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8 min read
THE 4 BEST READ IT LATER APPS IN 2023
By Justin Pot · August 8, 2023
Reading articles online is more interesting than most jobs. It's a big problem,
and read it later apps are the solution.
I considered over 20 read it later apps, and after extensive testing, here are
the four best.
If you're just looking for a bookmarking app, which stores links to articles but
doesn't let you read them from within the app, here are our picks for the best
bookmark and archiving apps.
THE 4 BEST READ LATER APPS
* Pocket for turning articles into a podcast
* Instapaper for speed reading
* Omnivore for reading newsletters later
* Safari Reading List for Apple loyalists
* Other apps that could work
WHAT MAKES THE BEST READING LIST APP?
HOW WE EVALUATE AND TEST APPS
All of our best apps roundups are written by humans who've spent much of their
careers using, testing, and writing about software. We spend dozens of hours
researching and testing apps, using each app as it's intended to be used and
evaluating it against the criteria we set for the category. We're never paid for
placement in our articles from any app or for links to any site—we value the
trust readers put in us to offer authentic evaluations of the categories and
apps we review. For more details on our process, read the full rundown of how we
select apps to feature on the Zapier blog.
Make your read it later app work for you
Bookmark better
Read it later apps do one thing: store articles you intend to read later. 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.
So, what makes the best dedicated read later app? I'm glad you asked. 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. To me, the best
read it later apps:
* Let you save articles to read later in one click. Ideally there's a browser
extension and a mobile app, but bookmarklets work in a pinch.
* Download those articles for offline reading on your phone, tablet, eReader,
and (ideally) computer for offline reading.
* Offer custom typography and color schemes. At the very least, the best read
later app should have both a dark and a light mode, but the more options the
better.
* Make it easy to organize your archive of articles. Tags and folders are both
great, and ideally you can also highlight things for future reference.
* Work on as many platforms as possible. You need to be able to save an article
on one device and read it on another, seamlessly.
I tested the most popular reading list apps on the market using these criteria.
THE BEST READ IT LATER APPS AT A GLANCE
Best for
Standout feature
Pricing
Pocket
Turning articles into a podcast
Balance of powerful features and ease of use
Free plan available; $4.99/month for Pocket Premium
Instapaper
Speed reading
Can send to Kindle
Free plan available; $2.99/month for Instapaper Premium
Omnivore
Reading newsletters
Open source and easy to integrate with anything
Free
Safari Reading List
Apple loyalists
Built into Safari
Free on Apple devices
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE BEST READ IT LATER APP FOR TURNING ARTICLES INTO A PODCAST
POCKET (ANDROID, IOS, WEB)
Pocket pros:
* Built into many apps and devices
* Feature complete and still easy to use
Pocket cons:
* No notes feature
Pocket is the most feature-complete read it later app on the market. There's a
web app, mobile apps, and a surprising number of apps also have a Pocket
integration built in, thanks to a robust API. You won't have any trouble sending
articles to Pocket.
You also won't have any problem reading those articles—they're extracted cleanly
and show in a clutter-free environment. You can also control how your articles
look: there's a dark, paper, and light color scheme, along with a couple of font
choices in the free version.
You also won't have any problem reading those articles—they're extracted cleanly
and show in a clutter-free environment. You can also control how your articles
look: there's a dark, paper, and light color scheme, along with a couple of font
choices in the free version.
Pocket is built for reading, but it can also read to you using a surprisingly
lifelike text-to-speech engine. Tap the audio button in the mobile app, and your
phone will read articles to you. The voices are passable, if a little robotic,
and you can adjust the playback speed if need be. It's the best way to turn an
article into a podcast short of hiring voice actors, and perfect if you want to
cook dinner or go for a walk while catching up on your reading.
There are also plenty of options for sorting your reading list after reading.
The main reading list is meant for articles you haven't read yet—you can archive
things you're done reading, keeping this list as an inbox of articles for later.
