Playback: Comparative Instapaper, Readability and Pocket - I

Applications "Timeshift" have the wind behind Instapaper, which created the genre in 2008 has since been joined by Readability and Pocket (ex-Read it Later). Although similar, these three applications are not quite the same, and each has a different economic model. Which one? Response elements in our overview.

Launched in summer 2008 along with the App Store, has created Instapaper application category of delayed reading. Marco Arment, developer, has always insisted that it is limited to the management of text articles, in an interface simple, but elegant. This is the main difference with other applications in the field: Read it Later when turned a few days ago in Pocket, she added the backup images and video in addition to those articles. Readability of the new engine, meanwhile, takes better account of the video: the area most saved on this service is none other than YouTube.

Instapaper pays his primogeniture and philosophy through the interface the most sober of the three, if not the most austere. She will not win any beauty contests, but its interface is easy to understand and therefore to use, and has been rather functional. It's a shame, iPad, the main interface is so poorly adapted to the choices made by Marco Arment deep, while the playback interface is a pure delight.

Readibility is undoubtedly a visual success: its interface was designed by Teehan + Lax, a studio known. Emphasis was placed on the disappearance of menus to allow maximum room for the text, but sometimes at the expense of usability: can not guess at first use, it must scan the screen for return an item to the list of saved items. Readibility is more coherent and version Instapaper iPad iPhone version is a subtly enlarged, a metaphor that works better.

Pocket focuses on the presentation: each item, for example, is underscored by an image it contains. IPad, it incorporates the principle of the grid Instapaper, but as it is illustrated, it makes sense: it seems to be faced with a true custom log. From a functional standpoint, Pocket Instapaper is closer to that of Readability, and that's good: the application is ultimately beautiful and functional.

Beyond these general considerations, we must also scrutinize the playback interface, since this is where we will spend the most time. Instapaper is undoubtedly that of a cut above - this time, sobriety pays. The font selection is just perfect, and the different options (font size, size of the text column, night mode, brightness) can quickly adapt the playback environment conditions. Automatic scrolling depending on the inclination is a definite plus, especially in transport.