For a side project I’m working on, I want to support several different “read it later” type applications. Looking for apps that have both mobile support and APIs, it looks like the most popular options are Instapaper, Read It Later, and Readability.
All of these accomplish a similar task: bookmark a web page for later reading, and formatting it for easier reading. Mobile support is usually included, either for reading articles bookmarked earlier, or marking new ones to read on a desktop at a later time.
Here’s a quick summary of each service:
Instapaper
- Free service with an optional subscription for $1/month
- Desktop web browsing
- Mobile: iPhone/iPad mobile app ($4.99), 3rd-party compatible apps for other mobile platforms
- API: Simple API (username/password), or Full API (xAuth flavor of OAuth)
Read it Later
- Desktop: Firefox extension, bookmarklets for others
- Mobile: Android (pro $0.99), iPhone (free, or pro $2.99)
- API: Yes, username/password
Readability
- Subscription service at $5/month (70% of which goes to authors & publishers); $5 is minimum, can do more
- Desktop web browsing: Yes, also Firefox extension
- Read Now in browser free, Read Later & Mobile for subscribers only
- Mobile: Web apps (Android, Blackberry), iPhone/iPad: web now, integration with Instapaper app coming soon
- API: OAuth
- Update: The Readability service was shut down in Sept 2016. You can search around for “readability alternatives” to find some similar solutions.
I’ve just started playing with each of these apps and their APIs and will hopefully post more feedback on each.