You can mark archived articles as favorites for future reference, then organize
them using tags. You can also highlight key phrases as you read, allowing you to
reference them later.
Want to do more with your articles? Connect Pocket to your favorite apps through
Zapier. You can create automated workflows that automatically send links from
tweets you like over to Pocket, or even send every article in an RSS feed over.
Those are just examples—you can customize your workflow with thousands of apps.
SAVE NEW ITEMS IN RSS FEEDS TO POCKET
Try it
*
*
RSS by Zapier, Pocket
RSS by Zapier + Pocket
More details
Set up this Zap to be sure you read everything from a source, without worrying
about manual messaging. Once active, this integration automatically saves each
new published item in your RSS feed to your Pocket account. Automatically apply
a tag, too, to be sure you keep your account categorized.
DetailsTry it
Pocket pricing: Free; $4.99/month Pocket Premium for a permanent personal backup
of the articles you've saved, suggested tags, full-text search, and more.
Want to learn more about Pocket? Check out our complete guide to using Pocket.
BEST READ IT LATER APP FOR SPEED READING
INSTAPAPER (WEB, IOS, MACOS, ANDROID, KINDLE)
Instapaper pros:
* Extremely simple
* Can send articles to Kindle devices
* Offers a speed reading feature
Instapaper cons:
* No search in free version
Instapaper, more than any app I can think of, is all about simplicity. There's
not a lot of color or graphics in the user interface—the focus is entirely on
text. This is an app designed with readers in mind, which makes sense given what
it's for.
Saving articles is simple thanks to extensions for every major browser, and
there's a bookmark you can use if that doesn't work for you. Reading happens in
the mobile apps for Android and iOS, both of which support offline reading, or
on the website if you're on your computer. The reading experience is clean, with
custom font and color choices.
The unique feature here is the speed reading button, which flashes one word at a
time in quick succession. You can adjust the speed, if you want, but the idea is
that this forces you to keep reading in a way that results in getting through
articles more quickly. It's interesting but probably not for everyone.
There are also plenty of tools for organizing your articles. The Home screen is
meant to contain articles you haven't read yet, and you can archive articles
when you're done. There's a folder for articles you "liked" by default, and you
can also add as many folders as you like for sorting articles by topic.
There are a few features offered by Instapaper that Pocket doesn't have. You can
highlight quotes in an article, as in Pocket, but you can also add notes, which
Pocket doesn't offer. You can also browse all of your highlights and notes in
one place, without having to open the articles again. This makes Instapaper a
great way to review your thoughts after reading. Instapaper also offers built-in
support for sending articles to a Kindle eReader. If any of these features
appeal to you—or you're looking for a Pocket alternative—Instapaper is probably
the app for you.
You can automate your reading workflows with Instapaper's Zapier integrations,
which let you do things like automatically send articles from tweets you like
over to Instapaper or send every article from an RSS feed to your reading list.
You can customize these workflows to use your favorite apps.
ADD NEW RSS FEED ARTICLES TO INSTAPAPER
Try it
*
*
RSS by Zapier, Instapaper
RSS by Zapier + Instapaper
More details
Want to make sure your latest RSS feed articles are available on Instapaper when
you find the time to read them? Set up this Zap and we'll forward all of them
for you. It will watch your RSS feed for any new items, automatically adding
them to Instapaper so they're at your disposal whenever you need them.
DetailsTry it
Instapaper pricing: Free; Instapaper Premium for $2.99/month offering full-text
search for all of your articles, unlimited notes, and text-to-speech.
There are two clear frontrunners in this space, if you haven't noticed. Be sure
to check out our Instapaper vs. Pocket showdown to learn more about how these
two apps match up.
BEST READ IT LATER APP FOR NEWSLETTERS
OMNIVORE (WEB, IOS, ANDROID, MAC)
Omnivore pros:
* Free and open source
* Can pull in newsletters automatically
* Webhooks and other integrations (including Obsidian) available
Omnivore cons:
* Newer app that occasionally feels buggy
* Android app is currently in beta
Omnivore is the newest app on this list, and it shows: it's a little rough
around the edges. The Android version is still a beta, for one thing, and the
Mac version is missing most of the features found in the web version.
