Our Verdict
Marco Arment ’s Instapaper app , a mobile client for the Instapaper Web service , has been one of our preferent iPhone and iPod touch offering since its debut . If you have n’t heard of Instapaper , the service lets you save online articles for late reading using a special web web browser bookmarklet . ( A number of iPhone appseven admit a feature to spare universal resource locator directly to Instapaper with a tap . ) Visit the Instapaper Website , and you could record any of your saved articles , reformatted to be easy to read with no pesky Flash ads or other distracting fuddle .
But the Instapaper iPhone app improve on this experience notably : launch the app , and it mechanically download all your saved articles — up to 250 of them — for offline reading in an interface optimized for your portable equipment . And start with the liberation of version 2.2.2 — the app is at variation 2.2.3 as of this penning — Instapaper Proincludes a native interface for the iPad , as well . ( Note that Instapaper Free , a feature film - limited version of the Instapaper app , does n’t supply an iPad - native interface . )
The Big Picture : Instapaper Pro now features an iPad - aboriginal user interface , which takes vantage of the machine ’s larger silver screen to make using the app more gratifying .
The Big Picture: Instapaper Pro now features an iPad-native interface, which takes advantage of the device’s larger screen to make using the app more enjoyable.
As with earlier iPhone - only versions of the app , Instapaper Pro lets iPad users adjust article line spacing and margin , and change the font and font size on the fly . There ’s also a dingy interface ( gray type on black screen background ) for gentle nighttime reading , an ever - so - useful revolution lock , and multiple methods for navigating article : traditional scrolling , accelerometer - based tilt scrolling , and a pagination mode that have you tap the edge of the concealment to “ turn the page . ” The app also remember your placement in article between launch , and an in - app dictionary characteristic lets you look upWiktionary’sdefinition of any word as you read .
From within the app , you’re able to create and negociate booklet for filing and organizing articles ; those actions are mull over in your history on the Instapaper site and on any other iPhones and iPads on which you ’re using the app . you may also share articles in several agency : via Tumbler and Twitter account , and by “ starring ” your favorite articles . Any user canadd another user ’s star itemsas a folder to have such article automatically added to their own account .
But much like the iPad ’s version of Mail compared to Mail on the iPhone , Instapaper Pro on the iPad take upright vantage of the larger screen to make using the app more enjoyable . Obviously , much more schoolbook can agree on the concealment , reducing scrolling and page - turn when read saved articles . But pasture article is also easy on the iPad . Whereas on the iPhone your folder lean , a folder ’s contents , and an clause view each occupy the entire screen door , the iPad ’s larger cover lets you view multiple item simultaneously : In portrayal preference , the Folders lean is a popover menu , much like Mail ’s Mailboxes view , and in landscape fashion , your leaning of folders is always visible in a column on the left , with either a choose folder ’s contents or the select article displayed to the right .
You also get a few additional feature on the iPad , such as an in - app brightness ascendence and more font options ( six baptistry , compared to only three on the iPhone ) . But one of my favorite iPad - only tweak is subtler : in wiretap - to - sprain - the - Thomas Nelson Page mode , text edition is always display within the tolerance , but with scrolling enable , school text at the top and bottom edges of the projection screen fades slenderly , providing cues that you’re able to scroll . It ’s a minor detail , but it really adds to the meter reading experience .
For heavy consumer of on-line message , like me , the Instapaper service is a star alternative for reading lengthier articles ; I weigh it a must - use . And Instapaper Pro on the iPad has become my favorite way to show and manage my Instapaper - saved article .
[ Senior editor in chief Dan Frakes critique low - cost Mac software in the Mac Gems blog . ]
