
Introducing Instapaper 4.0 for iPad and iPhone - illdave
http://www.marco.org/2011/10/17/instapaper-4-released
======
sudonim
It's great to see a one man show like Instapaper doing so well. His space is
becoming more crowded yet Marco's focus and drive means Instapaper keeps
delivering more and more value. The changes in 4.0 look great.

Kudos Marco. You're an inspiration to solo founders (and anyone) looking to
start something online. P.s. check out Marco's show with Dan Benjamin, Build
and Analyze. I've been listening while I walk to work. It's interesting and
insightful.

~~~
kanwisher
Linkify cause it sounds interesting <http://5by5.tv/buildanalyze>

~~~
gks
Marco comes across as a real ass on his podcast. Which has made me not listen
to Build & Analyze, or use his app. Hell, "Build & Analyze" isn't so much
about "Building & Analyzing" as it is him bitching about stuff. I'm not even
talking about the coffee discussions, I can get through that stuff, the
bullshit attitude I can't get through though.

He used to be pretty humble in the first dozen episodes, but he's slowly
gotten a big head and turned into a dick. At least from my perspective.

I don't recommend his app any longer, instead, I suggest people use one of
it's competitors, Read It Later.

Again, the podcast isn't so much about building apps as it is a soapbox for
him to complain about other applications and other developers. While he does
discuss some of the aspects of Instapaper, he may as well have called the
podcast something else. If you're expecting developer oriented discussion
there are better podcasts to listen to.

If you're going to spend time listening to a 5by5 podcast, I suggest two that
are much better. Hypercritical with John Siracusa. John at least knows how to
complain while being constructive, unlike Marco. The second would be The
Incomparable, on a totally different topic but very worthwhile.

As as example of marco being an ass. Just listen to any of the podcasts from
10-onward. Also, listen especially to the programming episodes where he tries
to argue against Siracusa but instead sounds like a whiny brat.

edit: Keep on down voting people. Seriously. It's called an opinion. If you
don't like it, too bad. But it helps people make a valid attempt at
determining whether they want to listen to something, or read something,
otherwise spending their time with something. Make your own opinion of the
podcast and Marco. But down voting simply because my opinion is different than
yours is just stupid.

~~~
sjs
I find your comment really amusing. Your whining and complaining about Marco's
podcast doesn't exactly make you look like the paragon of humility, reason,
and understanding.

It's almost as if HN has become a soapbox for you to complain about some
application or developer ... ok sorry for that last (clearly hyperbolic) jab.
I hope you get the point though, and take it in the friendly and jocular way
it was intended.

~~~
gks
It wasn't intended to come out as if I was complaining. Someone mentioned the
podcast, it's not as though I brought it up myself. I liked the podcast in the
beginning. It just simply took a different path than it should've in my
opinion.

The title of it is "Build & Analyze" right? So, it should be about "building"
things (whether that be coding, building said code, or as a metaphor for other
things in life) and "analyzing" things related to the same... code or life.

But instead there is very little discussion of building... and the analyzing
is ranty and uninspired.

One of the recommendations I made was Hypercritical with John Siracusa. Let's
compare and contrast a bit..

Siracusa is one of those guys that just knows how to take something, whittle
it down to nothing and find the faults. There's nothing wrong with finding
fault in things. There will _always_ be faults, however big or small. The
difference is in how Siracusa talks about them. He's critical of things to the
point of beating a dead horse. Hypercritical is perfect for his podcast.
Probably the most apt name I've ever seen for a podcast. But when he discusses
these faults he provides some of the best examples he can come up with for
_why_ he feels that way, and/or _how_ the faults they could be corrected.

Marco on the other hand just. Complains. I think he tried in the beginning to
provide just cause for his complaining. But in the end he failed to be able to
do it consistently. Instead, the podcast turned into another version of The
Talk Show. At least with the Talk Show Gruber can be entertaining. Though I
rarely listen unless the show notes show me something interesting. But Marco
is trying to emulate Gruber and failing hard. Even his blog is taking on the
same type of thing with a tiny bit more iOS discussion.

