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It's not easy keeping up with everything that's written on the web, especially not if you've got a dozen open browser tabs vying for your attention. This is where read-it-later apps come in.
These apps let you siphon off articles you want to get back to later, at a more leisurely pace, when the work of the day is done. You can catch up on your reading in bed, on the subway, over breakfast, or whenever you like.
Sadly, we just lost one of the more capable read-it-later apps: Mozilla is shutting down Pocket as it focuses its efforts on its Firefox browser, and Pocket data will be permanently deleted on October 8. If you're looking for a new home for your archive of articles, or you're keen to see what read-it-later apps are capable of doing for the first time, you'll find our pick for the best options below.
Instapaper
Instapaper is one of the oldest and most comprehensive read-it-later apps out there, and it does a fine job of turning chaotic webpages into calm, orderly blocks of text that look like they're displayed on an e-reader. Articles can be added straight from your browser, pasted in manually, or added via email, and there are apps for reading saved articles in the web browser and on your mobile devices.
There are lots of neat little features hidden away in Instapaper, like the ability to organize articles with folders and tags. If you decide you like Instapaper enough, there's a paid tier too: For $6 a month it adds features including the option to have articles read out to you, a “'speed read”' mode that displays one word at a time, and the ability to send articles to an Amazon Kindle.
Instapaper (freemium) for web, Android, iOS
Feedly
Feedly can help you keep up with everything being published on your favorite sites, and curate a read-it-later list of articles you want to get back to when you have the time. You get a host of features for sorting the incoming deluge of posts, from filters and keyword searches to folders for organization and a choice of list layouts across your devices.
Articles can be saved or shared with a click or a tap, and as your read-it-later section is built up, it appears in the main navigation pane. You can either read simplified articles in Feedly, or click out to the originals on the web. A Feedly Pro subscription ($7 a month) lets you monitor more feeds and access more advanced features like integrations with apps like OneNote, Evernote, and LinkedIn.
Feedly (freemium) for web, Android, iOS
Matter
Matter is fully aware that Pocket is shutting down, and is offering Pocket users half-price on a premium plan (the normal price is $15 a month). There is a free tier, but if you pay, you get access to features such as text-to-speech for articles, and options for annotating saved posts. Matter can also import all your saved Pocket articles, so switching over is pretty seamless.
The idea is you can pull in all kinds of content, including web articles, PDFs, newsletters, and social media threads. Everything is presented through a polished, elegant interface, with options for sharing links and tagging articles to keep them organized. Another nice touch are the reading recommendations that pop up in various places around the app. Android users take note, Matter is for iPhones and iPads only.
Matter (freemium) for web, iOS
Raindrop.io
Raindrop.io describes itself as a bookmarks manager, but that's really just a read-it-later service under another name. It runs across the web and mobile, accepts article submissions via any browser, and comes with a whole host of integrations across apps like Evernote (for adding bookmarks to notes) and Google Drive (for backing up bookmarks).
As well as saving articles, you can store video and audio links in Raindrop.io too, and everything is accessible through a clean, intuitive interface that's easy to get around and organize. Sign up for a Pro account, which will set you back $3 a month, and you get access to extras including article annotations, reminders, and full-text search for your bookmarks.
Raindrop.io (freemium) for web, Android, iOS
Readwise Reader
Readwise Reader packs in just about every feature you could want from a read-it-later service, including not just the ability to save articles, but also support for videos, social media posts, PDFs, and emails. There's text-to-speech here, article annotations, Kindle support, and comprehensive search and sorting tools to help manage your archive.
This doesn't come cheap though: Readwise Reader will set you back $13 a month, which also gets you everything in Readwise, a full featured note-taking app. You can however test the service out for free for 30 days to see if you like it before paying, and there is an import option for Pocket, so you can bring all of your existing articles along with you.
