Readability, an elegant News Reader app that reduces web clutter
by Paul Wilks
May 7, 2012 1:02 PM –
Install
Readability is a clean, sharp and handy web/news reader. Of similar kin to Pocket (formerly ReadItLater) the app works in tandem with a browser client which lets you save web pages for concise mobile viewing.
Price: Free
Tested on: HTC One X
Content Rating: Everyone
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- Great interface!
- Good syncing!
- Different fonts and styles to customise the apps look and feel!
- Good sharing options!
- Good for offline reading!
Cons
- Frequent updating notifications can be very annoying.
Features:
Readability is a great little reader application that makes reading news and web pages clutter free and good looking. Simply download a small browser client (available for Chrome, Firefox and Safari) which you can access by visiting www.readability.com. Once installed a small button appears alongside your URL window. Then, when you’re on a webpage you want to read later on, simply tap the button and the page will be saved. This page can now be accessed through the Android application in a clean and user-friendly format, no ads or clutter- just the content you want.
There a number of customisations available for users to further personalise your experiences. There are five different fonts you can select, in addition to a day time (white background) and night time (black background) viewer. All-in-all it’s great to see such options and you really feel in control of your reading experience.
One element of most reading applications that people call for is the ability to read articles offline. Readability offers this, and articles are both synced and available through the app very quickly after you press the browser button. Syncing is very quick, however, therein actually lies a problem. When the app syncs, it shows a notification on your screen. Sadly, even if you leave the app it keeps checking, and there’s no setting to prevent this. I found the easiest way to stop it is to literally sign out of the app.
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Readability – Sign in
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Readability – Tour
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Readability – Pre-amble
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Readability – Blog
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Readability – In-story view
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Readability – Night time reading
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Readability – Change font and size
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Readability – Menu options
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Readability – Settings
Usefulness:
I find readers great for offline reading and have used Pocket for collecting a variety of stories from different sources and reading them when it’s convenient to me. Readability works in just the same way, it allows you to read offline, in clear customisable text and share the pages you read with your friends and social networks. You can also read articles online, within the website itself, which is handy.
Ease of Use:
Readability is very easy to use. Pages you save sync quickly and everything is uniformly simple and uncluttered. Adjusting your settings, sharing and reading is all a breeze and very intuitive.
Frequently Used:
This depends on how you consume news and the web. If you spend a lot of time out and about, and consume news sporadically over that period- I’ve found it’s useful to skim your favourite news sites in the morning- adding everything you want to read to Readability, and then slowly soak this content up over the day. Other people might find it useful to grab the occasional web page when they do not have time to read it properly at that moment. The joy of Readability (and apps like it) is that it’s flexible and works how you want it to.
Interface:
The interface is minimalist and very simply designed. I felt Pocket looked a little better, a little slicker and has an ICS thematic, whereas Readability features a subtle modernist simplicity. It is pretty responsive for the most part and works as expected. Navigation is very asy too, so it’s not like you can easily get lost.