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I loved Pocket. I used it nearly daily. I was often in their top n% of users. I paid for it. Then one day they changed the way their rendering worked on iOS. An

I loved Pocket. I used it nearly daily. I was often in their top n% of users. I paid for it. Then one day they changed the way their rendering worked on iOS. And it destroyed my workflow. I also bought a Kobo E-Reader specifically to use Pocket with it. In short order I found an open-source alternative - Omnivore - and spent my time hacking away at my Kobo to get it to pull from there instead. https://github.com/Podginator/KoboOmnivoreConverter https://github.com/Podginator/KoboOmnivoreConverter I think Pocket was amazing. I think the idea worked amazingly for someone like me, who is an enjoyer of reading, but had a hard time finding a moment to sit down and do it. I am upset that Pocket is going. I am upset that Omnivore shut down. I am upset that my Kobo will probably remove that integration and thus ruin my Self-Hosted Omnivore's integration with it. I think it could have been a lot, lot more.

fifteen1506 1y ago
Check the barebones but functional Wallabag. Hosted version available for a fee.
- puzzlingcaptcha 1y ago
  Just to add that you can also self-host it, and it supports Kobo as well. I once stumbled upon but didn't investigate further since Pocket just worked so well. I guess now I will have to.
- SSLy 1y ago
  It’s the lack of nice sync to an articles directory that’ll be missed. I’m also bitten by this shutdown.
- cloudfudge 1y ago
  Wallabag looks great, if a little homebrew. I signed up and had to laugh that the default "Welcome to wallabag" article could not be retrieved. Regardless, I decided to give 'em 12 bucks and see how it goes.
- benjaminoakes 1y ago
  Related bit from my other comment: > If you don't want to bother with self-hosting, there are some hosted options available: https://github.com/wallabag/wallabag/wiki/wallabag-ecosystem#hosted-servers https://github.com/wallabag/wallabag/wiki/wallabag-ecosystem...
el_benhameen 1y ago
This was one of my considerations when I chose Kobo over Kindle. Very unfortunate, indeed.
otherme123 1y ago
I'm in a similar spot: whenever I browse an article that could be better suited for the Kobo (i.e. admiral cloudberg), I send it to pocket. Right now I don't know how to replace it, because AFAIK Kobo don't allow to install anything similar.
marklar423 1y ago
I'm with you, I use Pocket all the time on my Kobo as well - I need to cobble together some self-hosted alternative. Did you find another alternative besides Omnivore?
- podgietaru 1y ago
  I still use the self-hosted version of Omnivore - I had built quite a lot around it so when that shut down I just decided to transfer over. It was hard enough going from Pocket to something else, I didn't want to do that again. I actually have a Supernote now, and side-loaded the Omnivore App onto it - so I use my Kobo less (though still somewhat at night due to the backlight.)
  - wellthisisgreat 1y ago
    Yay another Supernote fan! Love that device.
inanutshellus 1y ago
Reading pro-Pocket comments is so surreal. I never really paid any attention to Pocket and never used it but 100% of the comments I ever saw were about how it was some invasion of privacy tool that was evidence of corruption in Mozilla selling your data to 3rd parties or something. Now it's dead and ... everyone here is mourning its passing. Guess I was a successful mark for anti-Mozilla FUD tactics.
- podgietaru 1y ago
  I used Pocket since it was called Read-it-Later back in 2011/2010. It was one of the first things I'd install onto every device I owned. I used it until their dreadful redesign in 2023. I got a _lot_ of use out of Pocket.
  - lxgr 1y ago
    I've also used it for several years, but it really was never great compared to anything else in this space and seemingly stopped any feature development years ago. The biggest problem for me was that they just completely gave up on paywalls, at a time when viable workarounds finally became widely available (e.g. iOS share sheet extensions being able to inject JavaScript into Safari to collect the content, which is what many alternatives do). Completely useless for reading paid news.
- lxgr 1y ago
  My feelings are 30% annoyed (because I still have some data in there), 70% hopeful that a thoroughly mediocre contender is going a way and some more consolidation in this market might finally create critical mass for and focus on some open-source, data-exportable solution in the way Omnivore unfortunately couldn't.
- hiccuphippo 1y ago
  I loved it when it was called read-it-later and was a standalone add-on. Requiring a Mozilla account made me stop using it.
- input_sh 1y ago
  I don't think anyone was opposed to Pocket-the-product, but its integration into Firefox. I used it long before Mozilla purchased it and continued to use it for years after, but jumped ship because years went by without any updates to the product. IIRC it hasn't received a single update between approximately 2019 and 2021. It felt abandoned long before today.
gorbachev 1y ago
I bought an Amazon Fire tablet exclusively for Pocket use as well. Something did change maybe about year and a half ago about rendering articles. It felt like less and less of them were rendering in article mode, and I needed wifi access to read articles in the original format. Before that practically everything rendered in article mode, afterwards I would say it was about 50%.
- itake 1y ago
  yeahs, the offline caching got terrible. its text that (rarely) changes. I have no idea why the mobile app couldn't just remember what each url was, even if it was 6 weeks stale. Also, Pocket couldn't create reader views for many websites (like hacker news discussions), which means the TTS was useless. Oh and the TTS required an internet connection.
Cherub0774 1y ago
As someone who self-hosts and who used the Pocket+Kobo integration _and_ who hacks away at their Kobo, hopefully folks like you and I can help keep the integration alive. I already try to prevent the Kobo from upgrading due to unwanted changes to my Kobo patch configuration, so I'm crossing my fingers here.
kimberli 1y ago
That's so unfortunate--I've also used Pocket for a decade+. I had the Omnivore app installed on my phone as a replacement for the other infinite feed scrolling apps. I'm actually working on an open-source alternative at https://curi.ooo https://curi.ooo if you're interested in checking it out. It's a work in progress, but I'm building it primarily for my own use because I'm frustrated with all these services shutting down. The Kobo integration you have is interesting too, wonder how I could support that use case...
- pm3003 1y ago
  That's great! I've been looking for something for a while. Great features from my point of view: - email newsletters, especially with offline mails (no remote images) since theya can go easily through workplace gateyways for those of us who work in secure areas. Didn't see yet if yours were. - sync and integrate with everything, e-readers, nextcloud, browsers... - PWA Good luck!
- patch_collector 1y ago
  I love how clean it is! One personal use case that I'd love to see supported (when you get your mobile apps implemented) is the ability to add articles via the 'share' shortcuts. I get mailing lists with links, and I don't want to stop to read an article while clearing out my inbox. So if a link looks interesting, I use the 'share' feature to add it to Pocket, and then I'll go back to it later -- without opening my browser.
  - kimberli 1y ago
    Yes, great suggestion. It's currently implemented in the beta Android app, just need to get registered with the Apple Developer Program and get iOS working. Because Curio saves client-side, it opens the app and renders the page briefly though. Not sure yet if there's a better way to do it.
arvinsim 1y ago
It's ironic that the device that is supposed to facilitate reading(e readers) makes it so hard to read articles from the web.
- pm3003 1y ago
  I feel like there should be an easy and common file transfer protocol, like a more straightforward bittorrent,FTP,MTP to exchange with these devices.
PokerFacowaty 1y ago
I'm looking into setting up Wallabag for myself, maybe it could work for you too? https://wallabag.org/ https://wallabag.org/
- benjaminoakes 1y ago
  Related bit from my other comment: > If you don't want to bother with self-hosting, there are some hosted options available: https://github.com/wallabag/wallabag/wiki/wallabag-ecosystem#hosted-servers https://github.com/wallabag/wallabag/wiki/wallabag-ecosystem...
anilakar 1y ago
Another long-time Kobo user here. I hadn't even heard of Pocket before I bought an Aura One, but it quickly became my preferred way to copy miscellaneous content from PC to the reader.
gnomespaceship 1y ago
https://omnivore.app https://omnivore.app is down. Hug of death perhaps?
- gnomespaceship 1y ago
  https://www.isitdownrightnow.com/omnivore.app.html https://www.isitdownrightnow.com/omnivore.app.html says down for more than a week.
- illiac786 1y ago
  as mentioned in the parent comment, omnivore shut down.

