# Instapaper — user reviews > 1,362 indexed App Store user reviews of Instapaper by Instant Paper, Inc., rated 4.60/5 from 3,532 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/instapaper/id288545208/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/instapaper/id288545208.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 2,880 · 4★ 293 · 3★ 117 · 2★ 73 · 1★ 169 ## What do users think of Instapaper? Overall sentiment: neutral **Pros** - 🚀 Efficient reading experience - 👍 Clean, minimalist design - 💡 Useful features like highlighting and notes - 🚀 Seamless integration with various platforms - 👍 Reliable and stable app **Cons** - 🐛 Bugs and crashes - 🔒 Concerns about data privacy and GDPR compliance - 💰 Subscription price increase - 🔍 Unreliable search functionality - 🚫 Inability to delete account **Commonly reported bugs** - Speak feature freezes on most articles - Pagination issues causing text to be cut off - Folders and archives disappearing - Inability to save articles from certain websites - Subscription not unlocking premium features **Most requested features** - Add support for tables and charts - Improve text-to-speech quality - Implement a 'go back to beginning of article' feature - Add support for EPUB files - Introduce a 'random article' feature ## Newest reviews (12 of 1,362) ### 4/5 — 80% of the time, it works every time *2026-08-12, version 9.4.1* Instapaper mostly works great! I often use it to transfer articles to my Kobo. It often misses images, which isn’t usually a big deal. It usually fails to import academic articles, especially those that I have access via a redirect to my University’s library. It also tends to split lines in half after the first few pages of reading. It will show the top half of the letters in a line on one page, and then the bottom half of those letters on the next page. Other than these relatively small issues, it is working well for me! ### 4/5 — Used to love the app, not the newest update *2026-08-01, version 10* I updated the app on my ipad, but I'm so disappointed with it that I have decided not to update my iphone. As other people have said, the new font is too small, and I haven't found a way to change the font. Second, I can't find a way to share an article via email. At least on the ipad, the share option is missing. Please add this back! ### 2/5 — lacking export *2026-07-25, version 9.4.1* why is it so difficult to export articles? should be an option to switch storage to a user accessible folder in the iOS files app ### 4/5 — Bring Costs Down, Please! *2026-07-19, version 9.4.1* The cost per year to store some small text files, I just don't see how the cost is worth it. It's a shame, too, since many of us have tons of paid but unused cloud storage on plans like Google Drive, iCloud, etc, which would hardly feel the impact of storing the metadata associated with highlights and very small text comments. I know that the ongoing cost is for this service effectively being a mirror of the readable internet (which is very admirable, and I think underappreciated service provided by sites like archive.org). But personally, I'm fine with only having my local copy of article data for a significantly reduced cost. Or perhaps they could create a middle tier that blends the benefits of medium-term storage, and upselling to the archive.org promise of trying to mirror websites forever. I just love the reading experience this app provides and would really recommend it if I could buy the app for $10-20 and had the option to bring my own storage to avoid a subscription cost. ### 4/5 — Dark Mode Icon *2026-06-13, version 9.4.1* I love this app, and it’s awesome. However, I really miss dark mode of the app icon on Mac. It’s appreciated to have it. ### 2/5 — Inconsistent Product *2026-06-08, version 9.4.1* Sometimes works to rip content from Apple News to Instapaper. Sometimes the same content provider works, and sometimes it does not. Worth a subscription: probably not if Instapaper can't improve the quality of its output. ### 4/5 — My Thoughts. *2026-05-30, version 9.4.1* Today I installed Instapaper on my phone. I use it mostly for reading articles and papers that I gleaned from the internet. It’s a good utility to have. I am even paying for a monthly subscription. I like the fact that users can choose their background, style and size of fonts and make notes about what they are reading. But when it comes to highlighting text we are given only one color option: Yellow! Really? What I would like for Instapaper’s developers to do is give us MORE options than just yellow for highlighting text! You know: Light Blue, Pink, Green and the ability to underline text in Red! I would love to give this app a Five-Star rating! I really would! But alas, because I am limited to a yellow highlighter, I cannot! And, I am afraid, I cannot recommend this app to others. ### 3/5 — 遅い *2026-05-13* ポケットの替わりだが 記事表示が遅く不満だし有料じゃないとほぼ使えない PCの拡張機能はマルウェア判定されてる ### 2/5 — Macchinoso poco intuitivo *2026-02-07, version 9.4.1* Pur creando account identici su cellulare e Kobo gli articoli salvati non si vedono. Legge solo EPUB, per i PDF occorre un abbonamento! ### 2/5 — Making the app worse is not the right way *2026-01-15, version 9.4.1* You could have come up with a much better cross selling strategy than introducing this 5 notes a month limit. If I can only highlight 5 sentences every 30 days, just remove it entirely. ### 3/5 — Voix IA sans intérêt *2026-01-13* App très utile pour envoyer ses articles sur une tablette, par contre j’ai essayé la version Premium pour accéder à la lecture automatique avec des voix IA sensées être meilleures que sur la version gratuite : très clairement ce n’est pas au point, du moins en français. Pour cet usage, passez votre chemin et restez à la version gratuite. ### 5/5 — Simple But Effective *2025-12-31, version 9.4.1* It’s fantastic at stripping the garbage out of articles, in my RSS feed, and in Google News, just giving me the content. From the app it’s easy to share content via email or text. I do pay for premium and am a longtime user. The only features that I find somewhat lacking are the AI summaries and the now lost ability to share articles automatically to sites like Bluesky or X. