Summary
- Read it later clients like Pocket and Instapaper make reading articles distraction-free and organized.
- These clients strip extra content, leaving only text and images for a uniform reading experience.
- Tags help organize articles for easy retrieval on various topics, enhancing the user experience.
Have you ever built up a bookmark list of articles to read later but never actually got around to it? A read-it-later client can help with that.
What Is a Read It Later Client?
If you’ve never heard of a read it later client, let me explain what it all does. In its most simple terms, a read-it-later client is a link aggregator. The interface of most clients is typically pretty minimal.
Saving a link to a read-it-later client will strip out most of the extra content from the article and make it just text and images. The function of these services is to make reading an article easier.
The client also allows you to organize articles through various tags. Using tags means you can simply save articles on a wide range of topics, and then, whenever you’re ready to read on a specific topic, you just filter by that tag and go through the articles that you have previously saved.
Why Use a Read It Later Client?
You might be saying to yourself, “Who needs a read it later client? I’ll just read the articles or bookmark them in my browser.” While this method words, read it later clients are actually quite useful.
The fact that these clients strip extra stuff out of an article is one of the biggest benefits of using the service. Read it later clients are very similar to Reader Mode on Safari, except, instead of being something baked into your browser on Apple devices only, it’s on a website and has apps that work on any device.
When a read it later client strips down an article, the only thing left behind is (typically) text and images. Sometimes, depending on how a website formats the article, there can be some extra stray characters or elements in there. But, typically speaking, when you read an article to your client, the only thing you’re presented with is text and images when it comes time to read it.
This creates a near-distraction-free reading experience. There are no more bouncing ads, distracting elements are gone, and it’s a uniform experience no matter who published the article you’re reading. Every article on any website essentially looks the same.
Plus, as mentioned above, tags can be extremely useful. I have tags for a wide range of topics, including a general tech tag, one for ChatGPT, one for gaming, and another for home theater and photography. The list goes on. You can even add one article to multiple tags so it shows up in various places throughout the read-it-later client.
What Read It Later Clients Are There?
While there are several clients to choose from, the two biggest in the space are Pocket and Instapaper. I’ve used both over the years, but I typically lean toward Instapaper for its more minimal experience. Pocket, on the other hand, has a much more colorful and feature-packed experience compared to Instapaper.
Omnivore is an app that used to exist but was recently purchased by ElevenLabs. In the past, you could even self-host Omnivore to use it on your own server. But, alas, after ElevenLabs purchased them, this was shut down.
With Omnivore gone, outside of Pocket and Instapaper, the only big alternative is the Safari Reading List (which only effectively works if you live within the Apple ecosystem).
Both Pocket and Instapaper are fully cross-platform. Not only do they each have dedicated websites that you can use, but both also have browser plugins to save links, as well as mobile apps to collect links and read articles.
You really can’t go wrong when choosing a read-it-later client. Personally, I use Instapaper now because of how minimal it is. But I used to use Pocket because of all the features that it has. Both work well and have their own strengths and weaknesses. Also, depending on the client you choose, you might even be able to sync your read-it-later list with a Kindle for offline reading through the eInk display (or just the Kindle app on your phone).
Since both apps are free (with paid upgrades), try them out and see which you prefer. If you’ve never used a read-it-later client before, this could be a game-changer for you to actually start reading those online articles instead of just bookmarking them and never going back.
Speaking of Kindle, do you need a new eReader to enjoy your favorite books (and articles) this summer? Check out our review of the latest Kindle to see if it’s the perfect eReader for you.
