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Chrome for iOS adds a Safari-like Reading List
As part of its latest update, Google Chrome for iOS just got a so-called Reading List feature, allowing users to save pages for offline viewing. If that sounds familiar, it's because Safari has had a similar feature for years now.
Windows Phone 8.1's new apps let you make reading lists and bite-sized movies
The perks for Windows Phone 8.1's early users just keep on coming. Microsoft has posted versions of two desktop Windows 8.1 apps, Movie Moments and Reading List, that are built solely for its new mobile OS. Reading List is arguably the bigger of the two releases -- you can now save articles on your Windows Phone to digest them later on any synced device, whether it's the handset or your PC at home. Like its full-size counterpart, the mobile app both highlights articles in its Live Tile and lets you pin favorite reading categories to your home screen.
TweetBot for Mac updated to 1.01, adds support for Reading List and j/k navigation
TweetBot for Mac has been updated with just a .01 version, but the update still adds in some pretty powerful functionality. First of all, the update makes TweetBot compatible with Apple's Reading List service, so you can now add content to your Safari Reading List directly from the Twitter client. There are a number of improvements added as well, and finally, TweetBot has added in something called "j/k navigation," where you can use your j and k keys to head up or down your tweet list. I am actually a big fan of this kind of navigation -- I use it to go through Google Reader all the time, so having it available on TweetBot will be a nice bonus. TweetBot for Mac is available on the Mac App Store right now for $19.99. [via RazorianFly]
Apple unveils Safari 6: goes well with your new Mountain Lion (update: Windows version absent)
Apple's web browser has joined its latest OS, and joins the dots on a raft of new features that we've been promised for a while. These include iCloud tabs and a new tab view -- both Mountain Lion only -- alongside a new smart search and unified search (with support for Chinese search giant Baidu) and address bar. If your older OS is missing out on those iCloud tabs, there's some other good news, Reading Lists will now work without being online -- which all sounds very in-flight friendly. There's also a Do Not Track option to cover your internet tracks, but for all the minute detail on some new developer additions, we'd advise hitting the source below. Update 1: We're not spotting a Windows release yet -- and nor can we see whether it will work on Snow Leopard. Let us know in the comments if you manage to grab the latest iteration. For anyone on Lion, the update will be available from the Mac App Store. Update 2: The latest version may not arrive on Windows -- with all references to the old version now gone from Apple's site. As 9to5Mac notes, nightly WebKit builds are still out there if you have a sudden pang for Safari. We've reached out to Apple to confirm.
Apple unveils new features for Safari: unified search, iCloud Tabs multi-device syncing and more
Apple's fresh new hardware may have gotten the headlines thus far during Apple's 2012 WWDC keynote, but there's also some good news for browser aficionados, too. Safari has taken a page out of Chrome's book by offering unified search for the web, your history and bookmarks. Additionally, Safari now syncs your web-browsing info across all your devices. Called iCloud Tabs, the feature lets you see the tabs you have open on any device simultaneously. That means you can surf the web on your iPhone while you're out and about, and continue your web session seamlessly on that shiny new MacBook Pro when you get home by clicking the new handy dandy iCloud button. Not only that, Safari's picked up some new multitouch tricks, letting you swipe all the way out to tab view, then pinch on the page you want to dive back in. Safari's Mobile version has also gained the ability to upload images directly and it now has an Offline Reading List that downloads and caches anything you add. Furthermore, Safari can now provide a notification if there's an app for the website you're browsing. Tapping the notification brings you to the App Store, and once downloaded, the browser pushes the URL to the app so you can pick up the content right where you left off. %Gallery-157904% For more coverage of WWDC 2012, please visit our event hub!
Instapaper gets iPad refresh: more friends, more reading
Instapaper, the internet equivalent of a bookmark, has been given a top-to-toe makeover for its latest outing on the iPad. Fear not, your reading materials remain easy to read (and ad-free), but version 4 has now been smoothed over with a thick layer of tablet gloss. Navigation is all done through a bar on the left, and remains available for prodding as you read through your article selection. The upgrade also adds a subscription option for searching all your previous reads, as well as better social skills, with the ability to pick up and store articles and posts shared by your Twitter buddies -- ensuring that you'll probably never run out of reading material again.
Dear Aunt TUAW: How do I edit that Reading List thing?
