Filed under: Software, Internet, Internet Tools
Save URLs for later with Quiet Read
Bambooapps has released a simple and useful utility called Quiet Read that has earned a spot on my Mac's menubar. With a simple drag-and-drop, it lets you save a web page for later review.Of course, there are many apps that do this, including Instapaper and Evernote. Instapaper gets the job done via a bookmarklet; just give it a click while at the desired URL and it's saved. Evernote does pretty much the same thing, thought their bookmarklet behaves differently between Safari and Firefox. In addition, they have the Mac application for tagging and organizing.
I spent the day using Quiet Read instead of the other two. Here's what I liked and disliked. First, adding a URL is as easy as possible. Simply drag it out of your browser's address bar and drop it onto the menu bar icon. The display keeps track of how many you've collected. A tidy drop-down lets your browse the saved articles for easy selection.
What I disliked is that once an app is gone, it's gone. Instapaper saves read articles.
But Quiet Read isn't Instapaper. If you're looking for a free, simple way to save articles for later reading (and you're running 10.6 or later), Quiet Read could be the solution.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Kesey said 10:07AM on 11-07-2009
Good to have options, but I'll stick with Instapaper. That way I can read things later on any computer.
For those of you using Instapaper and Firefox, check out the Ubiquity command...just type 'Read Later' into Ubiquity and it's saved to Instapaper. Love it.
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Anthony said 10:10AM on 11-07-2009
I prefer ShoveBox for that, it has the ability to save the entire webpage if I'm ever offline. It's free too right now over at the MacHeist nano. www.macheist.com
I'm not advertising I just want to be able to unlock MarinerWrite!
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Pedro said 11:41AM on 11-07-2009
I'm more of a Read It Later guy, it works well and it also has an offline option on the iPhone
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oliver said 10:54AM on 11-07-2009
Someone has beaten me to it but I will add that ShoveBox is a great application with a bit more customisation plus is free at the moment from MacHeist. Well worth trying as an alternative.
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Greenie said 11:16AM on 11-07-2009
I'm very glad to see this since URLWell stopped development years ago. It was the last PPC app running in Rosetta for me. Officially deleted now.
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Justin said 11:36AM on 11-07-2009
The really great thing about the Mac Development community is that there is almost always more than one tool for the same job -- as the author himself points out. Quiet Read brings a slightly different aesthetic to the task than the other apps and, if it complements your style of working, the simplicity of a minimal "menulet" approach could be everything you need.... with nothing extra in the way!
Personally, I love Evernote and it works with my style. The bookmarklets are complemented by browser-specific plugins and, if that weren't enough, Snow Leopard users now have context-menu Services to get copies of webpages into their notes.
I can even set up AppleScripts that, when combined with keyboard shortcuts, let me preserve URLs even quicker than the drag-and-drop approach designed above. For example, I wrote an AppleScript that makes a URL list of all my open tabs in Safari in an Evernote item: http://veritrope.com/tips/safari-tabs-to-evernote
The web-based aspect of Evernote also enabled me to create a Snow Leopard Service to search my Evernote database just by highlighting some text on a page and selecting "Search in Evernote" from the context menu:
http://veritrope.com/tips/snow-leopard-service-evernote-search
(and, by the way, also one for Amazon.com here: http://veritrope.com/tips/services/amazon-com-search-service-for-snow-leopard )
In the use-case scenario described in this post, I could see that coming in handy for those moments where you're asking yourself "Did I already make a note that I wanted to read that?"
I think people should try them all and go with the one that they actually USE in day-to-day browsing.... and I also agree with Anthony and Oliver above: the MacHeist promo is a great opportunity to check out another tool for the job for free -- and, hey, it'll also make Anthony a happy guy when the number of downloads allows him to unlock the MarinerWrite app! ;)
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David Frantz said 5:57PM on 11-07-2009
Why not use wget or curl. I often use wget to mirror a site I want to read later, works great! Especially useful if you want off line access to a site with a lot of files. For example an online API reference, online software manuals and other neat items.
On top of all that you get command line control. I supose that scares people off right there.
Dave
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Angelo Ashmore said 2:58PM on 11-07-2009
I don't understand… How is this different from a normal bookmark?
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Greenie said 4:31PM on 11-07-2009
I use this different than bookmarks or evernote.
For instance, if I comment on a random blog and I want to see followups, I'll drop the URL in this app. It keeps it out of sight then, a few days later, I can visit again real quick and read the comments.
kelly said 12:39AM on 11-08-2009
I simply use bookmark folder for that. This app seems to duplicate what is already easy enough to do.
Or am I missing something?
milkmage said 9:17PM on 11-07-2009
think of it more like a scratchpad.. keeps stuff you want to read (but not necessarily keep 'forever') handy.
I usually use bookmarks for sites, and evernote for specific articles, blog entries, etc..
chase.reuter said 6:42PM on 11-07-2009
Anyone know of a Note program that uses the same Cloud and has a app for iPhone/OSX/PC? I've been using Simplenote on my iPhone, JustNotes for OS X, and Simplenote's web based site for PC, but I'd like an app for the PC if possible. A .txt file in my Dropbox has also been used time from time for this.
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Jeff Janer said 9:53AM on 11-08-2009
Another bookmarklet and more alternative for saving urls, anything on the web page (as a note) and parsing recipes and products into data is http://springpadit.com. The "and more" features include pre-formatted templates for organizing and sharing the data.
(full disclosure; I'm a Springpad co-founder)
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Adam said 5:29PM on 11-08-2009
Dave,
You wrote:
"What I disliked is that once an app is gone, it's gone. Instapaper saves read articles."
I think you meant:
"What I disliked is that once an URL (or link?) is gone, it's gone. Instapaper saves read articles."
Just a heads up, but thanks for the link. I'm installing it now!
Adam
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