If you’re an iOS device owner who likes to read your web pages in “clean view” (plain text and images only) then your options are limited. Right now the two best ways to achieve this are by buying the excellent Instapaper app from the App Store, or simply using Safari’s built-in Reader feature.
Starting next week, however, you will have another strong option. Readability, whose service is nearly identical to Instapaper’s, is preparing to launch a native iOS app. It will be available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch on Thursday, March 1.
Up to this point, Readability has offered its simplifying services as a web app, as well as being integrated into several popular third-party apps (such as Reeder, Pulse, and Tweetbot). When browsing RSS feeds or tweets in these apps, Readability powers the clean view option that those apps provide.
As you can see in the above video, the app looks a lot like Instapaper. Readability offers all of the same features as its rival — only with what appears to be a more refined UI, including crisp animations. The iPad version even offers a handy feature that lets you swipe to peek back at your reading list to quickly navigate to another post. As you’d expect from any modern app, social sharing features are also tightly integrated.
Though little else has been revealed about the app, we do know that it will let you build a list of “read later” articles. This will work the same way that it does in the web app: you add a Safari bookmarklet, and tap it to save a page to your Readability account. When you want to read it, just open the app to view an uncluttered version of the article.
Perhaps the best thing about Readability for iOS is that it will be free. When compared to the $5 Instapaper app, it could quickly become the preferred choice of many iPhone and iPad readers. Either way, iOS readers who appreciate barebones simplicity are about to have another great option on the table.
More at Readability
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