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.

You should make an iPhone version.

Great idea! Try this.

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

(To add the bookmark from the iPhone or iPod touch without synchronizing with your computer’s bookmarks, follow these instructions. Not recommended if you have an alternative.)

I need help with the iPhone app.

Please read this.

Will it work on my (other phone)?

Possibly. The site’s layout is very mobile-friendly.

Instapaper is optimized for the iPhone, since that’s what I (and most Instapaper users) have, but I’ll do my best to broaden compatibility whenever possible.

Something doesn’t work.

Will you add (useful feature)?

Maybe. Instapaper is a side project, and I have a day job, so development time is limited. But great features are always possible, especially if enough people request them.

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 reasonable efforts are made, your data’s integrity is not 100% guaranteed here. (This is true of every other web bookmarking service as well… they’re just not very forthcoming about it.)

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

Money?

Instapaper has no outside funding or corporate backing. It’s a regular business run by a regular person, so it needs to earn income to cover its costs.

The Instapaper site is free and ad-supported.

On the iPhone, the Instapaper app has a free ad-supported version and a paid version with many more features. If you’d like to support Instapaper, the best way to do it is to buy the paid iPhone app.

It’s also a great help if you spread the word and tell your friends about Instapaper.

Thank you for your support.

Something else?

For further inquiries, email instapaper@marco.org.

Please note that I get a lot of email. I will definitely read what you write to me, but I cannot reply to the majority of messages I get. There’s just not enough time in the day. I’ll do my best to reply if I have time.

Thank you for reading!