Looking for an iGoogle alternative?
iGoogle was Google's personal home page: weather, headlines, Gmail, a calendar and a to-do list in little boxes you could drag around. Google shut it down in November 2013, and a lot of people still miss it.
What made iGoogle good
- One page, every morning. You opened your browser and your day was already there.
- Gadgets you could arrange. Weather here, news there, a notes box in the corner.
- RSS feeds from any site, not just the big ones.
- It followed you because it was tied to your account, not one computer.
What happened to it
Google announced in 2012 that iGoogle would close, and it shut down on November 1, 2013. Google said the need for it had faded now that apps run on phones and in the browser. Many people moved to Netvibes, which has since been retired too, or to Protopage and start.me. Plenty just went back to a blank new tab.
OnePane: the same idea, built for today
OnePane is a personal start page with the parts of iGoogle people actually used, updated for how we work now:
Weather
Current conditions and a forecast for several places at once. More
News from RSS
Headlines from any site with a feed, in tabs, newest first. More
Calendars
Google, Apple and Outlook calendars together, colour-coded. More
Unread Outlook and Microsoft 365 mail at a glance. More
Notes
A daily journal you can search and export. More
World clocks & bookmarks
Time zones you care about, and your favourite sites on keys 1–9. More
Like iGoogle, you drag widgets where you want them and your page follows you to any computer and browser. Unlike iGoogle, there are no ads. It's a small paid service ($9.99 USD a year), so it isn't going to be shut down because it doesn't fit an ad business.
Set it up in two minutes
- Start a free trial. No card needed.
- Add the widgets you want: weather, news, calendar, notes.
- Paste in your favourite RSS feeds and your calendar subscription links.
- Make it your browser home page so it opens every time, just like iGoogle.
Questions
When did iGoogle shut down?
Google shut down iGoogle on November 1, 2013, after announcing the closure in July 2012.
Is there anything like iGoogle today?
Yes. OnePane, Protopage and start.me all offer personal start pages with widgets. OnePane focuses on the daily essentials: weather, calendars, Outlook, RSS news, notes, clocks and bookmarks.
Can I add RSS feeds like on iGoogle?
Yes. OnePane's News widget reads any RSS or Atom feed. Paste a feed address (most sites list theirs on an RSS page) and it shows the latest headlines.
Does OnePane work with Gmail?
Not yet. Outlook and Microsoft 365 mail work today. Google Calendar works using its private calendar address.