I am really enjoying Engage, by @arcange:
One of the most powerful features is this "Filter on Author" option. It works in both the Feed and Communities index.
Using this feature, it allows you to group all of the posts by the current author. When enabled, you can get a sense on how frequently a particular author posts, and on what topics, especially when you're behind.
It also allows you to "get your feed under control." What I mean is, if you're in your normal hive.blog feed, and you notice that you have hardly engaged with anything, it probably means you're following too many people or are subscribed to too many communities.
If you use Engage to get caught up ... let's just say ... over time you might realize there are certain authors and communities that need to earn your subscription back (reading between the lines, I'm saying that it'll allow you to identify who/what to unfollow/unsubscribe from).
My own "inbox" style app that I'm working on, Hyperion, is more focused on broad tags and communities. Engage is focused on replies, mentions, follows, and subscriptions. If you use Engage, you'll be able to tailor your follows/subscriptions to exactly what you want to see. If you use Hyperion, you might help you avoid the echo-chamber so you can fan out.
I suspect both are good strategies, overall.
I'm looking to virally monetize your eyeballs by selling them for transplants.