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Instapaper App Saves Web Pages For Offline iPhone Reading
Posted by Kevin Purdy at 12:07 AM on September 23, 2008
iPhone/iPod touch only: Instapaper Free, the iPhone app cousin of previously mentioned bookmarking tool Instapaper, lets you bookmark up to 10 web pages you want to read while you're offline. That may not sound like an amazing feat, unless you've tried to keep a page open in mobile Safari and have it not try to refresh and fail when you're not connected. The app uses a JavaScript bookmarklet—which, at this point, you have to manually tweak a bit—and the Instapaper web service to provide you with your reading. The one drawback (or possible benefit) is that pages are knocked down to a text-only, mobile-friendly view. Other than that, it's a good way to ensure you can do some web reading on a plane or wherever you lack service. Instapaper Free is a free download for iPhones and iPod touch models running the 2.0 upgrade; the "Pro" version uncaps the 10-article limit.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
simon
Posted September 23, 2008 9:13 AM
I use this application more than any other on my iPhone. The pages it saves are also available via a personlised page on the Instapaper website, so it's a useful tool for just bookmarking pages you want to read later - whether on your iPhone or computer. The tilt-scrolling in the paid version has proved handy for reading while standing on the train. No need to let go of whatever I'm holding on to just to scroll down!
MtnbikeGeek
Posted September 23, 2008 6:01 PM
I love this app. Before my iPhone, to do this on my Windows Mobile device I had to save a page in iSilo, then sync it to my device. With Instapaper, if I find a page I want to read later (say on the bus) I just click the bookmarklet and it's available on my iPhone.
@franksands - I'm not sure whether readbag.com does this, but instapaper has a nicely formatted text version laid out for easy reading, but at a touch of a button you can view it in its original full web view.
The only thing preventing me from upgrading to the paid version is that the screenshot shows a bottom toolbar, which isn't present in the free version. I'd prefer more screen realestate, not less, so no upgrade for me for now...
Cripesonfriday
Posted 1:23 AM 23/9/08
I've used this since it's first day and it is a great app for long articles to read on the bus or in work but I have 24 articles on mine that I have saved either from my ipod or on my PC and synced with the ipod later.
Is this a new update that changes the limit cos if it is I won't be upgrading any time soon.The pro version is priced a little bit high for the extras it provides in my opinion(although the tilt to scroll idea is brilliant)
Cripesonfriday
hadees
Posted 2:01 AM 23/9/08
It's an interesting idea but from a practical standpoint I just don't see me using it on my iphone. I guess it makes sense with a touch since you only have wifi but loading one page really doesn't take that long even on edge.
The only advantage apps like this would have is if they display what ever you are reading in an easier to read format. For example I use the NY Times and AP News apps all the time because they are really easy to read verses the web apps. I would love something like that for the economist but I still read that on my iphone fine by loading the articles as I want to read them.
hadees
jgmarcel
Posted 2:25 AM 23/9/08
@Cripesonfriday: I am absolutely sure that there is no such 10-article limit mentioned in the post. What happens, though, is that it "only synchronizes 10 or so articles at a time", as informed by Download Squad, but this limitation applies to both free and pro versions and is scheduled to disappear in the next update.
jgmarcel
franksands
Posted 6:46 AM 23/9/08
I've been using readbag ( [readbag.com] ), and I think it's more useful, since it has more ways to share the links stored in the site. Another advantage, IMHO, is that you can use your google account to log in.
franksands
daddydave
Posted 7:02 PM 23/9/08
This is sort of what I do with my Tungsten T3 + Plucker + Sunrise XP. This also functions as my rss reader, with the added bonus that I can get around truncated feeds by setting Link Depth to 1.
I was going to go ahead and spend the 19.99 for its nonfree competition due to superior HTML rendering, iSilo + iSiloX, but its desktop component lags a bit in usability even though it has more features, and I found myself not using it.
daddydave
hellscoldday
Posted 1:21 AM 23/9/08
I love this app. Best on the touch since you aren't always connected, yet still can have blogs to read.
hellscoldday
watts4u2
Posted 12:27 AM 24/9/08
@daddydave:
I've been doing the Plucker + Sunrise thing for a long time, too, started with a Clie SJ33, now I use it on my Centro. It's my favorite application, ever.
watts4u2
portobello_man
Posted 1:47 AM 24/9/08
I use ReadItLater and badly want to find a way of pulling my RSS feed of unread items down onto my E61i so I can read them on the commute home. Anyone got any suggestions? It seems the Plucker/Sunrise combo is Palm and Windows Mobile only :-(
portobello_man
daddydave
Posted 6:28 AM 24/9/08
@portobello_man:
iSilo appears to be available for the Symbian OS. It's not free but pretty close ($19.99). You'll need the desktop component, iSiloX, too.
daddydave
MarcoArment
Posted 5:03 AM 24/9/08
Thanks for featuring Instapaper, Kevin!
Just a minor correction: Instapaper Free isn't limited to 10 articles. There's no real limit -- you can save as many articles as you have space for (barring other technical limits, of course).
Instapaper Free isn't artificially limited at all -- it just lacks a few features (position-remembering, tilt scrolling, email link/open in Safari) that the $9.99 Instapaper Pro offers.
MarcoArment
SupriyaBabararacucudada
Posted 2:18 AM 23/9/08
I've been using the free version of this app for weeks now, and it's one of my most used apps. I haven't even noticed the article cap, but I usually read and clear articles out pretty quickly. I just use it for reading things from my RSS reader that I actually want to read, but not while sitting at the computer. Five stars. I won't pay for the full version though, because tilt scrolling is totally useless to me (why would I want to have to hold the phone steady, up in front of my face? Sounds tiring.), and it already does everything I need it to.
SupriyaBabararacucudada