this post was submitted on 28 Jun 2024
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Asklemmy

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 2 months ago (2 children)

A good one IMHO is Omnivore.

Omnivore is a complete, open source read-it-later solution for people who love to read.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Strange how it isn't on f-droid... I've come to expect all open-source apps to be on there, probably naively.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

It's my first time seeing an OSS app that doesn't at least have an own F-Droid repo, if it isn't already in the official F-Droid repo.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Thanks for this. I don't usually dive into longer format article stuff because I find it on my phone and reading on my phone sucks. I tried pocket, but it didn't function at all on my reader.

This solves that problem reasonably well.

(Edit: also an RSS reader? Maybe I should start using RSS again. I do wish it offered paged navigation controls to better work on an ereader, but it's definitely an improvement still.)

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago (6 children)

No, I've never really understood the point. I have bookmarks in my browser if I want to save something for later. I don't really need anything more fancy than that.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago

I don't use pocket any more but I tried it out. I think the benefit was that you had the sync of articles to read between all devices with pocket.

Personally, I use a browser for specific sites or searches. I use apps like Lemmy (connect) for content discovery pocket is a bridge between the two. It also allowed sharing between peopke. So rather than sharing a link by email or WhatsApp, I'd just add it to their pocket.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Came here to say the exact same thing. People really do love to reinvent browser bookmarks.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I think most people these days don't use browser bookmarks as a "check this out later" tool, and instead as more of a "I frequently need to access this page" function. For me, I only bookmark a page if it's something I frequently access; things like my email, Lemmy, some work apps, etc. In my use-case, bookmarks are a more "permanent" installation to my browser.

Also, "read later" apps generally strip the web page formatting and advertisements, and usually have an offline function of some sort; both of which you typically can't do with bookmarks. These are especially useful for those who like to read on their commute.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I think most people these days don't use browser bookmarks as a "check this out later" tool, and instead as more of a "I frequently need to access this page" function.

So what's preventing those people from using bookmarks as "check this out later" tool? The personal preference of using an app that reinvented those same bookmarks? Just create a "read-it-later" later directory and boom, you're good to go.

Also, "read later" apps generally strip the web page formatting and advertisements, and usually have an offline function of some sort; both of which you typically can't do with bookmarks.

Yeah, because these are features typically provided by your browser. Hence, browser bookmarks. It's not a unique feature to read-it-later apps in any way.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

So what's preventing those people from using bookmarks as "check this out later" tool?

Bookmarking a page does not give you control over its content. So if you bookmark something and the host deletes it, you are screwed.

If you instead clip the content or save it as a PDF, you retain access regardless of the original host.

For example, I save every good article I read as a PDF, which I cloud sync to a folder. I have a second folder for stuff I don't want to keep open as a tab but still want to read later. There are probably far better services out there, but I like the lack of technical dependencies and lock-in.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

I use Inoreader to read RSS feeds of my favorite sources, and I save interesting articles to Pocket. I use the tagging feature and sync my Pocket entries to an Obsidian vault using an extension. It creates a web of information I found valuable enough to save, connected by tag. It helps me see trends and topics I’m interested in emerge over time

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

https://fortelabs.co/blog/the-secret-power-of-read-it-later-apps

So this article was included with Omnivore, which is suggested elsewhere in this thread, but it does provide a bunch of well structured arguments for the utility of a dedicated app.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

Just speed. Share an article to pocket and its saved...

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

The general difference is that these bookmarks go away when re-opened. They're an alternative to leaving a buttload of tabs open.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I use Wallabag in the sense that I save articles to it, but I only really read them when I don't have service or on my e-reader

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

I subscribed to wallabag, but there are so many rough edges I gave up on it after six months. Terrible experience πŸ˜•

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months ago

I use omnivore for longer articles and highlighting parts of the text. It also have a plugin to sync with obsidian. It's really good, but I imagine self-hosting it can be tricky.

For a link-dump, I use Shiori. Could be anything vaguely interesting but I want to take a look later - works wonders for that.

