In this series, we dig into an app we think you should be using and explain what it is, why it’s great, and how to get started. This time, we’re covering Instapaper.
What is Instapaper?
A read-later app that lets you save and store articles to read at your convenience, so you don’t end up with hundreds of open Safari tabs. Although primarily designed for stashing web pages, it also supports email content and online video.
What makes Instapaper great?
Unlike Apple’s Reading List, Instapaper automatically optimizes saved articles, presenting them in a clean, uncluttered view. Downloaded articles work fully offline, and there are plenty of features to enhance the experience further. It’s also been around for years, and so you can trust it’s here to stay.
How can I get started with Instapaper?
Adjust the Share sheet: Open a web page in Safari and tap the Share button. Swipe to the end of the apps row and tap ‘More’. Tap ‘Edit’, scroll down, and tap the ‘+’ next to Instapaper. Move Instapaper toward the top of Favorites. It’ll then be front and center next time you use the Share sheet.
Manage saves: Want to bring order to Instapaper chaos? Use tags to group articles as you save them. For example, you could use a ‘*’ tag for the most important items. You can also further organize saves by creating folders – go to Instapaper’s main menu (top left) and use ‘+’ to add one.
Find your address: You can send long emails and newsletters to Instapaper via your Instapaper account’s bespoke email address. Tap the menu, and then the cog button. Under ‘How to Save’, swipe until you see ‘Email Articles’, and tap ‘Add Email to Contacts’. (Note: when asked, there is no need to share contacts with Instapaper.)
Email Instapaper: Once set up, you can forward emails from your inbox to your Instapaper address. For best results, remove indentation from a forwarded message before it is sent. To disable indentation entirely for all emails, go to the Settings app and turn off Apps > Mail > Increase Quote Level.
Sort the feed: After sending some articles to Instapaper, drag down to refresh your feed. Recent saves appear at the top. Go to ‘… > Sort’ to change the order. Use ‘Oldest Saved’ to work through saves you’ve likely skipped, or ‘Shortest Articles’ when you’re short on time.
Swipe for actions: For any item in the feed, slowly swipe it to the right to access tagging and folder options. If you swipe to the left, you can quickly get at options to archive the item (moves it to the Archives folder) or delete it (removes it from your saves entirely).
Adjust how articles look: When viewing an article, tap ‘Aa’ to access the appearance settings. If you dislike constant scrolling, turn on pagination. Experiment with font, font size, line spacing, and text column width values so that the resulting typography best suits your preferences.
View highlights: Overwhelmed by a very long article or a saved email? Tap ‘… > Summarize’, and Instapaper will generate a synopsis, along with a series of highlights. Tap one to jump to its position in the full text.
Listen to articles: When your eyes are otherwise engaged or just really tired, use the ‘Speak’ option in the ‘…’ menu. Instapaper will read the article aloud. You can change the voice used in the app’s settings, via the previously mentioned cog button.
Stash and watch videos: If you save a video to Instapaper, it will become a standard item in the main feed. But you can also filter the feed by using the Videos option in the menu. This will show saves from the likes of YouTube and Vimeo along with text-based articles that include embedded videos.
Take a chance: Not sure what to read? In Spotlight, start typing Instapaper’s name to bring it up as the top hit. Then tap the ‘Random Article’ button to load a random article into Instapaper.
Use Alfread: For a different way to work through your feed, try Alfread (free). It presents articles as cards you tap to read – or swipe to archive or return into the queue for later.
Visit the Instapaper website or get Instapaper (free) from the App Store.