Mozilla has announced two primary changes to its read-it-later app known as Pocket. The app faces new competition from startups, such as Omnivore and Matter. JustReviewed, a technology news reporter, confirms that Mozilla plans to refurbish many primary features, including the ‘Home’ tab and ‘My List’ tab, which the company has rebranded as Saves.
According to Mozilla, the modifications to the Pocket app aim to make it an enhanced tool to catch up with users’ reading and a place where they can discover more to read using high-quality recommendations given by the app.
Pocket – The Read-it-Later App for Mobile
Generally, individuals use Pocket to save blog posts and articles they want to read afterward. Readers can navigate through their saved items using a web browser extension that synchronizes their articles to Pocket’s mobile and web app versions.
It is not uncommon for many users to copy links or text articles to themselves for later reading. Pocket allows you to read saved articles or play them back as an audio clip. The app works properly as a substitute for using browser bookmarks to save articles to read later.
The Pocket app manages your saved reading materials in its interface. It lets you mark their saved items as favorites, include highlights, and send read articles to the archive.
The rollout of new updates will give Pocket a new ‘Home’ tab, combining access to saved items with editorial recommendations. Readers can see their most recently saved items at the top and browse through the to-read list by clicking the icon ‘see all’. The ‘Home’ tab will comprise Editor’s Picks and recommendations from numerous categories, such as travel, science, and technology.
Pocket Competes Matter – a Newer Read-it-Later App
The curated reading experience through the Pocket app can come in handy in addressing the threat from a read-it-later app – Matter. The said app is an evolved version with a back of $7m in Series A funding. It supports subscriptions and newsletters and comprises an active reading society that discusses and shares recommended articles.
Although the updated Pocket does not comprise the same social components, it allows users to find new things to read and expand their interest through the app. The updated ‘Home’ tab lets users organize these suggestions more centrally in the primary tab menu, enabling a simple three-tab rather than having a four-tab navigation.
Mozilla revamps the Pocket app with the My List tab, now known as ‘Saves’. The app responds to user feedback with a refurbished design that enables users to filter stories by favorites, highlights, and tags. A new toggle in the app allows users to bulk edit materials or archives read posts.
Mozilla added these improvements to the app after spending time with its users in 2022. It allowed users to learn more about how they can improve their reading experience with the app, specifically for android-based devices. Accordingly, the company has rolled out the improvements that will cater to android users first and then the iOS app. The company anticipates adding the features to iOS devices besides the revamped app later in 2023.