Either way. People can make their own opinion. I just hoped to make it a quick
way for people to know to avoid it. If they're like me and they find annoying
dick-ish podcast hosts to be on the do-not-listen list then they know right
away that Build & Analyze isn't for them.

~~~
joshuacc
_The title of it is "Build & Analyze" right? So, it should be about "building"
things (whether that be coding, building said code, or as a metaphor for other
things in life) and "analyzing" things related to the same... code or life._

The title is actually taken from a feature in Apple's Xcode, and as far as I
can tell is just meant to indicate, "Here are the thoughts of an iOS
developer." Nothing wrong with that.

------
ugh
This is a brilliant example showing what great visual design and typography
can do for an app. I never liked using Instapaper because I thought it looked
so ugly. Now it's on par with the likes of Reeder and Twitter and I'm much
more likely to use it.

I'm not sure how many people think like me but I just can't stand using
software I think is ugly. It's no fun for me.

(That said, I think the actual user experience has also improved – which is
equally as important.)

------
joebadmo
tl;dr Instapaper is great for iOS. A Kindle + Readability's Send to Kindle
bookmarklet is an excellent alternative.

I was an avid Instapaper user on my iPod Touch until I got an Android phone.
Marco has publicly stated his reluctance to support Android, and the third
party apps for instapaper were all pretty pathetic. So I switched to Read it
Later for a while.

Until I got a Kindle, which changed the game for me. Reading on the Kindle is
so much a better experience than on another glowing screen that I don't even
bother to try to read long form on the phone anymore.

I went back to Instapaper for a while, using a Windows app called Wordcycler
to sync, but now use Readability's Send to Kindle bookmarklet. It cuts out the
syncing part (the Kindle just downloads content automatically when it has an
internet connection), and I've found that it retains author and publication
data more reliably.

~~~
DrHankPym
Every Kindle owner should know about Readability's Send to Kindle feature and
Calibre's e-book converter. Long live e-ink!

~~~
brown9-2
Is Readability's Send to Kindle only available for the $5/mo subscription?

klip.me's "Send to Kindle" extension is free and also pretty awesome
<http://www.klip.me/>

~~~
skymt
No; in fact, you don't even need an account. Just add kindle@readability.com
to your Kindle's approved sender list & install the browser extension[0] or
bookmarklet[1].

0: <http://www.readability.com/addons> 1:
<http://www.readability.com/bookmarklets>

------
devtesla
The bad news: a change in how iOS manages files in version 5 means
Instapaper's ability to store articles for you to read offline has reached
something of a limit. If you get low on space iOS will now delete Instapaper's
copies of articles:

<http://www.marco.org/2011/10/13/ios5-caches-cleaning>

This is less of a problem if you are online all the time as Instapaper will
redownload them, but it still kinda sucks.

------
pflats
The way this version handles footnotes[1] looks absolutely outstanding. More
e-reading software should have a pop-over like this. I'd pay way more than $5
to get this feature on my Kindle.

[1] <http://www.marco.org/media/2011/10/ip4-footnote.png>

Also, a footnote of my own on the search subscription: Marco's talked a bit on
his podcast about people wanting to subscribe to Instapaper via in-app purcase
rather than through PayPal. However, Apple won't let you have an in-app
purchase that doesn't add any functionality. Putting 2 and 2 together gives
you a "search subscription" that is identical to a normal Instapaper
subscription.

~~~
sjs
I have been using this Chrome extensions[1] which handles footnotes the same
way on most sites (including Wikipedia and Daring Fireball, the only 2 I can
recall off the top of my head).

[1] [http://openideas.ideon.co/2011/rehabilitate-disruptive-
footn...](http://openideas.ideon.co/2011/rehabilitate-disruptive-footnotes)

------
achompas
I've got a question for my fellow long-form-reading HNers.

I check my phone for quick hits of information, but I hate reading long-form
articles on it. Do you guys know of any "Send to Kindle" apps or bookmarklets
for iPhone/iOS?

I know, I know: this is a hell of a first-world problem, but I'd like to read
on glowing screens as little as possible.

