone sees a benefit until we see JSON Feed exclusive tools.

Some question that would help me change my mind:

• Why would a website publish a JSON Feed without also publishing RSS or Atom? Does any such site exist?
  • I see 1,000+ installs of the WordPress JSON Feeds plugin, but WordPress supports RSS out-of-the-box, so those sites likely support both formats.
• Are there any feed readers that only support JSON Feed?
• Why would a subscriber prefer a JSON Feed over an RSS or Atom feed?

I'll also add, I'm aware of other feed formats, like h-feed. I kinda like the philosophy there as the feed is absorbed into the HTML, which reduces the duplication of content. But I think adoption of that format is very low.

[SilverEzhik]

I did run into a website recently that only supported JSON Feed, which is what prompted this request.

I guess the thing with JSON Feed is that it's made by Brent Simmons and Manton Reece of NetNewsWire and micro.blog fame, though I personally just have an XML-based feed on my website.