You know what feature has been missing from Facebook? It’s not that fancy: just a simple way to save “star” or “favorite” posts that you are interested in, but don’t have time to read right now. There is just too much stuff out there. What we need is a way to come back to a folder of starred posts and go through them when there is time.
But there is a solution, and it doesn’t just apply to Facebook, but the entire Web. It’s called Pocket, a free app for Android and iOS, as well as a free extension for Web browsers. Pocket used to be called Read It Later, a less catchy but more explicit name of a service that, like Instapaper and Readability, allows you to save an article you encounter online so that you can, well, read it later.
Install Pocket’s Chrome extension (or a bookmarklet on other browsers) and you can save articles to your Pocket queue in one click. Later, on the train home from work, you can read the article in Pocket’s mobile app, even if you’re without an Internet connection. It takes only a few seconds to save an article to your queue, and Pocket stores two versions of whatever is saved: the one with the original Web layout and a pared-down text-only view that is better for smaller displays.
The nice thing about Pocket is that it can store more than just text — videos and images can be collected as well. You can sort through your collection of saved content by looking only at articles, videos or images, or you can see all three categories at the same time. Given the rise in videos lately of great white sharks eating something, Pocket can play a vital role in keeping you abreast of the latest in aquatic violence.
Besides sorting by the type of content, Pocket also lets you create and apply tags to what you’ve collected, giving you more organizational options.
When it comes to text, Pocket keeps things clean. The interface is simple, with little to distract you since you’re using it to read something, not be dazzled by buttons and banners. Text can be resized and cast in a font with or without serifs. Margins can be justified or ragged and the white-on-black standard view can be reversed for easier nighttime reading.
Pocket also works within other apps. If you’re using Twitter, you can configure it so that links embedded in a post can be sent to Pocket in two clicks. You can also register your e-mail addresses with Pocket and send any link to [email protected]; it will show up in your queue as if you had used a browser extension.
If one of the defining characteristics of the Internet is abundance (and it is), then Pocket is a simple, well-designed and eminently affordable (remember: it’s free) way to manage it.
Gadgetwise
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