fifteen1506 1y ago

Check the barebones but functional Wallabag. Hosted version available for a fee.

puzzlingcaptcha 1y ago
Just to add that you can also self-host it, and it supports Kobo as well. I once stumbled upon but didn't investigate further since Pocket just worked so well. I guess now I will have to.
SSLy 1y ago
It’s the lack of nice sync to an articles directory that’ll be missed. I’m also bitten by this shutdown.
cloudfudge 1y ago
Wallabag looks great, if a little homebrew. I signed up and had to laugh that the default "Welcome to wallabag" article could not be retrieved. Regardless, I decided to give 'em 12 bucks and see how it goes.
benjaminoakes 1y ago
Related bit from my other comment: > If you don't want to bother with self-hosting, there are some hosted options available: https://github.com/wallabag/wallabag/wiki/wallabag-ecosystem#hosted-servers https://github.com/wallabag/wallabag/wiki/wallabag-ecosystem...

el_benhameen 1y ago

This was one of my considerations when I chose Kobo over Kindle. Very unfortunate, indeed.

otherme123 1y ago

I'm in a similar spot: whenever I browse an article that could be better suited for the Kobo (i.e. admiral cloudberg), I send it to pocket. Right now I don't know how to replace it, because AFAIK Kobo don't allow to install anything similar.

marklar423 1y ago

I'm with you, I use Pocket all the time on my Kobo as well - I need to cobble together some self-hosted alternative. Did you find another alternative besides Omnivore?

podgietaru 1y ago
I still use the self-hosted version of Omnivore - I had built quite a lot around it so when that shut down I just decided to transfer over. It was hard enough going from Pocket to something else, I didn't want to do that again. I actually have a Supernote now, and side-loaded the Omnivore App onto it - so I use my Kobo less (though still somewhat at night due to the backlight.)
- wellthisisgreat 1y ago
  Yay another Supernote fan! Love that device.

