Saving sites: Pocket’s bookmarking app and its alternatives

It's hard to keep up with all the fun things you see on the internet. You may find something that you don't have time to read right now or you may want to save it. Creating a bookmark on a browser for each article and site that we want to read later can result in a huge mess.

Years ago, I started using Pocket, a popular and long-standing app that allows you to save a bookmarked article to a separate server and then retrieve it for reading at your leisure, using either a computer or a mobile device. Pocket was originally called Read It Later, but became its own app after being acquired by Mozilla.

All existing Pocket accounts will need to convert to a Firefox account by June 30, 2022.

If you use Pocket and already have a Firefox account, you don't need to create one, just convert it to Pocket. There are alternative apps that you can use to collect bookmarks if you don't want to add a Firefox account.

A description of Pocket and four other bookmarking service apps follow. Only a limited list, they all offer free versions, and all sync across a variety of devices. There are other less specific alternatives, for example, note apps that will save and tag article links.

I have linked to instructions for each for exporting existing bookmarks, and most of them will work in a variety of file formats.

Pocket

Pocket has a nice interface with lots of options that let you sort your articles from newest or oldest, choose favorites, display them in list or grid format, and archive the ones you want to keep or organize them via tags. The Home screen shows you your most recent saves along with what it calls the Best of the web. There are extensions for a number of browsers, including Chrome, Edge, and Safari.

If it disappears from the web, the Premium version adds a permanent library of everything you've saved, as well as full-text search and other features.

Import instructions and export instructions.

Instapaper

Like Pocket, Instapaper started out as a simple web add-on and has gone through a number of changes, currently being part of an independent company called Instant Paper. There is no grid view in the web app, but you can turn on and off the thumbnail view. It offers a variety of web browsers, including a Chrome extension, a Safari extension, a Firefox extension, and a bookmarklet. An unlimited number of articles, videos, and other content can be saved with a free account. You can highlight text in the articles you have saved, create up to five notes a month, and edit the name, link, or summary of each article.

The Premium version adds full-text search for your saved documents, unlimited notes, and text-to-speech.

Only registered users have access to export instructions.

Raindrop.io

If you're serious about your info collections, Raindrop has a lot of features that could be helpful. You can view your articles in a variety of formats, including Moodboard, with the web version. The free version of Raindrop has an unlimited number of bookmark saves on an unlimited number of devices, which include apps for Macs, iOS devices, Android devices, and extensions for Chrome,Safari, and Edge browsers. You can share with others.

The Pro version adds full-text search, cloud backup, and a permanent library of all your bookmarks.

Import instructions and export instructions.

Paperspan

If you want a really plain bookmarking service, Paperspan is a good app. You can create separate folders for your bookmarks, but that's all. Unlike the other three services listed here, there are no nice graphics, no highlighting, no choices between lists and grids, and you do not even read the article within the app but are simply sent to the original article. If you are into the bare basics, you may want to give it a try.

There is a paid version.

Click on the Import instructions in the side menu to export them.

Matter Reader

Matter is a brand new, still-in-development app that is currently only available for the iPad and the Apple TV, but anAndroid app is promised sometimes in the future. The app is more interested in following social media favorites and finding new ones than it is in saving bookmarks. You can add your email to read your newsletters, follow specific tweeters, and send articles to the kindle store. The web version only shows sites from your queue without any other features. You can pull in your existing Pocket sites by connecting to the app. The app is free right now. The app has potential.

In the app, you can export your data.

In the app, you can import instructions.