since it sounds like you're talking android maybe, with the pixel feed on the left of the home screen, I just switched to the neo launcher + neo feed [1] this week and it's been working great. the launcher is a pretty good open source nova-like launcher on it's own, but the feed is just an RSS reader that is on the left of the home screen like Google would be. it's been super nice to have that similar feed but with my chosen data.
as for images, you should def have some. there are feeds that don't include it, like techcrunch, but most do. you can try the verge or rockpapershotgun as examples.
same here. tried jerboa and thunder for a but always come back to eternity. maybe it's just cause I've been using infinity for so long lol.