What is RockMelt?
RockMelt is a web browser that was first released in 2010 with the goal of integrating social networking features into web browsing. It was co-founded by Tim Howes and Eric Vishria, who previously worked at Netscape and Facebook.
The key features of RockMelt include:
- Tight integration with Facebook, Twitter and other social networks - users can share pages, chat with friends, and get notifications without leaving RockMelt.
- A sidebar that shows friends' activity streams and notifications.
- Customizable speed dial start page that allows dragging and dropping of sites.
- One-click photo uploads straight from the browser.
- Visual tab previews.
Over time, RockMelt shifted its focus to being primarily a web browser rather than a social browser. Many of the social features were removed. In 2013 it was acquired by Yahoo and the staff joined Yahoo's media division. Eventually in 2014, RockMelt was shut down after Yahoo released a new Yahoo Browser.
Overall, RockMelt aimed to bring social networking features into web browsing to make sharing links and communicating with friends easier. While it had innovative features, it struggled to gain mainstream adoption in a competitive browser market dominated by the likes of Chrome and Firefox.
Feedly, Flipboard, Inoreader, Reeder , NetNewsWire, Liferea, QuiteRSS, Tiny Tiny RSS, Netvibes, The Old Reader, NewsBlur, Feedbro are some alternatives to RockMelt.