This Week's Sponsor:

Listen Later

Listen to Articles as Podcasts


Instapaper 6.1 Brings Redesigned Share Extension

Launched in September alongside iOS 8, Instapaper 6.0 added a share extension to natively save links for later from any iOS app that supported the system share sheet. Today, betaworks has released Instapaper 6.1, which makes the extension less obtrusive by dropping the modal approach that was adopted from the popular Instapaper Bookmarklet and that also brings support for Handoff and a new unread count badge.

Handoff is nice, but I don’t know how much I’d ever use it in practice (this has been the case with Handoff in general for me). If you’re reading an article in Instapaper, you can quickly resume your activity on another device from the Lock screen; if you don’t have Instapaper installed on the second device, Handoff will open the article in Safari using its source URL.

The new extension is more interesting, and I think it’s a welcome change from the original. When saving to Instapaper with the new share extension, iOS will display an Instapaper banner at the top of the screen that takes up less space and lets you see more content underneath as it essentially covers the title bar of most iOS apps. From the share extension, you can now also move an article to a folder after it’s been saved without launching the app, which is nice. The extension still blocks the rest of the UI while an article is being saved, but at least it doesn’t come up in the middle of the screen anymore.

With today’s release, betaworks has also updated the various Instapaper browser extensions to use the new saving dialog, which, according to the company, is “unobtrusive, more consistent with Instapaper’s aesthetic, and allows you to move an article directly into a folder after saving it”.

Instapaper 6.1 is available on the App Store.

Unlock More with Club MacStories

Founded in 2015, Club MacStories has delivered exclusive content every week for over six years.

In that time, members have enjoyed nearly 400 weekly and monthly newsletters packed with more of your favorite MacStories writing as well as Club-only podcasts, eBooks, discounts on apps, icons, and services. Join today, and you’ll get everything new that we publish every week, plus access to our entire archive of back issues and downloadable perks.

The Club expanded in 2021 with Club MacStories+ and Club Premier. Club MacStories+ members enjoy even more exclusive stories, a vibrant Discord community, a rotating roster of app discounts, and more. And, with Club Premier, you get everything we offer at every Club level plus an extended, ad-free version of our podcast AppStories that is delivered early each week in high-bitrate audio.

Choose the Club plan that’s right for you:

  • Club MacStories: Weekly and monthly newsletters via email and the web that are brimming with app collections, tips, automation workflows, longform writing, a Club-only podcast, periodic giveaways, and more;
  • Club MacStories+: Everything that Club MacStories offers, plus exclusive content like Federico’s Automation Academy and John’s Macintosh Desktop Experience, a powerful web app for searching and exploring over 6 years of content and creating custom RSS feeds of Club content, an active Discord community, and a rotating collection of discounts, and more;
  • Club Premier: Everything in from our other plans and AppStories+, an extended version of our flagship podcast that’s delivered early, ad-free, and in high-bitrate audio.