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Pocket (Free)
iPhone Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
There are a lot of things we take for granted when it comes to iOS and other mobile devices, including the frankly insane fact that we now have the ability to look up virtually any fact, article, or answer in mere seconds. While the iPhone may have killed the good old-fashioned pub argument, it's also allowed us to research anything we want and read millions of new opinions and stories on the go. But there are only so many hours in the day, and you can't tap on every link you want—after all, you can only really read one thing at a time. Safari has a Reading List option that saves sites for future reference, but there's no cross-platform capabilities; it only syncs up with Safari on your desktop, and it automatically removes pages as soon as you've visited them (even if you're not done with them yet). Bookmarking can work, but things can very quickly become cluttered as you mingle the sites you only mean to revisit once and the more permanent stuff you want to actually have, y'know, bookmarked.
Enter Pocket, by Read It Later Inc.; it is hands down the most-used app on my iPhone, and probably the best app I've ever downloaded in five years of iOS ownership. That's a bold statement to make, I know, but Pocket's incredible versatility, simplicity of use, and cross-platform capabilities have transformed how I consume information online. Pocket has a simple job; it saves links and web pages so you can come back and read them later. But unlike a bookmark bar or reading list, Pocket's mobile app is a dedicated space with a beautifully clean design, and which displays articles in a mobile-friendly text format that can be downloaded for offline reading. At time of writing, Pocket has more than 12 million registered users.
What really sets Pocket apart, though, is that your archive is accessible not only from your phone, but also from browser extensions for Firefox, Chrome, and Safari. Log into your Pocket account on your computer, save some links, and they'll show up in the iPhone app in a mobile-friendly article format. When you finish with something, it'll get saved into your archive where it can be found again if needed. Pocket also gives you the option to organize your collection with tags (I have one called “inebriated ponderings”) and mark articles as favorites. While reading, you can select a desired font and word size, invert the background color for easier reading in the dark, and even send links to friends.
Pocket does offer a Premium upgrade for $4.99/month, which adds features such as permanent archives, suggested tags, and a more powerful search option; I can't comment on whether it's worth the investment, as I haven't tried it myself. That said, I've been satisfied with the free version on virtually every level. My only complaint about Pocket doesn't really concern the app itself, but instead the apps which don't connect to it. You can set Pocket as your default “read it later” service in over 500 different apps, including Twitter, but if you're browsing mobile Safari you'll need to use a bookmarklet to save something. But that's a minor complaint about a product that has made my life so much simpler and more informed. Gone are the days of having twenty browser tabs opened to content you want to get around to reading but never do; Pocket gives you the space to store your future reading material, organize it, and handily access it whenever you have a few spare minutes on the bus.
Pros:
Beautiful minimalist design, cross-platform capabilities, unlimited storage
Cons:
Doesn't connect to certain apps, can't be enabled as the default page-saving option for your phone
Final Verdict:
Pocket's iPhone app is useful, lightweight, easy to navigate, and extraordinarily handy. It has changed the way I use the mobile web and streamlined my browser bookmarks and Twitter favorites, among many other things. I can't recommend it enough.
