Instapaper, the uber popular iOS “reader it later” app, received a major update on Android today. I’m still not sure why people wouldn’t go with the free and equally as impressive Pocket for their “read it later” app of choice. But choices are never a bad thing, even if the developer thinks Android is the slums of the mobile Earth, will never match the polish of iOS, and that you probably can’t afford his app. He would like to thank you all for your support, though, because you’ve helped make updates like this possible. 

Here is the list of new goodies and tweaks:

• Scroll by full pages (Pagination)
• The Feature (editor recommended articles)
• Scroll by tilting
• Sepia Mode
• In-line Footnotes
• Bug fixes
• Performance improvements

Play Link ($2.99)

Instapaper Receives Update With New Features, But You Probably Can’t Afford It is a post from: Droid Life

Pocket, formerly Read It Later, received an update on Android this morning that includes a new feature called “Listen.” This new feature allows for speech-to-text playback of your saved articles, in case you don’t feel like straining your eyes after a long day’s work. Thanks to the Android platform simplifying the process dramatically, the developers of Pocket were able to create this app during one of their “Friday hack days,” a short competition that their team does for fun.

While using “Listen,” you can choose from a variety of languages that are installed on your device, fast forward or rewind the article, and even speed up or slow down the pace.

Oh, we should also point out that this is an Android exclusive since iOS doesn’t have a text-to-speech API for developers to use. 

Play Link

Click here to view the embedded video.

Pocket for Android Receives Update, Includes “Listen” Feature is a post from: Droid Life

Familiar with Instapaper? It’s this ultra-popular iOS read it later type of app that apparently, some Android users have been begging for. Think of it as the most minimal app on the planet that allows you to catch up on articles you may have started earlier in the day, but would like to finish later. At $2.99 though, we are trying to figure out how the price is justified. Pocket (formerly Read It Later) is free and in my opinion, much more beautifully designed and with more features. Plus, I watched Instapaper’s developer the other day talk about design and being minimal, yet he couldn’t even code the legacy menu button out? That would be the awful looking black bar at the bottom of all of those screenshots.

To be fair, the app does function as advertised. It is minimal, but with just the right amount of features to allow it to get the job done. It’s up to you to decide if you want to pay that price.

Play Link ($2.99)

Instapaper Launches on Android at a Whopping $2.99, Ugly Black Bar Legacy Menu Included is a post from: Droid Life

Some of our favorite applications for Android received updates today, so be sure to head on over to the Play Store and pick up the newest versions. There is not anything too major in any of the updates besides your general bug fixings, but it is always good to have the latest and greatest available.

Update:  Sooooo, about that Facebook update. It actually included built-in Messenger capabilities, some UI tweaks, and a new Camera shortcut so that you can shoot video and pics and the upload them directly to FB. Can’t say that I’m all that big of a fan of the added shortcuts into the app drawer. Also, we would assume this means that the stand-alone Messenger app will get the axe? Might as well uninstall it either way or you will have two Messenger apps in there.

Instragram | Facebook | Path | Springpad | Pocket

Cheers everyone who sent this in!

Updates Available for Facebook, Instagram, Path, Springpad, and Pocket is a post from: Droid Life

The popular Read It Later app for Android and other platforms has undergone a full name change and UI overhaul today, turning into what is now known as Pocket. For those not familiar, think of Pocket as the service you should use if say you were in the middle of reading an article this morning before you took off to work, but wanted to finish it from your phone or tablet at lunch. Simply add it to your Pocket account with the touch of a button (Chrome browser extension) and pull it up later through the Pocket app. It’s one of those apps that you can’t live without, once you make it a part of your life. We are a busy species.

On the UI front, the app is much more minimal, clean and fast. Your articles should load faster, navigating is simpler, and organizing is easier. Is it just me or did they totally kang the Google Play theme? Maybe they meant to.

Along with the name and UI changes, the app has also become free across all platforms. Previously, there was a free and paid version, but those days are a thing of the past.

Play Link

Read It Later is Now Known as “Pocket” and Free Across All Platforms is a post from: Droid Life

It is day two of Google’s ten days of premium apps for just 10 cents!  Yesterday had some really great options and today is no different.  To name just a few of the biggest names we have Fruit Ninja, Beautiful Widgets, and Read It Later Pro.  This is possibly the greatest deal to ever come to the Android Market and we still have 8 days left!

• Fruit Ninja
• BB – Bedtime Battle 
• AirSync by doubleTwist 
• Flick Golf! 
• Star Chart 
• Reckless Racing
• Christmas HD
• NFL Rivals
• Beautiful Widgets
• Read It Later Pro

If you want to see the whole page of deals, then check out the Android Market.

Day 2 of Google’s 10 Days of 10 Cent Apps: Beautiful Widgets, Fruit Ninja, and More is a post from: Droid Life

Read it Later has finally arrived on Android.  One of the most popular iOS news apps, RIL made the jump over to the good side today and can “do things its iOS siblings can only dream about” according to its developer.  As someone that cruises the internet for the latest and greatest news, I can’t even describe to you how amazing this news is.  

What is Read it Later?

Its name really gives it away.  Have you ever been floating around the vast wasteland of the blogworld and ran into something you just didn’t have time to fully read?  Read it Later lets you quickly save that article and then spread it to almost any piece of technology that you own for later viewing.  I use a Chrome extension called ChromeItLater that saves articles into my RIL account which is then automatically populated onto any of my devices that have the RIL app installed.  It’s pretty awesome.

Oh, and I should also point out that it integrates into the “share” functionality of almost every single Android browser including the stock and Dolphin.

Download Link ($.99)

And feel free to visit the Read it Later site to find extra plugins for your favorite browsers.

Read It Later Comes to Android is a post from: Droid Life