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Removed random article selection *2026-07-31, version 10* The new version brings smaller fonts, and ruined the sculpt to select a random article through an iOS shortcut ### 1/5 — Ужас *2026-07-14* Поделие уровня пятиклассника, очень устаревшее приложение с минимальнейшим набором функций и подпиской 500р/мес. Вы обезумели там что ли? Может сделаете нормальный, современный, красивый и качественный продукт сначала, а потом уже будете просить заслуженные 199р/мес? ### 1/5 — Not working with the Economist app *2026-07-10, version 9.4.1* Serious problems synching with the Economist app. Some articles do not appears. The ones that do, cannot be read because only the headline is present. ### 1/5 — 遅い *2026-05-28* ポケットの替わりだが 記事表示が遅くものすごく不満 プレミアムなのに別サーバーじゃないのは意味不明 ### 1/5 — No sigue por donde iba leyendo *2026-05-10, version 9.4.1* La versión web y la app van cada una a su bola. Necesito poder seguir por donde lo dejé cuando los artículos son largos, aunque cambie de leer por web a leer por el móvil, y viceversa. Vamos, que falla en lo fundamental. Es justo por lo que dejé de usar Pocket. Juraría que llegó a funcionar, pero los programadores siempre consiguen pudrir el código. ### 1/5 — Poor customer service *2026-03-06, version 9.4.1* Reported issue with badge count not working for a l-o-n-g time. After 2 tickets raised, still nothing done. ### 1/5 — Doesn’t do what it claims *2026-01-20, version 9.4.1* Wouldn’t sync pdfs ### 1/5 — Making using kobo hard *2026-01-01, version 9.4.1* So difficult to add stuff into kobo, all is super glitchy ### 1/5 — Can’t View Notes *2025-12-20, version 9.3.1* Sometimes I wonder if companies even test or use their own products. For me, the most important feature of Instapaper is highlighting text and making notes. The good news: I can highlight text and make a note. More good news: I can view the highlights and notes (via a dialog box) by opening the ellipses menu and selecting “View Notes”. The bad news: there is no way to close the dialog and return to the article. I need to Force Quit the application every time. I guess I’ll be using Weava or Web Highlights. *sigh* In case the developers are reading this… I’m on MacOS and I would have rated Instapaper through your app (Setting → Rate Instapaper) but that menu item doesn’t work either. ### 1/5 — アカウント削除できない *2025-12-18* 指示通り削除と入力しても、アカウント削除できない…😱 **Developer response:** アカウントと関連するすべてのデータを完全に削除するには、いつでもユーザー設定ページ（https://instapaper.com/user）の最下部から操作できます。さらにサポートが必要な場合は、support@instapaper.com までご連絡ください。喜んでお手伝いいたします。 ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Excellent Pocket alternative *2026-07-31, version 10* Current review: The latest update made the type too small for the list of saved stories. Please bring back the larger type size for the list of saved stories. Earlier review: Now that Pocket is closing shop, I needed an alternative. I like to find music on my iPad by listening to YouTube videos in the Brave browser. When I would find an album that I might want to purchase, I would save it to Pocket, open Pocket on my Mac, click on the YouTube video, and then watch the video in the Brave browser on my Mac which is connected to my home stereo music system. Now I can use Instapaper instead of Pocket, and it works perfectly just like Pocket. Nice! I am so happy about how well Instapaper works now. ### 5/5 — Great update *2026-07-28, version 10* The new 10.0 update makes everything I love about Instapaper even better. The new UI makes affordances clearer. The new fonts are thoughtfully chosen. And article counts in the menu tell me just how many articles I haven’t read yet! Great work as ever; I’m proud to be a subscriber. ### 5/5 — Probably the most valuable iOS app I use *2026-07-19, version 9.4.1* It downloads articles from an IFTTT RSS feed I set up more than a decade ago for reading them when I'm in questionable cell reception. Period. That's all I want it to do and it never fails. I use Instapaper dozens of times a day and it's amazing how well it works. The one or two times I've had an issue the developers, who are maybe three people, are courteous, friendly, and extremely helpful. Download this, you will not regret it. You'll be happy that you did. ### 5/5 — I can’t believe how well this app works *2026-06-21, version 9.4.1* Saving articles is so fast and easy and this app does it so well. I’m so impressed by how easy it works, and I only have the free version. The premium version doesn’t really have many features that I want but I would happily pay money for additional features like word counts, more sorting options, more data displays at the top of articles, etc. I also love how easy it is to send links to friends, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to send links from within the app but that works great too. ### 5/5 — Safari extension? *2026-06-01, version 9.4.1* Finally a good software for offline reads! Is a Safari extension still avialable? ### 5/5 — Dark icon please! *2026-05-18, version 9.4.1* blinding white messes up my all dark dock. ### 5/5 — Wonderful app! *2026-05-06, version 9.4.1* A great app! ### 5/5 — I love Instapaper *2026-03-30, version 9.4.1* I was about to build my own version of pocket after being frustrated with existing apps. Thankfully I found Instapaper, after using pocket for 15 or so years. This is so much better. This the perfect level of development for an app like this. Lots of function, no frivolousness, it’s honestly refreshing. I love its lack of BS that I pay for it monthly, just because I appreciate it so much. I love, LOVE, Instapaper. ### 5/5 — Absolute life hack. *2026-03-09, version 9.4.1* Gives you the ability to read offline which many other news/article apps don’t allow; also has a dark mode that has an actually black background, not grey or dark grey, this is actual black, oled black. The fonts are amazing and the full screen mode eliminates distractions. Everything about this about this app is so thoughtful and well made and designed. Its integration with other apps is so smooth and seamless. Instapaper has really outdone themselves here. And the best part of it all is that it’s free; this is what tops it all off. Perfect news/article app, couldn’t recommend more. 5 stars. Without a doubt. ### 5/5 — 👻 *2026-02-14, version 9.4.1* . --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-30.*