In such a case, this Editor’s choice application, Pocket, is really a good alternative. This app allows users to save any web stuff like articles, videos and images for later use even when you are offline. With a really beautiful, arranged and simple User Interface, it is very easy to use and the number of various options it provides is also a big PLUS point.
There are over 10 million users of this app around the globe and a big majority of them, that is, 102,510 users really appreciate it and give it a five-star rating.
So here I present below the complete step-by-step review of Pocket including all its features.
Easy to Start:
After installing the app from the Play Store, on startup, you can Sign Up either by using your Google account or by using any other email and then, if you choose to go with your Google account, you will be asked for permission to access your basic profile information.
After clicking on OK, type any suitable password, which will let you connect the pocket with your Twitter or Flipboard accounts. After completing all the formalities, in the end, you will be on the Home screen showing an empty space with text “Your List is Empty” as of course you have not added anything yet. Now your device is ready, and you can save anything you want to in Pocket.
Easy to Save:
You can save from any browser like Chrome, Opera and UC Browser or from any Social Network like Twitter or from any other of your favorite app like YouTube, Flipboard and Feedly, which allows you to share stuff.
To save, look for the Share option and tap on “Add to Pocket”. You will see a little animation on the bottom of your screen texting “Saved to Pocket” along with three options - make a tag, send as a mail and to open Pocket app.
Features:
Well Organized:
In Pocket, you can add tags to differentiate your content under different categories making it easy for you to find stuff easily and quickly.
You can also mark the articles you love as Favorite and Archive those you have read. Once you find anything, which is not desired anymore, you can simply delete it from the list. Under options, on the top right corner, if you tap on Bulk Edit,
you can select two or more items from your list and can archive, favorite, delete or tag them at once. At last, you can also share any content directly from Pocket via mail or any other medium.
Pocket also allows you to view content according to the type, means, from all the content you have in the Pocket, you can choose to see only text articles, only videos or only images. You can also choose to view only those links which other people have shared with you. There is another option, Highlights, which shows the best from your list in an organized manner according to the source, length or topic when you have saved more than enough items in Pocket.
Everywhere and Offline:
If you have Pocket on all of your devices, of course with the same account, then you can access it from any of it-like Smartphone, Tablet and Computer because Pocket synchronizes your content across all of your devices. Not only from your Smartphone, you can also save the content with your computer using an Extension in whichever browser you use.
Moreover, you don’t even need an Internet connection to read your articles as Pocket downloads it in the background after you have saved your content, means your article will always be ready for you to read when you wish to.
Clean User Interface:
With such a clean User Interface, you will find it very easy to operate and arrange your items. You can toggle between Web and Article View and can also choose to lock the app rotation. The option of Dark Theme allows you to view content during the night when lights are off, so that your eyes do not face any strain.
You can also choose to use volume rockers for scrolling and can just swipe left and right to flip pages of an article. Pocket has its own video player in which you can watch videos in High Quality.
Text to Speech:
Many a times, we wish if we can just simply hear the article instead of reading it. And this wish has fulfilled by Pocket. In Options, you can choose to hear the articles like a speech by tapping on Listen (TTS). When you do so, you will hear a sweet voice of a lady.
You can set a particular speed for the speech with which you feel comfortable and can also rewind and forward the speech. Interestingly, you can also hear the article in different languages like Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Korean, Japanese, Polish and German, etc.
Other:
To save data from your monthly Internet package, you can also select to download the saved items only while using the Wi-Fi and can also choose to download mobile versions of your content if available.
Pocket also provides you with an option to store the cache in the SD-card instead of internal memory. Under the options of Notifications, you can choose if you want to get a notification or not when your friends share something with you. You can choose the sound and can also enable the LED light to flash for notifications.
You can also enable the Auto Full screen option which automatically takes you to the Full-Screen mode when you scroll down while reading any article. There is an option of Search on the top the home screen, which allows you to find your required item by typing the title or URL.
Premium Feature:
To upgrade to the Premium account, you can choose from two provided plans. In the first one, you get one-month premium subscription for $5 and in the other one, in which you will have to pay $46 for one-year subscription.
Along with the above-mentioned features, Pocket Premium gives you three more of them. The first one is Permanent Library, which allows you to save the content in Pocket on the permanent basis, means, for the life time. In other words, after you have saved your item, you can access it even if it gets deleted afterwards.
The second one is Powerful Search, which helps you to find exactly what you are looking for by searching from full-text, topics, tags, author and more. The last one is Suggested Tags providing you with various relevant tags for your article, so that you do not have to waste your time in thinking and writing them. Just a tap on the most appropriate tag and it’s done.
Conclusion:
To Sum up, Pocket is an amazing app and worth checking out. With so simple and easy-to-use layout it is not complicated at all to manage your items around. Various features providing you with a lot of flexibility to modify things as you want to. It seems to me that the Premium features are not much important as I have been using this app from a month and find no need of such features because it rarely happens if any article disappears from the web or we find it very difficult to find any specific item from the list or we take a lot of time to think about tags. So in my opinion, the free Pocket is way more than enough to stand up to your expectations.
However, if you wish, you can give the Premium Pocket a try. Overall, I really recommend this app and end this review by saying, “Get Pocket in your Pocket”.
Author Bio:
Satwant Singh, a Mechanical Engineer with a keen interest in Mobile & Computer Technology and loves to share his knowledge with others around the web. He is the co-founder of How-To tech blog Ask Your How and author at ComputerAndYou and also rapping comes in his passion. You can reach him at Google+, Facebook & Twitter.
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