(Archived) Read It Later - Evernote Style

[joomux 14]

I don't get why services like Instapaper and Read It Later are so popular - you can do exactly the same thing (and more) with Evernote.

I've done a write up on 3 ways I use Evernote to save articles for later - http://www.cloudprod...-with-evernote/

What do you guys think?

[jefito 5,589]

Because not everyone uses Evernote, and Instapaper and Read It Later predate Evernote Clearly.

[joomux 14]

Because not everyone uses Evernote, and Instapaper and Read It Later predate Evernote Clearly.

Haha... yeah I know... Still, I did try instapaper (before Clearly was around) and couldn't get it into my workflow. Certainly for people that don't use Evernote (for whatever crazy reason that might be) I can understand how those services would be useful. But once you have EN, it becomes a one-stop-app for everything

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

Instapaper is pretty cool, and I really like that they worked around the inane Apple policies of the time. I'm actually kind of annoyed that Safari basically stole its functionality in the latest iteration. A developer comes up with a great idea and Apple rewards him by undermining his business. Too bad

By the way, I like his policies:

- Will you add (useful feature)?

Maybe.

- Will you add (obscure feature)?

Probably not.

And, as he clearly says, if you want to archive a bunch of stuff, use Evernote. I like an app developer that is so focused on his core functionality.

[May 268]

In the past I used to use Evernote to save stuff to read and review later but it's just not optimal and just takes more effort compared to using a service like Instapaper for multiple reasons...

I do get why those services are so popular, it's because they are specialized to do one thing only and they do it really well and provide excellent experience.

I use Instapaper to do exactly what it is meant for - to read stuff LATER. I clip to Evernote only the stuff I've already read and found useful in one way or another, I don't clip anything I haven't even read. I like the distinction between purposes of those 2 services, it allows me to search Evernote and see only the stuff I have already processed, i.e. it's like searching my memory instead of searching google.

Yes you can do the same thing with Evernote by using a tag "to read later" or etc. but it takes more time and effort to process all of those added unread articles and organize them with this "to read later" tag in Evernote compared to Instapaper because by sending an article to Instapaper I have already organized it as an article which needs to be read later and don't have to process it in my Evernote inbox at all...

Btw I use iPad 80% of the time and the evernote bookmarklet only allows to clip the whole page with all the ads and what not. To clip only the article to Evernote I'd have to select it manually and then email it which takes a lot more time compared to using Instapaper bookmarklet which clips only the article.

Another benefit of using Istapaper for reading stuff later instead of Evernote is that clipping useful articles from Instapaper to Evernote takes only one tap pretty much.

So even if it might seem like more work (using 2 services) in fact when you consider all of those benefits of Instapaper it is actually less work in practice compared to using only Evernote and better experience overall. But the main reason is still that I just don't want to clip to Evernote stuff I haven't even read.

I also find Instapaper interface to be better for reading and also you can read stuff offline with Instapaper on iPad for free, even though I use Evernote premium which allows to also access notes offline on iPad it is often glitchy and notes still can't be accessed if you go on and off wifi signal often...

So there you go... Lots of reasons to use both Evernote and Instapaper

I prefer to take advantage of additional specialized apps whenever it's appropriate instead of trying to use Evernote as an uber app for everything. When you consider that Instapaper is free and allows me to spend less effort and provides better experience overall and backs itself up in the cloud automatically and is available on all devices then it's a no brainer, really! ...

[peterfmartin 221]

I don't get why services like Instapaper and Read It Later are so popular - you can do exactly the same thing (and more) with Evernote.

I use Readability to send articles to Kindle, which Clearly can't (yet?) do.

[peterfmartin 221]

That said...

Yes you can do the same thing with Evernote by using a tag "to read later" or etc. but it takes more time and effort to process all of those added unread articles and organize them with this "to read later" tag in Evernote compared to Instapaper because by sending an article to Instapaper I have already organized it as an article which needs to be read later and don't have to process it in my Evernote inbox at all...

I have largely replaced Readability with Clearly to save articles I want to read later (that are too short to be worthwhile to send to my Kindle). Clearly lets you auto-set tags to all clipped articles, which I've done. All articles I clip with Clearly have the tags "To" and "Read," so I don't need to organize them later to get them into a to-read list.

[May 268]

There's no Clearly on iPad yet

[May 268]

Btw there's still a way to get similar to Clearly functionality on iPad/iPhone...

