Save web content for offline reading with Instapaper

 Instapaper offers a simple way to bookmark internet content

HOW DO YOU ACCESS ONLINE CONTENT ON YOUR

iPad when you can't get online? WiFi hotspots aren't as ubiquitous as we'd like, and even if you have the 3G version of the iPad, there are still quite a few places, from London Underground stations to rural dales, where you won't be able to get a signal.

One solution would be to make good use of your online time by finding a bunch of articles you want to read, then saving them in Safari as web archives for offline reading. Wait a minute - Safari for the iPad doesn't have that feature. Enter Instapaper, which essentially offers that missing functionality.

The app puts a button in Safari's bookmarks bar that you click when everyou want to save a page for later. This creates a downloadable text-only version of the article under your account name on the developer's website. Later, when offline, you fire up the Instapaper app to read it.

Even if you're seldom offline, Instapaper can be a useful tool. Have you ever bookmarked a series of articles to revisit when you have more time, then struggled to find them weeks later in your overgrown thicket of a bookmarks list? Instapaper makes this a no-brainer since, once you've registered with the site, you're likely to keep using it to track pages you want to read later on.

There is a free Lite version of the app, but only the Pro version is listed as iPad-compatible by the developer. It allows up to 250 pages to be saved and has folder support, a dark mode for night reading and the ability to recommend articles.



 KIT LIST:

■ iPad

■ Internet connection for web browsing

■ Instapaper Pro app, £2.99 from iTunes App Store

Time required: 10 mins
Difficulty: Beginner

 The reader

Using Instapaper to read articles is a dream. By default, the article is saved as text only, but ifyou want pictures, too, tap the cog icon and then 'Download graphics version'.

 Installed

Here's the Instapaper Read Later bookmark installed In the desktop Safari browser.

Desktop saving

If you want to save articles while you're surfing the web on your computer, go to lnstapaper.com. Here you'll be able to save the Insta paper bookmark into your bookmarks, and then sync your bookmarks to your iPad. Any new Instapaper saves will be copied to the iPad app.

 1 Open Up Fire up Instapaper on your iPad and hit the 'Log in to Instapaper' button. You'll then be prompted to log in, or sign up if you've never used it before.

 2 Sign in Registration is easy, and can be done on the Safari browser on your iPad, iPhone, iPod touch or computer. You just have to think of a username and enter it.

 3 On the desktop You need to install the 'Read Later' bookmark in your iPad's browser. Go to Instapaper's settings and select 'Install Read Later in Safari'.

 4 Create a bookmark This will launch  Safari, and you'll be walked through how to create the special bookmark. You first create a bookmark for the page you're on.

 Desktop save

 Setting up the Read Later bookmark on your desktop version of Safari is just a question of going to www.instapaper.com and dragging and dropping a ready-made bookmark to your Bookmark bar. Provided you then open Instapaper on the iPad when you're online (just before you leave the office, for example) and refresh it, your desktop internet finds will be available for you to read offline on the way home.

 5 Secret code Next, follow the instructions guide to edit your new bookmark's setup by going into the bookmark's URL and copying and pasting some code into it.

 6 Save for later Now, when you browse in Safari, you can save an article for later by going to your bookmarks and selecting the 'Read Later' bookmark.