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Apps for Android |OT|
- Thread starter Divvy
- Start date
I take back what I said about give Instapaper a chance.
After coming across this picture, no I will not give Instapaper a second look.
wtf is this shit?
That's all of us Android users' bitter tears manifested after being denied IP for so long.
Lol at being LTTP and coming with that sense of entitlement
Most of the people being vocal about marko are speaking to his smug douchness than the actual product. Instapaper was born out of iOS deficiencies. Anyone on an android device has had the ability to "save it for later use" by a bunch of difference ways through the share menu for ages. That's not even mentioning the recent instapaper clones that apparently are more feature filled that instapaper.
Woah, what are you saying about Android users? Why the veiled hostility?
Whether we read content behind paywalls or not is secondary to why Instapaper is a poor app on Android. Many apps have better functionality, aesthetics and are free.
I think whether or not you read content behind paywalls is a big reason behind why you would think Instapaper has better functionality or not. If most of your reading is from New York Times, Wall Street Journal, the New Yorker, and Financial Times, those free apps are pretty much frustrating and useless when you load them up at the end of the day after saving a bunch of articles, only realizing that they are all junk because the app could not save them. That's not worth saving $3 for a free app when you're already paying a lot for paid content.
Doesn't Pocket have site subscription option too. Is it working?
I beg to disagree. When 99% of the content on the internet is free, having paywall access is not an issue of functionality. That's a limitation of the content provider and whatever means IP uses, however legal it may be, to get around it.
Basically. I don't understand why IP fans are so up in arms when there are legitimate criticisms and alternatives.
Paywall access is important functionality to some users. I don't know how you can say its not important. People pay lots of money per month for access to such content, if they want to timeshift their reading, they can't do it very well with those free apps. I don't care if 99% of the content is free on the web; if over half of what I read is paid content, I don't mind shelling $3 extra on top of the dozens I already pay per month for that paid content.
It's like saying Netflix isn't worth the money because there's tons of free video on the web, or ways to get the same videos for free. Access to paid content is worth it to some users.
IIRC, Pocket requires you to input your user credentials for every subscribed site, and doesn't cover all sites. Instapaper's bookmarklet will save exactly what you're seeing on the browser. If you're able to see the content on your browser (since you're a paid subscriber) Instapaper will save it, on all sites, without having to share login credentials and isn't limited to a small number of sites.
Make? Model? Your country? You may wan to ask it in the other android thread in the community forum.
When did you start using Instapaper? There was a long period of time where Instapaper would not save multiple page articles properly resulting in exactly that situation you describe: arriving at the end of the day to a Instapaper list full of junk because the app could not save them.
I am in Canada and I believe it's a samsung galaxy.
I usually use the print/single-page option in NYT and other sites. But saving just one page (in an issue that's been fixed several months ago) is a different level of junk from my Readabilty list of articles full of no information except pages that say "please subscribe to XYZ to view this article."
ThatObviousUser
ὠαἴÏÏιÏÏÎ¿Ï Ïαá¿Ï εἶ
Link me some juicy tweets, boy.
And you were willing to cut Instapaper some slack when the service was deficient. Pocket added to their paywall feature several months ago, has direct logins for all the sites you mentioned, and also indirectly uses your login for other paywall sites. Have you actually used the app? What paysite are you using that is giving you the junk?
Gummifaust
Member
I do it from the Instapaper website. The collected articles will be sent to my kindle and that's it.
Where did I cut it some slack? I rarely ever actually experienced the issue because I don't read IGN type sites. I don't think its an issue, because its not an issue amongst what I read. Just like poorer paywall support is not an issue for some. You can duplicate the places I read by looking at what I follow on Twitter. Maybe FP.com is the worst offender amongst those I visit.
I don't like going to fill out all my login details in an app, because I use unique 1Password generated ones that I don't remember, just have them saved in the browser or logged in with 1Password that memorizes them for me. I already mentioned how I like Instapaper's method that doesn't require login.
The South China Morning Post is not covered by Pocket, neither is lawinfochina.com. Let's not even start getting into academic databases...which is a particular issue if you're accessing paid content that is made available because you're on a university IP address, where you have no login info to share with Pocket (this is how I access lawinfochina.com content--it recognizes that I'm from a university connection that has paid for access, so I get the "logged in" content without any actual login details).
It the site subscription feature doesn't work on devices running Android 3.0 and above for some stupid reason.
Site subscriptions.
Bboy AJ
My dog was murdered by a 3.5mm audio port and I will not rest until the standard is dead
Jesus, did you just read about Android getting IP and decide to come into the Android App thread just to talk smack? Get out of here with this nonsense.
You're only here for that reason and that reason only. Be gone.
LOL, what are you talking about? I'm talking about the feature that I think makes it worth $3, amidst a discussion about how Instapaper isn't worth it because other apps are free and have features that are "good," "better" or are "just as good."
I posted earlier in the thread along the same lines.
Does New York Times serve you up the print version of articles by default (Seriously, I'd like to know)? If you had to take the extra step of requesting the print version of the article every time that's a legitimate problem, and Marco eventually agreed because he decided to change the app to stop requiring those steps.. If you were willing to take that extra step previously then you were cutting Marco some slack.
Now again, have you actually tried to use Pocket and found it wanting? The South China Morning Post should be covered by Pocket:
Academic databases also give you the option to log in using your university ID not just your IP. Personally I prefer Pocket's method to Instapaper's as I regular clear the cookies and cache in my browsers and I don't want to sign in again all the time with 1Password (especially on mobile devices where 1Password can be useless) just to save an article. Pocket doesnt deliver junk when I'm not signed in but Instapaper does. Whether or not the app requires your login in settings or in browser is a preference, an easily surmountable implementation detail, not some feature-on-a-pedestal that makes the app worth $3.