It's possible to use instapaper bookmarklet to transform and view any compatible web page in Instapaper's Text view, removing all the ads and what not. And then just clip this whole page to Evernote right away without sending anything to Instapaper.

I use it sometimes.

This is faster than manually selecting the article and copy/pasting it into email and sending the email to Evernote. And the article itself usually is formatted much nicer. You'd still have to tag it appropriately yourself though.

Here are bookmarklets, just in case if anyone is interested, it could be a pain to find them on the web (I evernoted them)

Instapaper text (to view any compatible web page in Instapaper's Text view, removing all the ads and what not)

javascript:function iptxt(){var d=document;try{if(!d.body)throw(0);window.location='http://www.instapaper.com/text?u='+encodeURIComponent(d.location.href);}catch(e){alert('Please wait until the page has loaded.');}}iptxt();void(0)

Evernote clipper (you'd need an Evernote account obviously)

javascript:(function(){EN_CLIP_HOST='http://www.evernote.com';try{var x=document.createElement('SCRIPT');x.type='text/javascript';x.src=EN_CLIP_HOST+'/public/bookmarkClipper.js?'+(new Date().getTime()/100000);document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(x);}catch(e){location.href=EN_CLIP_HOST+'/clip.action?url='+encodeURIComponent(location.href)+'&title='+encodeURIComponent(document.title);}})();

To install those bookmarklets on iOS - bookmark any webpage and then just replace the URL with the bookmarklet

Anyway by combining those 2 bookmarklets (using one after another) you get very nice web clipper functionality on iOS, i.e. you can automatically clip just the article in nice format and without ads to Evernote

[Owyn 457]

Evernoted. I don't use iPad but I know many others who do.

[menevets 2]

Because Instapaper is totally dedicated to reading and I find it vastly superior to the reading experience of Evernote, especially on a smartphone and tablet.

More space dedicated to text, click word for definition or wikipedia entry, font sizing, line spacing, multiple fonts, tilt scrolling, night mode, discoverability, easier to sync, better interface, share link to source of content, not your copy, better sharing, etc... You can't search though - Evernote has a good search implementation. Not sure if the Instapaper paid search option lets you search within an article.

I love Evernote for what it does and occasionally use it for reading on a smartphone, but Instapaper is the better reader by MILES.

Now if there were only something where I could do a Readability/Clearly on my Evernote notes. Or a reader for Evernote notes for smartphones/tablets.

I don't get why services like Instapaper and Read It Later are so popular - you can do exactly the same thing (and more) with Evernote.

I've done a write up on 3 ways I use Evernote to save articles for later - http://www.cloudprod...-with-evernote/

What do you guys think?

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

i spend a fair amount of time reading my notes as well, so i would appreciate anything evernote does to improve that experience. on the other hand, there are a lot of features evernote has that others do better: audio recordings, formatting, etc. evernote's strength (in my opinion) is that it is all in one place. so, i suspect instapaper will continue to focus on improving the reading experience, while evernote spreads its resources around a little more to cover everything.

[mevans 2]

Yeah, using Clearly within Evernote (web, mobile app, or desktop app) would be nice, especially since I can't seem to get Clearly's formatting to clip into Evernote.

[tizianad 3]

Hi I would write a post into our Italian blog named italiansevernote.wordpress.com and I like an opinion about the Read it Later question from all of you (if you want it

Why you said Instapaper it's free service?

Looking in iTunes Store need to pay it for use this app, maybe I make a mistake?

If I would to install the bookmarklet into my iPad I don't need to buy the app?

(I don't understand the url for download the bookmarklet sorry)

Another question:

into Evernote Trunk I found this Read it Later (or Pocket), what do you think about using this app with Evernote?

it's an alternative to Instapaper?

(p.s. sorry for my bad english)

thanks to all

Tiziana

http://italiansevernote.wordpress.com

[May 268]

Hi I would write a post into our Italian blog named italiansevernote.wordpress.com and I like an opinion about the Read it Later question from all of you (if you want it

Why you said Instapaper it's free service?

Looking in iTunes Store need to pay it for use this app, maybe I make a mistake?

If I would to install the bookmarklet into my iPad I don't need to buy the app?

(I don't understand the url for download the bookmarklet sorry)

Another question:

into Evernote Trunk I found this Read it Later (or Pocket), what do you think about using this app with Evernote?

it's an alternative to Instapaper?

