A real page-turner: Instapaper’s iBooks-style upgrade

10 May 2012

The latest version of Instapaper imitates iBooks’ page-turning animation for a smoother, enhanced user experience.

Instapaper 4.2 was released in the App Store yesterday, and represents a significant update to the popular app that saves articles for reading later. The most significant upgrade is certainly the option for page-turning animation that reflects the iBooks style, which developer Marco Arment claims is smoother than the Kindle app for the iPad 3.

While Arment (who has been outspoken about his lack of interest in developing for Android) pays direct tribute to Apple with this addition, Android users are probably feeling left out in the cold as an app for this platform is clearly far down on Instapaper’s agenda.

The ‘Fast pagination’ mode retains the old page-turning animation, but the code behind it has been upgraded to improve accuracy and page-turning speed.

As well as bug fixes and performance improvements throughout, the latest update includes a draggable dot bar to replace the scroll bar in pagination mode, the ability to close articles with a two-finger swipe, and universal availability of the sepia tint, which can make reading a bit easier on the eye.

Instapaper 4.2 is free to existing Instapaper customers, or can be purchased from the App Store for €3.99.

Elaine Burke is the host of For Tech’s Sake, a co-production from Silicon Republic and The HeadStuff Podcast Network. She was previously the editor of Silicon Republic.

editorial@siliconrepublic.com