~~~
chl
If you are an Instapaper "subscriber", you get access to a "Send to Kindle
immediately" bookmarklet.

I use it all the time (and vastly prefer it over the timed, once-a-day-at-most
send-a-batch-of-stuff option).

~~~
achompas
This is exactly what I was asking for. Issues with B&A aside, I'll gladly pay
$1/month for this.

------
goforth
Do you still have to fetch the full page view before sending to Instapaper?
That's the one thing that annoys me about this app/service. Readability does
it all for you. I hate getting to the end of a piece in Instapaper and
realizing there are more pages, but they weren't downloaded.

~~~
jcurbo
Yes, you do - in one of the Build and Analyze podcasts, Marco mentioned that
he didn't support that behavior and probably wasn't going to anytime soon. I
think it was in a discussion about Readability (which will do that), but I
don't remember exactly which episode it was in.

~~~
goforth
This is a major FAIL on his part. Readability is one-click. Instapaper often
requires several clicks to save. Fail. (Not to mention Readability pagination
is light years better.)

~~~
guywithabike
_Spend years creating software that thousands of people love, have anonymous
internet commenter cry "FAIL" (sic) from the rooftops because of minor missing
feature._

The advantage of sending the content instead of the link is that you can save
things that exist behind paywalls or that require logging in.

(Do you work for Readability? Literally every single comment you've ever made
here mentions it.)

~~~
kenneth_reitz
I work for Readability. No idea who goforth is. — I assume just a passionate
user ;)

------
jrnkntl
Great update Marco! Did you work with a (graphic/interaction) designer on this
update or did you do it all and maybe threw in some stock icons along the way?

~~~
jcsalterego
It sounds like Iconfactory did the icons.

Source: <https://twitter.com/#!/qiansh/status/125938836562919424> (vetted by
@Gedeon & @Iconfactory)

~~~
thisisblurry
Marco also has a tweet referencing Dan Cederholm being associated with the
icon (@simplebits)

<https://twitter.com/#!/marcoarment/status/125991945523822592>

Edit: Dan's post here:
<http://simplebits.com/notebook/2011/10/17/instapaper4/>

------
coob
This is great, looking forward to installing it. However looking at the
screenshots I can't help but wonder if something other than an ellipsis would
be better for indicating footnotes, especially now the voice dictation in iOS
has commandeered it.

~~~
dolbz
Agreed, why not leave the original notation but show the footnote in the
popover as show?

------
luigi
I've switched to Spool:

<https://getspool.com/>

Both text and video. First-class Android and iPhone support. Alas, no iPad
support, but I don't use that much anymore.

~~~
juxta
spool is great but my only complaint is that it sometimes takes forever for an
article to download. I dont want to wait half a hour/day to read an article I
sent to spool but when it does download its really an amazing app!

~~~
jubos
hi, one of the makers of Spool here. Thanks for kicking the tires on it. Now
that our coverage is up, we are optimizing for speed now, so those wait times
will come down.

~~~
juxta
Hi Jubos,

I dont know how to contact you/message you on HN but there's one thing that
has gotten a little annoying on spool; when you get to the bottom of the
article - it brings up a big spool banner and this gets in the way of
finishing up reading the article. I'm not sure if this is a bug or a feature
but it's a little annoying :-/

------
naner
Seeing those images side-by-side, the matte black with simple icons on the
iPad looks clean and appealing and the glossy beveled borders on the iPhone
look a bit garish. Also the type for the iPad interface is much more pleasing.

I don't think I would have noticed if they images weren't right next to each
other.

~~~
technoslut
I agree. The iPad version is flawless and I don't like the glossy borders on
the iPhone. I can't believe I'm saying this but I would rather have the
stitched leather look that Apple has been using on their apps recently.