(p.s. sorry for my bad english)

thanks to all

Tiziana

http://italiansevernote.wordpress.com

"Why you said Instapaper it's free service?"

Actually it's my mistake. Instapaper app is not free.

Pocket (formerly known as Read It Later) is a very good alternative. Pocket also shows videos in articles while Instapaper shows only articles and images without videos.

[Metrodon 2,184]

Instapaper is a really great app - highly recommended.

[kinson 3]

Hi,

First off, thanks for introducing Clearly to me, I didn't know it existed! I'll be using it for the next week or so, but I have a few reasons why Instapaper is still an important part of my digital lifestyle:

1. Evernote free requires an Internet connection. I tend to use Instapaper to read articles when I'm in places with no connectivity such as in lifts, airplanes, car parks etc. Evernote Premium has this, and I've just signed up a month ago, but there are lots of free users out there.

2. Evernote Clearly doesn't integrate well in the iPad, as far as I know it. Instapaper works just fine. I tried using Evernote Web Clipper (before discovering Clearly here) to replace Instapaper, but it was too troublesome (mainly too many clicks) to save the article into Evernote, and the formatting wasn't as good.

There are probably a few other differences, but that's off the top of my head

[Metrodon 2,184]

And most importantly I think, Instapaper is far more pleasant reading experience....

[kinson 3]

I did go a little crazy and did the whole Sent To Instapaper, then "Send to Evernote" from the Instapaper iOS app if I wanted to keep the file, since Instapaper formatted better, lol. That habit didn't stick

[digitaltrix 0]

I think you're missing a key point as to why they are so popular. As many reiterated above they do what they do well. Evernote is great as a repository and quick indexing, it literally allows me to never be wondering about anything I came across at one time on the world wide web. But unfortunately, Evernote has dropped the ball on their clearly program because some natural consequences of using EN are that you will often want to save items to read later to save time and also even after having read and saved something, you will likely want to go through it again.

While Clearly is touted as some awesome championing extension resembling Safari, I think most of us can agree there were several excellent extensions on the PC end already for browsers like firefox including reader etc.

So when they launched Clearly, great that was a good product but instead of running with it and updating their EN desktop clients to provide "clearly-like" options for previously downloaded articles and ios/Android devices which would stand to gain the most from a clear text view, they decided to sit back and enjoy the view. As a result other companies like Instapaper continue to eat EN's lunch which is just unfortunate considering that EN is a superior client overall.

Your article does not begin to relate to the problem that I have just outlined. There are multitudes of work arounds besides the ones that you mentioned but at the end they are just that..work arounds.

Having paid premium membership fees, I would expect EN to be on point about customer concerns but I must have written about this issue to EN at least a dozen times since before Clearly came out and their response is always canned and apologetic. Why apologize to me as the customer, you are losing out more than anyone else.

[joomux 14]

Hi everyone. I do agree that Evernote does format web pages as wel as it probably could when they've already been evernoted. What I've found myself doing now if using Readability to capture things I want to read later. Then, if I want to keep the article for referencing later, I email it to Evernote. I think what Evernote needs is a "Clearly" button embedded within the desktop and mobile apps. And, when using Clearly for the browser, if I send the article to Evernote it would be great for all the applied styles to be sent across too. The article when it's evernote should look and feel the same as it does when viewing the article using the Clealy extension.

The blog post was just some ideas I wanted to share to educate people on some of the cool features of evernote that they maybe didn't know about.

[Daniel Zhou 0]

Hi everyone. I do agree that Evernote does format web pages as wel as it probably could when they've already been evernoted. What I've found myself doing now if using Readability to capture things I want to read later. Then, if I want to keep the article for referencing later, I email it to Evernote. I think what Evernote needs is a "Clearly" button embedded within the desktop and mobile apps. And, when using Clearly for the browser, if I send the article to Evernote it would be great for all the applied styles to be sent across too. The article when it's evernote should look and feel the same as it does when viewing the article using the Clealy extension.

The blog post was just some ideas I wanted to share to educate people on some of the cool features of evernote that they maybe didn't know about.

+1 "Clearly" button embedded within mobile apps

I think at least reading experience with evernote in iPad is not that good. I want the Clearly mode (or Pocket/Readability styles) so badly that I would upgrade to premium user as long as the iPad client has this feature.