Dear Aunt TUAW, I've been trying to figure out if there is a way to add a URL to Reading List from outside of Safari, i.g. right-clicking a link in a Twitter post and using an Automator action from the services menu, etc... I don't see ANYTHING in Automator or AppleScript about Reading List. This seems very stupid to me being that the only way Reading List has a chance of getting used instead of Instapaper is to throw things into it from every possible browsing location. Have you come across anything yet? Your loving nephew, Dan B Dear Dan, Auntie hasn't had much opportunity to explore the new Reading List under the hood but she did find that the standard Safari bookmarks property list has been expanded. In ~/Library/Safari/Bookmarks.plist, Auntie found references like this: ReadingList = { DateLastFetched = 2011-07-12 23:21:06 +0000; PreviewText = "SCHEDULES RTD SYSTEM INFO RIDER TOOLS FARES & PASSES BUSINESS CENTER INSIDE RTD SEARCH View the entire RTD system at a glanc"; }; URIDictionary = { title = "http://www3.rtd-denver.com/elbert/SystemMap/"; }; URLString = "http://www3.rtd-denver.com/elbert/SystemMap/"; WebBookmarkType = WebBookmarkTypeLeaf; WebBookmarkUUID = "EBC18578-DF36-46B3-86A5-561DBCB0D7AC"; }, She hasn't had much luck discovering where the local files are cached yet, but surely one of her many TUAW nieces and nephews may be able to help out here in the comments, possibly explaining if setting items in the ReadingList here is alone sufficient to make them cache out. Hugs, Aunt TUAW
Apple Releases Lion Developer Preview 3
Hot on the heels of the Mac OS X 10.6.8 build Apple seeded to developers earlier today, Lion Developer Preview 3 was seeded to all developers. Though the update shows up in Lion's Software Update as "Lion Developer Preview Update" it is not a fourth update of Lion Developer Preview 2, but is a completely new version 3 build. All Software Update says about the new 1.07 GB build is that "The Lion Developer Preview Update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Lion Developer Preview 2." However, MacStories has confirmed that some of the new features in Developer Preview 3 include a new boot animation, new graphical elements in the Finder's toolbar, new desktop wallpapers and that Reading List is now enabled in Safari.
Mac OS X Lion feature 'Reading List' to compete with Instapaper and ReadItLater
MacRumors has discovered a new Safari feature that will compete with Instapaper and ReadItLater in the latest Mac OS X Lion Developer build. The feature, called Reading List, allows users to save web pages for later reading. It's represented in the toolbar by the eyeglasses icon to the right. Currently the feature is inactive, but Apple does offer a description of it: "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." As MacRumors points out, Apple's implementation looks to be partly based on HTML/js, which off the bat wouldn't allow for synchronization between devices. However, if Apple plans on adding the popular functions of services like Instapaper and ReadItLater into Safari, it's very likely that they will add syncing features as Safari for Mac OS X and iOS are tightly integrated. The image below shows you how items will be displayed in your Reading List.
News apps for the iPhone span the political spectrum
Building a native app that aggregates and spruces up the content of a single news organ's website is all the rage, although it seems like overkill in some cases -- personally, I enjoy curating my own reading list with good old Instapaper, which also offers the advantage of clearing out most of the graphical cruft and leaving nothing but yummy text. Still, if you like having all the news that's fit to print in the palm of your hand (yes, the 2.0 version of the NY Times app is quite nice), there are two new choices of single-site apps (SSA) for your reading pleasure. In the right corner, weighing in at four sections, it's the Wall Street Journal! Yes, the official newspaper of American business (whatever's left of it) has an iPhone app, and according to Silicon Alley Insider it's pretty good; the app lets you cache content for offline reading (similar to the NYT app), and offers audio and video content from the paper, along with stories and rich media from sister sites like Uncle Walt's hangout AllThingsD. Most notably, using the iPhone version of the WSJ -- which is free -- you can read most or all the content from the daily paper... which, via the WSJ.com website, is not free (most full stories require a subscription). There's no way to know how long this workaround will be in place, but for now it's a great way to get access to the paper's stories. And, in the opposite corner, weighing in at one home page and sporting a killer left hook, it's the Huffington Post! The HuffPo iPhone app has been in soft-launch mode for the past month and was just updated to version 1.1, quashing bugs and improving performance. It's not as polished as some of the other SSAs yet, but it gets the job done. The app is free. If you have a preferred single-site app for news, let us know below.
