Instapaper is indispensable on my iPad. Articles I don’t have time to read, magically appear when I want to read. Watchlaterapp is just like that, but specifically made for videos. So instead of missing out on videos, it’s all right in the app.
What is it?
Watchlaterapp, $4, iPad. It’s a two-step process. You either install a bookmarklet to your browser or email a link to your special Watchlaterapp email account, and it’ll pop up in the iPad app for your viewing pleasure later. You can even save videos to watch offline, as Watchlaterapp gives you a free 300 minutes of video storage. That way you can still watch videos when you don’t have a internet connection.
I’m loving it because it really fills a need for me. I want to watch videos online, I really do, but sometime I just get caught up and forget about them. Having an organised list of the videos I wanted to see, available on my iPad? Pretty much perfect. It plays the video ‘within’ the app too, so I’m not jumping back and forth between Youtube and the app. It still needs to support more providers (or just give the link to the page) but that’ll hopefully get fixed in time.
It really is Instapaper for videos and that is a good, good thing.
Who’s it good for?
People who like watching videos online. People who don’t have the time during the day to watch videos online. People who like organising things into nice little lists.
Why’s it better than alternatives?
The current setup I use to watch videos later is to either email them to myself, drag the link to my desktop or save them in Instapaper. None of those methods are really successful, as I always forget about them and never watch them again. So sad. Thankfully, Watchlaterapp is going to make me watch the videos I wanted to watch. It keeps it simple, like Instapaper, and the short blurbs of info complete with screencap it spits out reminds you why you wanted to watch it in the first place.
How could it be even better?
I wish it auto-displayed videos in full screen, instead of making you choose to expand it. I want it all right away! I also wish the entire section detailing the video was clickable as opposed to just the video icon and ‘Show Original Site’ link. It’s also not as invisible as Instapaper, as the bookmarklet opens up a sidebar in your browser for a moment (though it has to be, to allow you to pick which video you want to watch). It’s also not as premium high quality app as Instapaper, as it took a bit of time and had some mishits when saving the video.
Watchlaterapp for iPad [iTunes]