Still, if you look past the rough edges, there's a lot to like. Saving articles
is easy using either a browser extension or the mobile app. The reading
experience, on most devices, is also great: you've got four color schemes and
thirteen fonts to choose from. Another big plus: the software is completely free
as of this writing, and there's even the possibility of hosting the service
yourself.
A standout feature is the ability to sign up for email newsletters. Omnivore can
generate email addresses for you, which you can use to sign up for
newsletters—new articles will show up directly in your mailing list. It's a
great way to subscribe to email newsletters without clogging up your inbox. A
more nerdy feature is integrations. Omnivore can be set up to save your
highlights and notes to Obsidian, which is one of the best note-taking apps.
There's also extensive support for webhooks, meaning you could in theory connect
Omnivore to just about anything.
I wish Omnivore had the polish of Pocket and Instapaper, but even so, it's
already a solid alternative to both. Omnivore is also changing faster than
either app—I wouldn't be surprised to see it at the top of this list in a couple
years.
Omnivore pricing: Free
BEST READ IT LATER APP FOR APPLE LOYALISTS
SAFARI READING LIST (MAC, IOS)
Safari pros:
* Built in to the main browser for Mac, iPhone, and iPad
* Very easy to use
Safari cons:
* Only works on Apple devices
* Limited organization options
Safari is the default browser on Apple devices, and it comes with a built-in
reading list that automatically syncs between all of your devices. It's not the
most advanced read it later service, granted, but you can use it right now
without having to install any software. Just click Bookmarks > Add To Reading
List to add an article on your Mac, or use the keyboard shortcut
command-shift-D. On mobile, find the Add to Reading List option in the Share
menu. Articles can optionally be saved for offline reading, and using Safari's
Reader Mode, you can customize the colors and fonts.
Articles are listed chronologically, and there's not really any way to organize
them other than archiving. There's a search feature, though, so you should be
able to find old articles easily enough. It's not the most robust tool, but it
works.
Safari Reading List pricing: Free on Apple devices
Chrome offers a similar feature, also called Reading List, but it doesn't offer
any kind of offline reading or custom typography.
OTHER APPS YOU CAN USE TO READ IT LATER
Read it later apps aren't the only tools for the job—they're just the ones that
are built with reading in mind. Having said that, the best app for saving
articles isn't always one that's purpose-built for the task. Here are some other
categories of apps that could work for you.
* Note-taking apps like OneNote and Evernote offer web clippers, which extract
articles and save them for future reference. The downside: they're not
designed with the reading experience in mind. Still, they might work for you,
particularly if you wanted to mark up and edit the articles anyway.
* Bookmarking tools like Pinboard and Google Bookmarks can also be used as an
app to save articles. They don't extract your articles for offline reading,
or offer custom fonts and color schemes, but they make up for that with
organizational features.
* Amazon offers a free Send to Kindle tool, which sends articles to the popular
eInk devices as well as the Kindle app. I think Kindle users are better off
using Instapaper for this, but Amazon's offering is simpler if sending
articles to your Kindle is all you care about. It's not a complete read it
later service, and it doesn't seem to be actively maintained, but it works.
While these aren't quite Instapaper and Pocket alternatives, if you're already
using them for other purposes, they're worth a try.
Where did the idea for apps like this come from? Check out our interview with
Pocket founder Nate Weiner to learn more.
This article was originally published in June 2017. The most recent update was
in August 2023.
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Justin Pot
Justin Pot is a writer and journalist based in Hillsboro, Oregon. He loves
technology, people, and nature, not necessarily in that order. Learn more:
justinpot.com
tags
Personal productivity
News & RSS
mentioned apps
Instapaper
Pocket
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