How I save and read articles

I almost never read articles as soon as I find them. I save them to Instapaper and usually read them in the evening before bed.

I have been doing this for years, perhaps since the days of the first iPhone. I do not remember exactly. The apps and sources have changed, but the way I read articles has remained much the same.

Where I find articles

During the day, I regularly check Hacker News, Mastodon and my RSS feeds. When I find something interesting, I save it to Instapaper. On my computer, I use a browser extension, and on my iPhone, I use the share sheet. I can also save articles directly from my RSS reader or Ivory, the Mastodon client I use.

For RSS, I use Miniflux, which runs in a Docker container on my Thinkserver at home. I wanted a simple RSS reader that I could access from both my computer and iPhone without having to manage synchronisation between devices. Miniflux suits me well.

I do not subscribe to many feeds, and I do not try to read everything in them. When a feed no longer interests me, I simply remove it.

I often see people with dozens or even hundreds of browser tabs open, including articles they want to read later. I have never really understood this. I keep tabs open for things I am currently working on. For articles I want to read later, I use Instapaper.

Instapaper

When saving an article, I do not need to be sure that I want to read it in full. It is enough that it looks interesting. I find out whether it actually interests me when I open it in the evening.

I usually have a few dozen unread articles in Instapaper. Some have been there for months, but that does not bother me. I am not trying to reduce the unread count to zero.

If an article does not interest me after a few paragraphs, I delete it. Saving an article does not mean I have to finish reading it.

I use very few of Instapaper’s features. I do not take notes, use tags or highlight text. Once I have read an article, I archive it and almost never return to it. Occasionally, I share an interesting article on Mastodon.

Technical articles about a tool or configuration I want to try are an exception. I leave these in the unread list even after reading them, until I have a chance to try the tool or configuration on my computer.

Reading on my iPhone and Kindle

I usually read in the evening before bed, either articles in Instapaper on my iPhone or books on my Kindle. Sometimes I read one or two articles and then continue with a book. I mainly use the Kindle for fiction.

I used to send articles from Instapaper to my Kindle as well. Eventually, I stopped because it seemed unnecessarily complicated. For articles, I prefer Instapaper on my iPhone.

I still prefer text to video. I can read an article faster, skim it or skip the parts I already know. I do not need headphones, and saved articles are available offline. I prefer video for things where the images are important, rather than simply watching someone speak to a camera.

On public transport, I usually spend the time studying Japanese with WaniKani or Anki rather than reading articles.

A red screen at night

I use dark mode when reading on my iPhone. When reading in bed in complete darkness, I also turn on a red colour filter.

The Color Filters feature in the iOS accessibility settings can apply a colour tint to the entire display. I have set it to red and added it to Accessibility Shortcut, so I can turn it on by pressing the side button three times. In the morning, I turn it off the same way.

I use it in the hope that it is easier on my eyes in the dark. I do not know whether it has any other benefits, but I find it comfortable to read this way.