Instapaper iPhone/iPad app

Instapaper is a website that allows users to save articles they've found on the web so they can be read later.

It strips out all advertising and formatting so that all that's left is the text and relevant images.

After you create an account you can save any website for reading. The easiest way to do this is to install what the site calls a ‘bookmarklet', an icon that sits in your web browser's toolbar and when clicked, saves the current page to your Instapaper account.

The app costs a high-for-the-iPhone £3, but it's completely worthwhile for anyone who reads a lot online.

After you sign in to your Instapaper account on the app, all your articles appear in a list. They can be read, deleted or archived, and are saved on the device to be read whether you're online or not.

It might sound like a very minor thing for an app to do, but we found that it solved a problem we didn't know we had - reading web articles on the iPhone wasn't bad on its own, but with Instapaper there's no need to remember to be online, or worry about losing a connection, or to keep several web browser tabs open.

The text size can be adjusted for clarity, scrolling through was easy (you can even scroll by tilting the phone, though this isn't switched on by default) and it was simple to use. The new iOS 5 includes a Reader mode that does something similar for web pages, but it's nowhere near as clever.

We really found that Instapaper increased the amount we read online, and made it much more of a pleasure.

Instapaper for iOS is available from the App Store