Apple's Upcoming 'Reading List' for Safari to Compete with Instapaper and ReadItLater

212649 reading4

Apple is working on a new feature for Safari in Apple's Mac OS X Lion that will bring a different kind of bookmarking functionality to the browser. Apple calls it "Reading List" and is meant to offer users a way to save pages for later reading. The new feature is described by Apple here:

Reading List lets you collect webpages and links for you to read later. To add the current page to your Reading List, click Add Page. You can also Shift-click a link to quickly add it to the list. To hide and show Reading List, click the Reading List icon (eyeglasses) in the bookmarks bar.

And the accompanying eyeglasses icon:

210210 icon

This feature is currently inactive and hidden within the latest Mac OS X Lion builds. Apple has not yet made any mention of the feature in any of their Mac OS X Lion documentation. The basic functionality would pit the feature directly against popular services such as Instapaper and ReadItLater. Apple's implementation appears to be partly based on HTML/js but it's not yet clear how robust a solution it will be. For example, one compelling feature of Instapaper and ReadItLater is the ability the synchronization of bookmarks across devices.

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Coming Soon With These 8 New Features on Your iPhone

Thursday December 11, 2025 8:49 am PST by
Apple seeded the second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to developers earlier this week, meaning the update will be released to the general public very soon. Apple confirmed iOS 26.2 would be released in December, but it did not provide a specific date. We expect the update to be released by early next week. iOS 26.2 includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, such as a new...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3

Thursday December 11, 2025 11:28 am PST by
Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3 and the prior-generation AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 firmware is 8B30, up from 8B25, while the AirPods Pro 2 firmware is 8B28, up from 8B21. There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3 are getting expanded support for Live Translation in the European Union in iOS...
Google maps feaure

Google Maps Quietly Added This Long-Overdue Feature for Drivers

Wednesday December 10, 2025 2:52 am PST by
Google Maps on iOS quietly gained a new feature recently that automatically recognizes where you've parked your vehicle and saves the location for you. Announced on LinkedIn by Rio Akasaka, Google Maps' senior product manager, the new feature auto-detects your parked location even if you don't use the parking pin function, saves it for up to 48 hours, and then automatically removes it once...
iOS 26

iOS 26.4 and iOS 27 Features Revealed in New Leak

Friday December 12, 2025 10:56 am PST by
Macworld's Filipe Espósito today revealed a handful of features that Apple is allegedly planning for iOS 26.4, iOS 27, and even iOS 28. The report said the features are referenced within the code for a leaked internal build of iOS 26 that is not meant to be seen by the public. However, it appears that Espósito and/or his sources managed to gain access to it, providing us with a sneak peek...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature 1

Apple to Make More Foldable iPhones Than Expected [Updated]

Tuesday December 9, 2025 9:59 am PST by
Apple has ordered 22 million OLED panels from Samsung Display for the first foldable iPhone, signaling a significantly larger production target than the display industry had previously anticipated, ET News reports. In the now-seemingly deleted report, ET News claimed that Samsung plans to mass-produce 11 million inward-folding OLED displays for Apple next year, as well as 11 million...
iOS 26

Apple Releases iOS 26.2 With Alarms for Reminders, Lock Screen Changes, Enhanced Safety Alerts and More

Friday December 12, 2025 10:10 am PST by
Apple today released iOS 26.2, the second major update to the iOS 26 operating system that came out in September, iOS 26.2 comes a little over a month after iOS 26.1 launched. ‌iOS 26‌.2 is compatible with the ‌iPhone‌ 11 series and later, as well as the second-generation ‌iPhone‌ SE. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones over-the-air by going to Settings >...
AirTag 2 Mock Feature

Apple AirTag 2: Four New Features Found in iOS 26 Code

Thursday December 11, 2025 10:31 am PST by
The AirTag 2 will include a handful of new features that will improve tracking capabilities, according to a new report from Macworld. The site says that it was able to access an internal build of iOS 26, which includes references to multiple unreleased products. Here's what's supposedly coming: An improved pairing process, though no details were provided. AirTag pairing is already...
iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
macOS Tahoe 26 Thumb

Apple Releases macOS Tahoe 26.2 With Edge Light

Friday December 12, 2025 10:08 am PST by
Apple today released macOS Tahoe 26.2, the second major update to the macOS Tahoe operating system that came out in September. macOS Tahoe 26.2 comes five weeks after Apple released macOS Tahoe 26.1. Mac users can download the macOS Tahoe update by using the Software Update section of System Settings. macOS Tahoe 26.2 includes Edge Light, a feature that illuminates your face with soft...

Top Rated Comments

Cougarcat Avatar
191 months ago
How about allowing us to read iBooks on the computer, Apple?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
arn Avatar
191 months ago
ya, just from what we've seen so far, I'm not sure this is going to be as fully featured a thing as the 3rd party apps. cross-device syncing is a pretty big feature actually. so, it may help bring awareness to instapaper and readitlater. but we don't know the final features I guess.

Now if Apple includes MobileMe/iCloud syncing/centralization, it would be more worrisome.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Consultant Avatar
191 months ago
Or just open 100 tabs in Safari like I do.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Matthew Yohe Avatar
191 months ago
I am sure Marco won't be very happy with this.
He's already said it's not an issue.


For once, he will consider going webOS and android.
Developing on Android is a joke. Maybe when it doesn't suck so bad, he'll consider it.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JKK photography Avatar
191 months ago
ya, just from what we've seen so far, I'm not sure this is going to be as fully featured a thing as the 3rd party apps. cross-device syncing is a pretty big feature actually. so, it may help bring awareness to instapaper and readitlater. but we don't know the final features I guess.

Now if Apple includes MobileMe/iCloud syncing/centralization, it would be more worrisome.

I'm sure that if they did that, then he would probably look into moving into less Apple-centric markets (webOS, WP7, and possibly Android) so to avoid the Apple solution as much as possible.

Either way, Instapaper has a major heads-up as long as Apple doesn't release an API for apps to implement. Sending articles from Reeder on my iPhone to Instapaper is so simple, it's silly. If Apple can't compete there, it can't compete with Instapaper (for me).
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
KirkL Avatar
191 months ago
That's so cool! How's the stability of Safari in Lion? It beachballs all the time in Snow Leopard.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)