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| Readability |
I have always wanted an iOS application that would allow me to read articles offline. The recently released Readability iOS app made that easy for me. Readability was only a web reader before but it was made available in iOS and compatible with the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch running iOS 4.2 or later.
The first thing that I like in Readability is the clean user interface. I love applications that have less clutter and this being a reading application, you are just focused on the article you are reading. You can have a white or black background and this can be updated in the application's Settings. The black background is similar to the night mode of iBooks. The other items that you can modify in Settings include the font style and sharing options (thru Twitter or Facebook).
To start using Readability, you must create a free account on their website. You will also need this in downloading the add-on to be installed in the browser you are using whether it's Chrome, Firefox or Safari. I was not able to use it properly when I installed it in Chrome but it worked flawlessly in Firefox. When saving articles using the add-on, I have to login to my Readability account and confirm saving the article on my reading list. I haven't tried the add-on though in Safari. I use Firefox in the office for browsing, read articles using Google Reader and now save articles in Readability. The saved articles can now be synced to my iPhone via Wifi or 3G and ready for offline reading. Even the pictures are saved and rendered properly in the article.
With all of these good features, the application still has some room to improve. I would love if Readability gets integrated to Google Reader which is one of the features of Read It Later. Read It Later integration to Google Reader comes at a price though since the free version of the application does not have it. Another thing that I want Readability to fix is the way it handles deleted articles. I notice that I still sync the articles I've deleted on my iPhone and on Readability's site. I'm still not sure how to hard delete them. It's still manageable now but it will definitely get cluttered once I save a lot of articles. But even with these shortcomings, I still love the application.
Readability is a free application and available in the iTunes Store. Here are some snapshots I've taken of the application on my iPhone:
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| Read articles on white or black background |
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| Reading list, Favorites and Search articles |
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| Settings and Style |
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| Move, Delete or Add articles to your Favorites |
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Changing settings while reading and share articles on Twitter, Facebook or Email
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| You can even browse websites inside the app |
An Apple () addict, bookworm, moviegoer, photography enthusiast, rocker and blogger! Proudly Filipino!
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