inanutshellus 1y ago

Reading pro-Pocket comments is so surreal. I never really paid any attention to Pocket and never used it but 100% of the comments I ever saw were about how it was some invasion of privacy tool that was evidence of corruption in Mozilla selling your data to 3rd parties or something. Now it's dead and ... everyone here is mourning its passing. Guess I was a successful mark for anti-Mozilla FUD tactics.

podgietaru 1y ago
I used Pocket since it was called Read-it-Later back in 2011/2010. It was one of the first things I'd install onto every device I owned. I used it until their dreadful redesign in 2023. I got a _lot_ of use out of Pocket.
- lxgr 1y ago
  I've also used it for several years, but it really was never great compared to anything else in this space and seemingly stopped any feature development years ago. The biggest problem for me was that they just completely gave up on paywalls, at a time when viable workarounds finally became widely available (e.g. iOS share sheet extensions being able to inject JavaScript into Safari to collect the content, which is what many alternatives do). Completely useless for reading paid news.
lxgr 1y ago
My feelings are 30% annoyed (because I still have some data in there), 70% hopeful that a thoroughly mediocre contender is going a way and some more consolidation in this market might finally create critical mass for and focus on some open-source, data-exportable solution in the way Omnivore unfortunately couldn't.
hiccuphippo 1y ago
I loved it when it was called read-it-later and was a standalone add-on. Requiring a Mozilla account made me stop using it.
input_sh 1y ago
I don't think anyone was opposed to Pocket-the-product, but its integration into Firefox. I used it long before Mozilla purchased it and continued to use it for years after, but jumped ship because years went by without any updates to the product. IIRC it hasn't received a single update between approximately 2019 and 2021. It felt abandoned long before today.

gorbachev 1y ago

I bought an Amazon Fire tablet exclusively for Pocket use as well. Something did change maybe about year and a half ago about rendering articles. It felt like less and less of them were rendering in article mode, and I needed wifi access to read articles in the original format. Before that practically everything rendered in article mode, afterwards I would say it was about 50%.

itake 1y ago
yeahs, the offline caching got terrible. its text that (rarely) changes. I have no idea why the mobile app couldn't just remember what each url was, even if it was 6 weeks stale. Also, Pocket couldn't create reader views for many websites (like hacker news discussions), which means the TTS was useless. Oh and the TTS required an internet connection.

Cherub0774 1y ago

As someone who self-hosts and who used the Pocket+Kobo integration _and_ who hacks away at their Kobo, hopefully folks like you and I can help keep the integration alive. I already try to prevent the Kobo from upgrading due to unwanted changes to my Kobo patch configuration, so I'm crossing my fingers here.

kimberli 1y ago

That's so unfortunate--I've also used Pocket for a decade+. I had the Omnivore app installed on my phone as a replacement for the other infinite feed scrolling apps. I'm actually working on an open-source alternative at https://curi.ooo https://curi.ooo if you're interested in checking it out. It's a work in progress, but I'm building it primarily for my own use because I'm frustrated with all these services shutting down. The Kobo integration you have is interesting too, wonder how I could support that use case...

pm3003 1y ago
That's great! I've been looking for something for a while. Great features from my point of view: - email newsletters, especially with offline mails (no remote images) since theya can go easily through workplace gateyways for those of us who work in secure areas. Didn't see yet if yours were. - sync and integrate with everything, e-readers, nextcloud, browsers... - PWA Good luck!
patch_collector 1y ago
I love how clean it is! One personal use case that I'd love to see supported (when you get your mobile apps implemented) is the ability to add articles via the 'share' shortcuts. I get mailing lists with links, and I don't want to stop to read an article while clearing out my inbox. So if a link looks interesting, I use the 'share' feature to add it to Pocket, and then I'll go back to it later -- without opening my browser.
- kimberli 1y ago
  Yes, great suggestion. It's currently implemented in the beta Android app, just need to get registered with the Apple Developer Program and get iOS working. Because Curio saves client-side, it opens the app and renders the page briefly though. Not sure yet if there's a better way to do it.

arvinsim 1y ago

It's ironic that the device that is supposed to facilitate reading(e readers) makes it so hard to read articles from the web.

pm3003 1y ago
I feel like there should be an easy and common file transfer protocol, like a more straightforward bittorrent,FTP,MTP to exchange with these devices.

PokerFacowaty 1y ago

I'm looking into setting up Wallabag for myself, maybe it could work for you too? https://wallabag.org/ https://wallabag.org/

benjaminoakes 1y ago
Related bit from my other comment: > If you don't want to bother with self-hosting, there are some hosted options available: https://github.com/wallabag/wallabag/wiki/wallabag-ecosystem#hosted-servers https://github.com/wallabag/wallabag/wiki/wallabag-ecosystem...

anilakar 1y ago

Another long-time Kobo user here. I hadn't even heard of Pocket before I bought an Aura One, but it quickly became my preferred way to copy miscellaneous content from PC to the reader.

gnomespaceship 1y ago

https://omnivore.app https://omnivore.app is down. Hug of death perhaps?

gnomespaceship 1y ago
https://www.isitdownrightnow.com/omnivore.app.html https://www.isitdownrightnow.com/omnivore.app.html says down for more than a week.
illiac786 1y ago
as mentioned in the parent comment, omnivore shut down.