There are apps for every browser and mobile operating system you've ever heard of (and a few that you haven't). Pocket is the most feature-complete read it later app on the market. Two-Pocket and Instapaper-rose to the top for all criteria, and I included two other apps whose unique features make up for the lack of breadth. I tested the most popular reading list apps on the market using these criteria. You need to be able to save an article on one device and read it on another, seamlessly. Tags and folders are both great, and ideally you can also highlight things for future reference. Make it easy to organize your archive of articles. At the very least, the best read later app should have both a dark and a light mode, but the more options the better. Offer custom typography and color schemes. Ideally there's a browser extension and a mobile app, but bookmarklets work in a pinch.ĭownload those articles for offline reading on your phone, tablet, eReader, and (ideally) computer for offline reading. Let you save articles to read later in one click. I've been using one of these apps for over a decade, regularly switching between them in my quest to find the best offline reading experience possible. So, what makes the best dedicated read later app? I'm glad you asked. This is different from bookmarking apps, which simply store links to those articles, and different from note-taking apps, which can be used for clipping articles but aren't primarily designed with reading in mind. You can install this simple function at .īoth programs work best in Firefox, Safari, and Chrome.Read it later apps do one thing: store articles you intend to read later. This works wonders for pieces you find while at the office yet inevitability forget about by the time you make it home. Once clicked, the app will store the text in an online folder. Instapaper runs basically the same way as Readability. But rather than filing them away on a single PC or Mac, this handy utility allows you to access archived articles from almost any computer you own – even smart phones and Amazon Kindle e-book readers. Now that the text is legible, here's a way to save that long, engrossing article for when you have time to really focus on it. To get this feature, head to Readability's homepage – where you can customize which font and background color you prefer. Whenever you land on an offending site, give it a click and – poof! – the page cleans up its act. This free app lives as a button perched in the bookmarks tab atop your Web browser. The app even swaps in a new, easy-to-read font. It temporarily reformats the page, leaving only the main body of text and any mingling images. If a site insists on tiny type, blinking ads, or more compartments and sidebars than a Piet Mondrian painting, Readability throws out the excess. The Web app Readability is a one-click clutter killer. So, short of wasting paper by printing out every interesting article you stumble upon, here are two ways to make online reading a painless, distraction-free experience.įirst, let's eliminate the interference. The more you hop around, the more ads they can send your way. Most websites are consciously designed to keep you clicking instead of digesting. You can blame short attention spans, but don't ignore that reading online kinda stinks. Our eyes don't really bother with the rest. A 2008 study from the University of Hamburg found that online readers scan about 20 percent of the words on an average Web page. Even though the Internet provides more information, news, and prose than any library in history, people don't spend much time reading it.
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