'Instapaper' Named App of the Week, Available for Free

[MacRumors]

Popular read-it-later app Instapaper has been named Apple's App of the Week, and as a result, it is available for free for the first time since its initial 2010 release.

The app is designed to allow users to save and store articles for reading at a later time, stripping away unnecessary page clutter for an unhindered reading experience. Instapaper supports up to 500 articles on the iPad and the iPhone, and it includes an offline mode for reading in areas without cellular or Wi-Fi connectivity.

Instapaper is the simplest way to save and store articles for reading: offline, on-the-go, anytime, anywhere, perfectly formatted.

Instapaper for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch provides a mobile-optimized Text view that makes reading Internet content a clean and uncluttered experience.

Instapaper also integrates with more than 150 other apps, which support saving content within the Instapaper app, and it includes features like adjustable fonts and text sizes, dark modes, brightness control, filters, and dictionary and Wikipedia integration.

Earlier this year, Instapaper developer Marco Arment sold a majority stake of the app to Betaworks, the company that owns Bitly, Digg, and Socialflow.

Instapaper will be free for one week and can be downloaded from the App Store. [Direct Link]

Article Link: 'Instapaper' Named App of the Week, Available for Free

 

[SandboxGeneral]

This has been one of my favorite iPad apps for a long time. Nice to see it free for a while.

 

[Reason077]

Am I the only one who doesn't "get" Instapaper? Between Flipboard and Safari's built-in reading list, what more does Instapaper get me?

Nice that it's free, though!

 

[Renzatic]

Am I the only one who doesn't "get" Instapaper? Between Flipboard and Safari's built-in reading list, what more does Instapaper get me?

Nice that it's free, though!

Offline reading is the main selling point, I'd say. I don't think either Flipboard or Safari allow that.

 

[zak89]

Instapaper 5 also added a few cool features (sort articles by length, filter by reading time, etc). It's moved a few notches ahead of Safari RL and other competitors (in my opinion) - for a while (before the Betaworks acquisition) it was getting to be pretty stale. I'd buy it again.

 

[158274]

Am I the only one who doesn't "get" Instapaper? Between Flipboard and Safari's built-in reading list, what more does Instapaper get me?

Basically offline reading. Think of it like bookmarking an article, but instead of just bookmarking it, you're saving it on your iPhone, with the ability to organize it into a folder and other perks.

I don't really see the point of Safari's Reading List if it doesn't save it for offline reading. Or does it? Otherwise the Reading List is hardly any better than just creating a bookmarks folder called "Reading List".

 

[Renzatic]

I don't really see the point of Safari's Reading List if it doesn't save it for offline reading. Or does it? Otherwise the Reading List is hardly any better than just creating a bookmarks folder called "Reading List".

That's exactly what it is. A temporary quick-fire bookmarks list.

 

[GiantSteve]

The best feature of Instapaper is being able to send a digest of clipped articles to a Kindle. For largely text based articles the Kindle Paperwhite is a great platform with amazing battery life

 

[mengel]

Reading list

I'm excited to try out Instapaper, but reading list DOES save webpages for offline viewing and syncs between iOS devices.

I'm curious to see what Instapaper can add to that.

 

[nutmac]

Am I the only one who doesn't "get" Instapaper? Between Flipboard and Safari's built-in reading list, what more does Instapaper get me?

Nice that it's free, though!

1. Offline reading as many have stated.
2. Mobilized view that strips off much of the irrelevant formatting.
3. iOS 7 background download that fetches contents for you.
4. Typography for applying your preferred font on mobilized view.
5. Favorite for sharing contents automatically with other Instapaper users.

 

[John Bokma]

How does it compare to Pocket?

 

[Bathplug]

Might switch to this from pocket because they kinda started to add junk features to their app.

 

[pittpanthersfan]

Safari's Reading List feature does offer offline viewing...

 

[garylapointe]

How does it compare to Pocket?

I think it's very very similar to Pocket.

I use one particular service that integrates Instapaper, so I've wanted it for ages, I've had it in my AppShopper wish list for ages and they e-mailed me this morning to tell me it was free. I love AppShopper.com!!!

But I've got ways to get Instapaper articles to be sent to my Kindle eReader so I tend to use it more. In the summer I do all my tech reading outside on my eInk Kindle...

Gary

 

[sharbeen]

Offline reading is the main selling point, I'd say. I don't think either Flipboard or Safari allow that.

Safari reading list has offline mode.

 

[GoCubsGo]

Well, I've wanted to try this for a long time and just never did. Now is a good time.

 

[Renzatic]

Safari reading list has offline mode.

I see that. Consider me corrected.

 

[Icaras]

I downloaded this just because it was free, but I too was confused as to why I would need this since as others have already mentioned, Safari reading lists do offline viewing as well.

Since you also need an account to use this app and service, I think I may just pass on this.

 

[greenteq]

Reimbursement for developer?

Just curious, when a paid app gets featured for free, does Apple reimburse the developer for each free download? How does the reimbursement compare to a regular paid download?

 

[philosopherdog]

It's far more robust than reading lists. It integrates with zillions of apps. I think it's a brilliant app. But no app is for everyone. But first try to understand what it does.

I downloaded this just because it was free, but I too was confused as to why I would need this since as others have already mentioned, Safari reading lists do offline viewing as well.

Since you also need an account to use this app and service, I think I may just pass on this.

 

[unagimiyagi]

IMHO, Pocket is clearly head and shoulders above all of the other reading apps and it's free 365 days a year.

It's got an attractive design. This does count. Their web site and their native app is coherent, modern, and slick with nice features and animations. You may say oh whatever, this stuff doesn't matter, but Pocket is a very solid piece of software engineering under the hood.

Readability has all kinds of sync issues. And is generally a very poorly written ios app. It looks shiny like Pocket, but the engineering under the hood is not nearly of the same quality as Pocket.

Instapaper is just old. Old school, the first of its kind, but has now been surpassed. It's recently been updated, but it feels like the app is a side project and not actively trying to improve. I would not pay for it because of better alternatives which are also free.

Pocket is a full-time gig for the team behind it, and/or they've just got a superior stable of talent.

 

[WilliamLondon]

Used to use Instapaper a lot until they started requiring a subscription to use the plugin service, so switched to Readability (which is integrated really well into apps like ReadKit and Reeder) and Pocket, so I pretty much use that exclusively now. Still have lots of bookmarks in Instapaper, just got really turned off that you were forced to subscribe, especially when I'd already paid for the app.

 

[RabbitLuvr]

I got this free when it was a Starbucks pick of the week. I tried it out, but I prefer Pocket. I just prefer the slick look of Pocket.

 

[Abazigal]

Just downloaded it, trying it now. Seems way overpriced for what I am getting. Currently, it's key selling point seems to be integration with other reading apps. So if I see an article I like in Zite, I can save it directly in Instapaper. Previously, I would need to first open it in safari, then either bookmark it or save it to reading list.

That said, I have never gotten reading list to work right for me. I save it, I still need to load it, and after it brings me to the article, the original link disappears???

 

[BJMRamage]

I really like the App.
Got it free from Starbucks

I use it to quickly go through my twitter feed...saving links to read later.

Then once i remember about those links, i can read them on the desktop or phone.

it is a convenience thing for me. maybe other things can do similar though.