Great Value ios app for Pinboard Lovers
I started using the great online bookmark service Pinboard, as services like google reader can’t be relied upon, and starring an item in an rss reader doesn’t let you tag articles very well. But I hadn’t yet got an ios app. I have now given one a spin.
I’ve only been using Pinner (App Store link) for a day or so, but find it to be a really fast, pretty, feature packed, great value for money app. It is a universal app that costs $2.
all my bookmarks sync quickly and easily and scrolling through links or tags seems quick
animations are pretty, but also useful to the UX
the website from the developer and on the App Store does not provide a list of all the features, or pictures showing them all. Here they are:
your links are all cached offline
you can view your own links by, recent, unread, untangled, private, or public.
you can browse your links by tag
you can view popular and new links from the wider pinboard community
you can search (within both the tag and link lists) by tag and (in the link list) also by title, URL and description — this can be used to filter by multiple tags (tag1 [space] tag2 is equivalent of an AND operator)
you can delete, share, edit links quickly by swiping left or right on a link to bring up some options
the built in browser has a great read mode with options for line spacing, margins, and font
the built in browser allows editing of links, sharing directly from there, and has a full screen mode
it has a url scheme that integrates automatically with Launch Center Pro
finally settings allows for options like caching for offline reading of certain links and some other features too
So for $2 for a universal app this is great value. I have some small requests for further additions:
a clear signal that you are in reading mode or not in the browser
clarity about what text is saved for offline reading when selected, and potentially options here (I’d love to save text and pictures of my reading list, or possibly the most recent x links)
autofill when searching by tags
the ability to see your network of links
the ability to look at your bundles (I don’t think any other pinboard app does this)
I think the styling in menu bar on the left could be improved. It is very legible, but not quite as refined as the rest of the app
It would also be nice to click on a tag when in the link view to filter on that tag - the tag text is small but they seem so tempting
With all of these changes, it feels like this app with Pinboard gives services like instapaper a real run for their money, and they blur the line with other services like flipboard or RSS feeds.