The Future of the Instapaper iPhone App

Marco Arment, developer of the terrific Instapaper iPhone app (and the Instapaper web site):

I compiled a feature list for what I want in Instapaper.app 2.0, and it’s huge. It’s easily 6 months of work. I can’t do this and anything else — it has to just be this. I can only devote a few hours per week to Instapaper as it is. But if I can pull off the product I want for 2.0, I’ll really have something amazing.

Instapaper (and, now, the new $10 Instapaper Pro) is one of my very favorite iPhone apps. In a nut, you set up a free account (super quick setup!), then use a bookmarklet in MobileSafari (or any desktop browser) to flag web pages you wish to read later. The Instapaper iPhone app stores local versions of these web pages, so you can read them (a) offline; and (b) in a text-only iPhone-optimized format.

If you like to read and haven’t at least tried the free version of Instapaper, you’re missing out.

★ Wednesday, 3 September 2008