Instapaper updated to 3.0, now includes social features

Instapaper, the iOS app that lets you save online articles for later offline reading, has just hit version 3.0. Already an app featured on many "must have" lists for both the iPhone and iPad, Instapaper has gained a mountain of new features in its latest update. The app and Instapaper website now have native sharing with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinboard and Evernote; according to developer Marco Arment, "You can post to any of these services from the app offline, and the app will queue up the post to be submitted next time it's online."

That feature alone might make Instapaper worth its US$4.99 asking price, but new (completely optional) social features make it even more powerful. Via links to your Facebook/Twitter accounts or email addresses in your device's Contacts app, you can locate friends who use Instapaper and browse articles that they've "liked" via Instapaper's interface. Similarly, there's now an Editors browser that lets you find recommended articles. Instapaper's built-in browser also now allows you to navigate to any website and save articles from within the app itself.

The full 3.0 feature list is on Instapaper's blog. Bear in mind that if you're upgrading Instapaper from an earlier version, all of your articles will re-download after the update -- so if you have hundreds of articles on your account, you might want to wait until you get home and use Wi-Fi instead of 3G.

Instapaper is a universal app, available from the App Store for $4.99. If you're not already using it, I highly recommend you start.