I've spent roughly the same amount of money of Pocket (née ReadItLater) as I have on Instapaper—probably even more given RIL's extra features and multiple clients on various platforms. I don't chose Pocket because I'm a cheap Android user who can't afford to pay for content and services.
I encountered the missing pages issue in Instapaper maybe once, its not cutting slack for a bug I don't regard as an issue. Especially if it's a bug that nobody can encounter now. I don't think it's valid criticism to compare past issues, now resolved, to current unresolved issues. Just like how you argued that iPads should be compared to present computers and not computers of the past.
Some university databases like lawinfochina, don't provide a university login option. This is why they provide users with VPNs and proxies. Go to any law library site and see how many databases ask you to login from the university proxy if you're off site. I don't clear my cache and cookies regularly at all. There really isn't a reason when all browsers have private/incognito modes. If I'm already logged in for everything on my browser, I'm not taking the extra step to input every login into Pocket, and I also don't have logins for everything anyways, such as many academic databases, LawInfoChina being the one I use most these days. I've tried Pocket with LawInfoChina, and I just get "please subscribe" pages.
It all comes down to preferences. I think that people that read paid content, which usually costs upwards of $10/month, will see value in a one-time $3 expense to help you time shift that paid content without telling it your passwords to dozens of sites.
It was not a bug.
LawInfoChina does provide a login offer for single users. You just choose not to pay for it? I guess I would prefer Instapaper to Pocket too if I read the NYT, WSJ etc with a free University IP.
Whether it is a "bug" or an "issue," its the same to me. I rarely encountered it in the pasr and can never encounter it now. Its disingenuous to equate that with current issues of a competitor. Its just like Windows Phone users saying that the OS in its current state is better than iOS 2.0, 3.0k or even 4.0.
LawInfoChina charges over $100 just to view one single law. It's pragmatic to use university IP access if I have it. I don't get NYT or WSJ from university IP access. Though I've been to schools that separately had free paper versions of WSJ and NYT.
Ah okay. I just use Pocket to save articles for train/bus rides. Anything else I regularly read I usually just get their app (NYT, NPR, etc). I can see why some would want subscriptions, though.
according to the Android market reviews, the developer of Pocket has gone missing and no one can contact him. What's up with that? I'm interested in IP, but I want to see what the alternatives are first before shelling out money.
It's an interesting thought... so many apps are run by a single person. If that person dies, then what? Probably wouldn't matter for most apps, but it could be weird for something like Pocket where people seem to be pretty invested in using it in their daily lives.
It's an interesting thought... so many apps are run by a single person. If that person dies, then what? Probably wouldn't matter for most apps, but it could be weird for something like Pocket where people seem to be pretty invested in using it in their daily lives.
Pragmatic eh.
Pocket isn't run by a single person anymore, Nate has hired some people to help with his expansion
Then it will slowly die out like Launcher Pro. I don't have problem with it. I had always wanted to support that app but the pro version offer absolutely nothing I want over the free version. So I feel bad for not paying him.
Somebody else will pick up the slack. Apex launcher is basically a carbon copy (down to all the faults) of Launcher Pro for ICS. In this case the popular app basically got itself around 6 months of lead way. But if you abandon your app for longer period somebody else will put up the business. I think 6 months is a good estimate of the time window. Instagram released the Android version in time when there is still vacuum in the market but it's probably too late for Instapaper.
What's your point? Do you think I should spend $100s of dollars on a subscription to a service that my university already pays for, just so I can enjoy the free service of Pocket? Or I could pay a very small fee for Instapaper and time-shift the content without that extra cost.
You're willing to justify your own pragmatic choices but refuse to empathize with the choices of other users. Your problem with Pocket is an edge case. It should be no reason to troll an Apps for Android thread.
It's pretty gross. Ew
The Googs just acquire QuickOffice!
http://www.quickoffice.com/
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/google-quickoffice-get-more-done.html
http://www.quickoffice.com/
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/google-quickoffice-get-more-done.html
Where did I not emphasize with the choice of other users? I'm talking about my own personal opinions throughout.
I said its my own personal preference to not want to enter in a dozen passwords into an app, and I personally do not delete my cache and cookies constantly because private mode accomplishes that for you. These are my personal opinions.
I don't think it's an edge case to not want to enter dozens of passwords and login info into an app, and its not an edge case that many people access lots of content via university IP connections. Go to any university library website's list of academic databases, and see how many of them advise you to connect to the school's proxy/VPN to access the databases off-site. Reading scholarly works in academic databases is not an edge case. Its one of the best uses of time-shifting--you wouldn't believe how many people just go to university libraries just to print out or save articles they can't access at home.
interestin
I guess Sergey and Larry finally found their credit cards.
-----
Mesh Networks! - Open Garden
http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/0...works-share-internet-connectivity-on-the-fly/
Yeah you came into this thread with
That's not true. I'm an Android user who looks at paid content. Kindly gtfo
Bboy AJ
My dog was murdered by a 3.5mm audio port and I will not rest until the standard is dead
Cool but that's not free. That comes at the cost of my battery life.
No, I came in before that, and I emphasized how I found avoiding paywalls to be a more valuable feature than saving videos. My comment you quoted was in response to many people here saying Instapaper didn't offer any useful features beyond what the free apps offered. And I expanded on that argument with my personal experiences. Should I just avoid discussions with you if you don't seem to want to have a rational discussion and just make flippant "GTFO" remarks each time?
Depends on how you look at it. For the mesh you'd have less overall battery drainage.
GTFO
i'm not one to talk about snark but that comment sparked this entire shitstorm discussion.