Flyleaf Is the Best New Read Later App for Apple Users
Read later apps are for when you come across an article you’re interested in reading but can’t get to at the moment. You can save the article in the app and open the app later when you have time to read something. These apps usually cache a version of the article so you can read it offline.
Every major read-later service I know of—Pocket, Instapaper, and the up-and-coming Omnivore (which is great for reading newsletters )—depends on a web version with a user account. But that’s not the case with Flyleaf , which stores your articles on your Apple device and syncs using iCloud. Developer Max Meltzer told me that the app doesn’t collect user data at all, which is also a plus.
However, none of this matters if the reading experience sucks, and that’s where I really like Flyleaf. By default, the focus is on “book page numbering”. This means that as you read, you “turn the page” left and right instead of scrolling down. Meltzer told me that this type of reading is “better for focused reading than continuous vertical scrolling because you have to scroll less and have better spatial awareness,” and after playing around with his app a bit, I’m inclined to agree. However, you can disable this feature in the settings.
There are a number of other great points here. The app uses Apple’s sharing feature, so no plugins are required to save articles. When you finish an article, you’ll be offered an RSS feed of the original material, which I haven’t seen in any other app and really appreciate. There’s also support for Apple shortcuts, which means you can create your own automations for actions like adding articles to your reading queue.
Everything I mentioned is included in the free version. Some features, including tags and custom color schemes, are only offered with a $2/month or $17/year subscription.
The app is well designed. There are a few snags—syncing was a little slow for me at times—but there’s a lot to like here. I’ve been a long time Pocket user and this may be coming to an end.