Later is a Pocket alternative for iOS and macOS: it stores links with offline access and synchronization, but limits you to 10 links without a subscription.
For many, Pocket was synonymous with saving information found online that wasn’t needed right away. Now that the service has shut down, users need alternatives. Luckily, there are plenty, and today I’ll tell you about one of them.
What is the service?
Later is an app for Apple devices that lets you save links and view them anytime, even offline.
Interface and navigation
The app’s interface is divided into two sections. On the left, there’s a navigation panel to browse your links: inbox, archive, all entries. You can also search through content or use filters: recent, flagged, with notes, offline, or without tags. The right panel displays the content of the selected link.
Working with links
As with Pocket, links can be added directly or via a browser extension.
When you create a link, no extra metadata is pulled automatically, though the page title is saved.
Saved links can be edited — you can rename them, add notes, flag or tag them, make them available offline, or set reminders. All this information is shown in the main window when viewing a saved link.
Clicking a link opens it in the browser, even if an offline copy exists. To view the offline version, you need to right-click and select View offline. This will open the previously saved copy.
You can change this behavior in the settings, along with other options, like automatic removal of tracking parameters from links.
Unfortunately, notes cannot be organized into folders or categories. The only way to structure your data is with tags, which may not suit everyone.
Data synchronization works between the desktop and mobile versions, so you can save or view links on any device.
Pricing
You can use the app for free, but only with up to 10 links. After that, you’ll need a subscription starting at $1.99 per month. There’s also a lifetime version with a one-time payment of $49.99.
Conclusion
Honestly, I stopped using Pocket and similar services long before it shut down. That’s why apps like this — especially paid ones — feel pointless to me. It’s much easier to save information in Obsidian or similar tools.
But speaking objectively, Later is a simple app that handles the task of saving links well. It works across devices (except Android) and does its job properly. The only real downsides are the cost and the lack of advanced organization features.