I come across a lot of stuff on the web that I would like to read – I am also only one man. Therefore I saw that I was in need of a ‘digital locker’ service. I do sync all of my bookmarks across Chrome and I can access those on the Chrome browser on iOS – but because it doesn’t use web-app it is not as fast. Plus, sometimes I just want to read the article, and if the site’s web hierarchy changes the article may no longer be available. So essentially, I just want to save the text, and be able to access it anywhere. Fortunately I found a service that fit the bill.
This service was initially born as ReadItLater, a Firefox extension. In the Spring of 2012 it relaunched as Pocket. I can use it to save articles from Chrome or Safari on my Mac, directly from an RSS reader on my iPhone/iPad, or even from the Safari browser on the iPhone (where I have to email myself the article to add@getpocket.com). The articles are then available in an attractive (if slightly cluttered) “magazine-style” interface. You can also choose a list style view if you want.
It does also allow you to sort videos, though the interface and the loading of videos may not be seamless.
In addition, Pocket allows you to tag articles to allow for easy sorting and categorizing, as well as unlimited archiving.
An example of a tag applied to an article
Actually reading on Pocket is a breeze thanks to the app’s formatting that strips away website fluff (ads etc) and leaves you with glorious text. There is pagination per se – but most articles default to a continuous scroll. I find Pocket a fantastic option for reading longer editorial articles. You could use it to save medical journal articles for instance. If you like to share on social networks you can as well, as Pocket offers the ability to share to Facebook, Twitter, email, Evernote and more.
The alternatives
There are certainly other options out there. Evernote allows you to do similar stuff, and offers browser plugins, but it does a lot of other things too, and I prefer a tool that does just what I want it to. Instapaper was recently sold, and I’m not sure the service will be maintained. And RSS readers may experience a renaissance following the death of Google Reader, but they are more about picking articles out of a continuously flowing river of data rather than cataloging from various sources across devices.
Though you have to sign up for an account I suggest that you check out Pocket.
[…] Alliteration… sigh. For those of you that know me I’m sure you’d say that I’m a bit of a tech geek. I enjoy sharing some of my favorite tech tools and apps. One of my most favorite apps that I started using this year was the bookmark service Pocket. […]