------
avolcano
While I love Instapaper for bringing me back to reading long-form articles, I
personally moved to Readability a while back. It's $5 (minimum)/month, but it
has a lot more polish, and I actually prefer the mobile app to Instapaper's
iOS ones - it's nice knowing if I decide to leave the iOS ecosystem, I'll
still have my articles, while Marco has refused to make official Instapaper
clients for other mobile OS's (understandable, as he's only one man). I also
like a handful of features in Readability's desktop web app that Instapaper
lacks - scroll tracking, more options for how it looks, etc.

However, if I get an iPad, I may move back just for Instapaper's iPad app.
Looks beautiful.

~~~
MatthewPhillips
I prefer Readability as well. I can't justify the $5 per month subscription
though. I'd happily pay $20 for a lifetime subscription, but I'm not sure what
they're providing that is any different from Read it Later, Instapaper, etc.
that justifies the monthly cost. I know they are attempting to pay back
authors, but I don't understand why that must be a recurring cost. $5 per
month is just a tad cheaper than what I pay for Netflix or prgmr.com, and I
don't think it provides near the value of those two. Now when I get a Kindle
Touch I might change my mind.

~~~
troethom
How wouldn't paying back authors be a recurring cost? It's quite simple
actually; how do you divide your $20 between publishers? You can't (before you
either die or stop reading that is). A monthly subscription on the other hand
can be divided between the articles you've read that month.

------
stuartmemo
I kinda feel like I'm stuck using Instapaper regardless of how good it is. I
use the official Twitter iOS app, which only has Instapaper or Read It Later
support, meaning there's no way I can fully jump to the likes of Spool if I
wanted to.

------
tomjen3
Do this mean I can no longer move articles to the archive with one click?

It may sound a little trivial but I tend to remove the articles when I have
read them and it gets annoying when I have to remove 15 (I tend to add a lot
of articles).

~~~
SoftwareMaven
Yes and (kind of) no. You get the additional popup on delete, but you can also
multi-select and delete. That means (with your 15 article use case) like 1.1
clicks per article.

I understand the need to have archive and delete, and the confusion of two
buttons, but I'd really rather have a setting. I Pinboard articles i want to
keep archived, so I would always want to delete.

------
yesimahuman
Of course, it looks beautiful, and I really want it. Is there any solution for
Android? I've messed with some of the 3rd party apps but I haven't had any
success.

~~~
ryanwatkins
I dont think any of the Android clients use the Instapaper API
(<http://www.instapaper.com/api/full>) - they scrape the website, making it
impossible to do things like sync reading postion across devices.

There is a decent Window Phone 7 client that uses the API - Stacks for
Instapaper (<http://www.stacksforinstapaper.com/>) and one for HP/Palm webOS -
Paper Mache (<http://ryanwatkins.net/software/papermache/> \- disclosure, its
my app)

Interestingly the Terms of the Instapaper API prevent any integration with
other "Read Later" apps, though Read It Later API terms do not seems to have
this restriction.

"Apps must not include support for any other services that compete with or are
substantially similar to Instapaper, unless the app uses only the “Add
Bookmark” and/or “Verify Credentials” methods from this API. Instapaper
reserves the right to decide whether another service or application is
considered a competitor or substantially similar."
(<http://www.instapaper.com/api/terms>)

~~~
unwiredben
I was looking for a place to plug "Paper Mache" here, but you got to it first!

------
timkeller
Fantastic update, as always. There aren't many developers who'd continue
updating a $4.99 app this long... not to mention that its a universal app!

------
john2x
I have an iPod touch and even though Safari now has a similar feature for
free, I still want Instapaper. Because I use Chrome everywhere else.

------
nickburlett
Is there a way to get the old list view back when using the iPad? I prefer the
old view!

------
james33
Just another reason why I need to hurry and get an iPad, that app looks
incredible!

------
wtn
Only took four major releases to get proper text encoding support.

