text/gemini
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# read it later apps
I've finally got around to doing something (TM) about Omnivore (a read-it-later app) shutting down.
I recently switched my GUI browser to Vivaldi across all of my devices. turns out, its built-in reading list feature would be enough for my needs. saved articles could potentially be read offline too.
however, I had always planned to switch to wallabag if something happens to omnivore, and so I still gave it a chance. I could self-host it, but I first tried one of the community-hosted instances.
it's usable. there are good client apps for both iOS and android, I can easily send new articles via the "share" function on any browser. but something just did not feel right. for one, it didn't seem possible to customize the reading experience. Wallabag pulls the entire article and provides a built-in interface for reading the saved links. I had hoped it could replace Vivaldi's built-in reader mode, except the reading experience was sub-par.
I then found out about Instapaper. it's supposedly one of the big players in the area and so I was surprised when I hadn't heard of it before. I tried it out, and it was great. that is, until it ends up the same as Omnivore, or something else happens to it.
there are a few things I particularly liked about Instapaper.
on its mobile apps, there is reading mode that makes the experience of reading a web article similar to reading an ebook. it requires to consume the content one page at a time, no in betweens, no focusing on just the top 25% of the screen and continuously idly scrolling. for some psychological reasons unbeknownst to myself, it made me read so I skimmed less, read so I understood.
secondly, it automatically converts footnotes (powered by anchor links and back links) so they display as a popup. this is a big deal because usually, footnotes would not work when a HTML article is processed and re-displayed somewhere else. they open up the link in a browser instead. in Instapaper, not only does it work as expected, it makes the experience even better.
lastly, not very important but a 'quality of life' feature - clicking on links within the reading interface brings up a popup menu with option to quickly "save article" to Instapaper. compare this to Vivaldi on mobile, adding a link to the reader mode is awkward: you have to use to "share" button on the link long-press popup, which brings up the OS share menu and finally select Vivaldi "add to reading list".
Instapaper checks almost all the boxes as my replacement for Omnivore with the exception of better font customization options. when -- and if -- I am forced to migrate yet again, I might have to properly settle with Wallabag.
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