Read-it-Later App 'Instapaper' Makes Premium Features Free for All Users

The premium version of popular app Instapaper, designed to allow users to save notable news articles to read at a later time, has officially become free to all users.

The company behind the app has emailed all account holders to tell them that, as of today, it is opening up Instapaper Premium features to all users, free of charge.

Users of Instapaper now get access to full-text search for all articles, unlimited Notes, text-to-speech playlists, unlimited speed reading, "Send to Kindle" via bookmarklet and mobile apps, Kindle Digests of up to 50 articles, and an ad-free Instapaper website.

The company said the change was made possible now that its team is better resourced – referring to its acquisition by Pinterest, reported in August.

According to TechCrunch, while Instapaper's team would begin working on Pinterest's core experience, the company said the app would live on as a separate entity and continue to get updates without them being monetized. Existing Instapaper Premium users will get pro-rated refunds in the coming weeks, the company said.

Pinterest has been busy acquiring smaller companies to bolster its teams with new talent and grow its user base. In October, the company reported that it had hit 150 million monthly active users. Although the number missed the mark on targets the company set in early 2015, it still represents a large potential source of revenue.

Instapaper is a free download for iPhone and iPad from the App Store. [Direct Link]