And I have been a former pocket user, wallabag... But I stick with omnivore and Shiori.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago

Nope. Just a bunch of tabs and bookmarks, don't need anything else.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago

No. I just don’t kid myself, I know I’ll never read it.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I use Pocket because it is compatible with my Kobo ereader.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

Same here, really handy to take an article for offline reading.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

I use Readeck which has a few extra features over Pocket and bookmarks: offline copy, sharable link to said copy, highlights, bookmarks collection and the ability to export saved articles to ebook. Oh and it's self-hostable.

Personnaly, I mostly use it to bookmark and highlight articles I have read, with some bookmarked to read later.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

Yes I use pocket and am fairly satisfied.

Why do I use it? Well, I have been using it for about 6 years, was the first thing to work fine in my mobile, don't want to install another extension in ff, hate bookmark handling by ff (at least in mobile), and want to push myself in reading.

Although I nowadays see too much american articles in pocket to be relevant for me.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago

Neither, especially with Pocket. There's something about an add-on integrated into a browser that makes me worry about privacy. I hate how pocket is bundled in Firefox and take great pleasure in disabling it in the browser's config file. If it was something that could be downloaded on your own I might have had a different opinion about it. I just make a bookmark folder for articles I want to read later. It takes a few extra seconds to store and access but I think it's worth it.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago

I have a Firefox plugin called Tranquility Reader, which basically strips out all the ads and bullshit and gives you the article as just plain text on a white background. It also has the option to save the page as a pdf, so if I want to read something later I just do that.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

I copy the URL and paste it into the readme.md in the root of my nextcloud account. I'll find it again in 6 months or more and finally read it

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

Safari read later. Wish there was a good lookin open source option

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

I tried to use Pocket because of Mozilla's relentless promotion, but I ended up finding it too clunky compared to regular bookmarks.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

I’ve used most of the options for this and regardless of the tool I do a terrible job of actually coming back and reading anything in them. Instapaper would probably be my vote for the one I used the most though, connected to my kindle it was nice when I used to travel and could catch up on stuff on the plane. These days I use Inoreader for consuming feeds and it also has a good read later function.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

No just download it and never have to keep track

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I tried it. I tried just opening lots of tabs. I tried grouping tabs. Open tabs strewn across 3+ devices, "to read later", until eventually some months later I just give up and close them, having lost interest or simply seeing a need to close some of the overflowing tabs.

My only solution to this problem - as BAD as ChatGPT is and as much as we hate it - feed the thing I'll want to "read later" straight into ChatGPT RIGHT THEN, and just read a summary of it.

I've been doing this for a couple weeks now and so far, so good.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

But how would you know if it was accurate?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

Hhhrrrrmmmm, very good point I had not previously considered.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

I use Google Keep (I know, I know). I can share any link to the app and then I can access it from whatever device I'm on. You can also notes, which can come in handy for random things.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

used to use pocket but i started to make my own pocket/delicious app because i got frustrated with pockets ui

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

I’ve been using Instapaper for years. It does the job.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

I use pocket app to save online recipes I like for later use. It is searchable and a separate list than my bookmarks which I like.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

I tried. It's basically the only app I couldn't get to work on my boox.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

I scroll through arstechnica headlines and save to pocket the most interesting ones. When I am in the bathroom or having a snack I can choose from my saves which article I'd like to read, instead of mindlessly scrolling, and the saves indicate estimated reading time in minutes so I can pick the perfect article to match the amount of time I plan to spend. Best of all, the articles are saved in a minimalist text-only format, stripping out all ads and other garbage. It even bypasses some paywalls, like the login prompt on seekingalpha.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

I use my to-do app as a β€˜Read Later App’ πŸ€·β€β™‚οΈπŸ™ƒ

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

I self-host Wallabag

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

No. If it isnt worth reading now then it isn’t worth reading

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

Quick! Crack open The Western Canon by Harold Bloom! Start reading now and don’t stop until you’re done! If it’s not worth reading now it’s not fuckin’ worth reading AT ALL!

πŸ€¦πŸ»β€β™‚οΈ You utter dingus 🀣