#Instapaper vs pocket vs readability how to
#Instapaper vs pocket vs readability plus

Pocket has hired Mark Armstrong, the founder and head curator at Longreads, as its editorial director, and part of his job, according to Weiner, is to reach out to publishers and explore the various options for cooperation. (Pocket doesnвЂ™t currently show ads, and wouldnвЂ™t until thereвЂ™s a fair way to share the revenue with publishers, Weiner says.) In the future, Weiner says, Pocket might even provide ways for publishers to sell content or advertising through the app.

#Instapaper vs pocket vs readability plus

(Weiner, now 28, built the first version of Read It Later that same summer, while holding down a day job at a Minneapolis Web design firm.) At Pocket, Weiner says, the goal is to find ways to turn the time-shifting habit into a plus for publishers, perhaps by offering them an inside look at the data the startup gathers about how people use and share content once theyвЂ™ve вЂњPocketedвЂќ it.

#Instapaper vs pocket vs readability how to

They were just starting to figure out how to monetize content on the desktop Web when the advent of the iPhone in June 2007 changed everything about digital content consumption. The question is who will be the new TiVo-the company that makes saving Web content so easy itвЂ™s no longer considered a geeky chore.ДЄll of this is scary stuff for publishers, of course. So itвЂ™s really only a matter of time before time-shifting oneвЂ™s consumption of Web content using apps like Pocket becomes as common as time-shifting oneвЂ™s television viewing using a DVR. As more people buy smartphones and tablets, the contrast between the noise, clutter, and commercialism of the desktop Web and the ease, comfort, and cleanliness of mobile app experiences will only grow more acute. So even with a user base of 4.5 million people, the app is reaching вЂњmaybe only 1 percent of the entire available market,вЂќ Weiner says.Д«ut the battle for the other 99 percent is being fought right now.

Up to now, explaining what the app does and how it relates to the desktop Web has been tricky. WhatвЂ™s clear from our talk is that Weiner pays close attention to the changing habits of consumers on the Web, and that he hopes to position Pocket to leapfrog over the other time-shifting apps by making the вЂњsave for laterвЂќ experience on Pocket as simple and compelling as possible. Our edited conversation is reproduced below. (One problem with the old app was that it wasnвЂ™t obvious that it could be used to save videos and other non-textual items.) I wanted to get the behind-the-scenes story of the relaunch from PocketвЂ™s founder and CEO, Nate Weiner, and I finally got a chance to visit him at the startupвЂ™s downtown San Francisco office this week. So I was all the more intrigued by the appвЂ™s remarkable transformation into Pocket, which has a far friendlier design and a clearer value proposition. Its design was dark and ponderous, which meant its only big selling point was the fact that it worked on more devices than the other reading apps (there were Read It Later apps for iOS, Android, and the Kindle Fire). Then later you can peruse it, sans ads and other clutter, using the Pocket app on your mobile device.ДЄlong with Instapaper, Readability, Longform, Zite, Flipboard, and others apps, Pocket is part of a new generation of services that treat the desktop Web as a place to discover content, but let you shift your actual consumption of that content to a more comfortable time and place-i.e., when youвЂ™re vegging on the couch with your iPad, or standing in line at the grocery store with your smartphone. And what is that, exactly? Once youвЂ™ve installed the Pocket plugin or bookmarklet in your desktop or mobile Web browser, you can save anything you find on the Web-an article, a video, a photo, a recipe, or even a cool pair of glasses at Warby Parker-to your Pocket account. This reborn reading app-which was known until April 17 as Read It Later-earned its coveted position by doing just about everything Instapaper does, but with some extra visual pizazz. So it was a big deal when I decided earlier this month to demote Instapaper to a folder on page two and give its spot to Pocket. For me, that means the home screen is prime real estate, reserved only for the apps I use most often. On the iPhone, the first page of the home screen-the one you see when you wake up the device-has room for only 20 apps, counting those in the dock.