Is Clearly necessary?

[rafikiphoto 22]

It seems to me that Evernote Web Clipper extension does what Clearly does. Is there any advantage in having Clearly installed?  I am using latest versions on Opera and Chrome.

[gazumped 11,656]

They overlap considerably,  but sometimes Clearly will 'simplify' a web page that confuses Clipper,  so I have them both.  Clipper is my main goto service,  but Clearly does get used from time to time.  It's possible Clipper will continue to be developed and replace it completely in due course,  but we're not (quite) there yet.

[Candid 167]

I got rid of Clearly a while back. When it first came out it worked like gazumped says, but overtime the web clipper got better and I hadn't used it in a while. 

[Frank.dg 1,385]

When strictly comparing Clearly and the Web clipper, Clearly may be quite useful:

• Although Clearly's layout looks similar to the Web clipper's "Simplified Article" mode, it makes for better reading:
  • It has a thin side panel from which to toggle options, whereas the clipper has an obtrusive dialogue box
  • Clearly shows you Related  Notes from your account at the bottom of the web article/ post you're reading. The Web clipper shows you related notes in the dialogue box only once you have clipped an article. 
  • Clearly is built for reading and so has more options for themes. The "Simplified Article" mode in the Web clipper gives you a gray theme, while Clearly gives you a choice of darker/ lighter themes, including the ability to totally create your own custom theme. Additionally, you get to resize your text (Small/ Medium/ Large) which the Web clipper doesn't do. These features might make for more comfortable reading, while also enabling the highlighting tool.
    • It would be cool (for some) if one could clip larger text sizes to your account from Clearly, but WYSINWYNG (What you see is not what you necessarily get) in your account once clipped. If it were possible, this might solve the problem some have of not being able to read small text within their accounts from clipped pages. My advice, in that case, would be to follow the URL from your account to the original page and then  activate Clearly, or whatever.

However, despite Clearly being a great reading tool, I don't use it at all, because, like many, I use a Read it Later app - mine being Pocket. Pocket is a great environment for reading, of course, and also allows one to send those pages to Evernote. As part of my workflow, I like to use Pocket as my intermediary for curating what pages I send to Evernote for filing once I've had the chance to read them. 

 

BTW, Clearly also used to have a TTS (Text to Speech) feature, which seems to have been pulled. 

 

I think that Clearly would have more potential if they morphed it into a full-on read-it-later app (Since Evernote is often not the best environment to do one's reading, and one might not want to always read an article before clipping) - with the ability to highlight (which Pocket does not do). Also, they would do well to create Clearly apps for mobile to give it a cross-platform presence. One would, say, be able to open a web page in a Clearly app via the iOS share options menu in the Safari browser.