Read It Later for Mac

Quick summary

Read It Later is a Firefox add-on designed to prevent articles and pages from being lost among bookmarks by allowing you to save items for later reading. It integrates with mobile devices and Google Reader, and offers online syncing so your saved list follows you across machines.

Saving pages for later

When the extension is active you’ll see a small checkmark in the address bar. Clicking that icon toggles the page into your reading list (the icon changes color to indicate a saved item). This provides a fast, one-click way to mark articles without cluttering your regular bookmarks.

Opening and managing your reading queue

Use the book-shaped icon in the upper-right corner of Firefox to open a dropdown of everything you’ve saved. From there you can:

• Browse items and jump straight to any saved page.
• Sort the list by title, by keyword, or by the date you added each entry.
• Remove entries once you’ve finished them so the list stays focused.

Synchronization and offline use

Read It Later can sync your saved pages to an online account (similar to services such as Xmarks), so your reading list is available on any machine where you sign in. There’s also a companion app for iPhone and iPod Touch that keeps the list in sync automatically; if needed, saved items can be downloaded for offline reading on the device.

Google Reader compatibility

If you use Google Reader, Read It Later adds a small check next to the existing star icon. Selecting that check immediately transfers the item into your Read It Later queue, making it easy to save articles you find while scanning feeds.

Final thoughts

Read It Later is a practical and reliable way to keep a focused reading list across browsers and devices. If you frequently save things “for later” but never get around to them, this extension greatly reduces the chance that those items will disappear into an unmanageable bookmark collection.