FAQ

What does Instapaper do?

Instapaper facilitates easy reading of long text content.

We discover web content throughout the day, and sometimes, we don’t have time to read long articles right when we find them.

Instapaper allows you to easily save them for later, when you do have time, so you don’t just forget about them or skim through them.

Why?

From a personal perspective, I appreciate great writing, but I’ve become frustrated with the quick-consumption nature of many devoted blog readers. Authors are encouraged to cater to drive-by visitors hurrying through their feed readers by producing lightweight content for quick skimming.

There’s no time to sit and read anything when you’re going through 500 feed items while responding to email, chatting, and watching bad YouTube videos.

As a result, popular blogs are now full of useless “list posts” with no substance or value.

Well-written content is out there, and we do have opportunities every day to read it — just not when we’re in information-skimming, speed-overload mode. But we can all read while waiting in long lines, commuting (although please not while driving), or sitting on the goofy chairs in the shoe area and being supportive while our wives are shopping.

The times we find information aren’t always ideal for consuming it. Instapaper helps you bridge that gap.

Got any secret tips?

Sure!

  1. Select some text on the page before clicking the Read Later bookmarklet, and your selection will automatically be added as the item’s description.
  2. If you click Read Later on a page you’ve already saved to Instapaper, it will be updated and marked as unread.

You should make an iPhone version.

Instapaper was designed for the iPhone. There’s a custom home-screen icon and everything. Try it!

Some navigational elements, such as the Edit and Delete links on each item, are hidden on the iPhone to reduce clutter and prevent unintended taps.

The Read Later bookmarklet actually does work on the iPhone: just add it to your bookmarks in Safari, and it will be synchronized to the iPhone’s Bookmarks folder.

Will it work on my (other phone)?

Possibly.

The Instapaper office is full of only iPhones (not a terrible problem to have), so there’s no way to test on other devices. We’ll do our best to broaden compatibility whenever possible.

Nothing works.

Will you add (useful feature)?

Maybe!

Instapaper is brand new, and it’s a side project of a developer who works on something bigger, so development time is limited. But great features are always possible, especially if enough people request them.

There are some great ideas in the works… stay tuned.

Will you add (obscure feature)?

Probably not, sorry.

There are plenty of other sites that offer similar functionality but with thousands of additional features to satisfy every obscure desire. Instapaper is great because it’s so simple, and keeping it simple is the first priority.

Long-term storage?

Instapaper isn’t meant for permanent, long-term archival of everything you’ve ever wanted to read. And while best efforts are made, your data’s integrity is not 100% guaranteed here.

This is for temporary storage of links you’d like to read. It’s great for that — please use it for its purpose.

Money?

Instapaper is free.

We may offer upgraded features for a small fee in the future, or put advertising on the site, or solicit donations, or convince Google to buy Instapaper for $1.65 billion. Whatever method happens, I promise it won’t suck.

Something else?

Feel free to ask anything you’d like by email: instapaper@marco.org.

Thank you for reading!