Mozilla Acquires Read-it-Later App Pocket

Mozilla today announced it has acquired read-it-later app Pocket, which it says has 10 million unique monthly active users on iOS, Android, and the web. The app, formerly known as Read It Later, launched in 2007 and is integrated in services such as Flipboard and Twitter. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Pocket will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Mozilla Corporation and will become part of the Mozilla open source project, the company said. Pocket's core employees and technology will help accelerate its Context Graph initiative, while promoting the discovery and accessibility of high quality web content.

Mozilla CEO Chris Beard:

“We believe that the discovery and accessibility of high quality web content is key to keeping the internet healthy by fighting against the rising tide of centralization and walled gardens. Pocket provides people with the tools they need to engage with and share content on their own terms, independent of hardware platform or content silo, for a safer, more empowered and independent online experience.”

Mozilla and Pocket worked together to integrate the service within Firefox in 2015, and this acquisition will allow the teams to work more closely together.

Mozilla's acquisition follows in the footsteps of Instapaper, one of Pocket's biggest rivals, which was acquired by Pinterest in August 2016.

Tags: Mozilla, Pocket

Top Rated Comments

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OS X Dude

24 months ago

I love Pocket and very much hope this acquisition doesn't alter it in any way. That said, if any company were to buy it I'm glad it's Mozilla.

Rating: 14 Votes

OS X Dude

24 months ago

Good idea and maybe kill the Mac app as it has not n-been updated in years.

Why kill it? It works fantastically well under Sierra and serves its purpose completely. It's meant to be a lightweight and simple app in line with the service as a whole. I'm personally glad they don't mess with it.

Rating: 5 Votes

btrach144

24 months ago

I dislike Mozilla. They've fallen behind and seem to have lost their way.

Rating: 5 Votes

OS X Dude

24 months ago

I've never used any of these type of apps. Is it really that useful?

Absolutely, mainly because it downloads the webpage so you've always got access to the content even if the page is altered or removed. Combine that with the ability to add tags to each webpage/media and you can start to also use it as a cross-platform archival tool, perfect for recipes or anything you want to keep for reference.

It's free, so best bet is to give it a go and see if it works for you. Mozilla are one of the few companies I would trust with my data and respect for privacy, so if anyone had to buy them out I'm glad it's them and not Microsoft or Google.

Rating: 2 Votes

KALLT

24 months ago

I am curious to see how this affects Pocket’s premium features. I stopped using them when they started injecting ‘recommendations’ into my list. It put me off so much, that I migrated away to Instapaper almost immediately.

Rating: 1 Votes

Fall Under Cerulean Kites

24 months ago

I had no clue there even was a macOS app. Thanks. Downloading!

Pocket is sort of like a roach motel for me. Pages check in but they don’t check out. I put a lot of stuff into Pocket that I never go back to read. Maybe the app will help with that.

Rating: 1 Votes

gigapocket1

24 months ago

I've never used any of these type of apps. Is it really that useful?

Rating: 1 Votes

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