Kobo users who relied on Pocket to catch up on long reads just got some welcome news: Rakuten has officially swapped in Instapaper. After Pocket’s shutdown earlier this year, it wasn’t clear what would fill the gap, but Kobo’s latest update makes sure users still have a seamless read-it-later option.
Instapaper now brings saved articles to Kobo
The new integration works much like Pocket did. After linking your Instapaper account, you’ll be able to browse your saved articles directly from your Kobo device. They can be downloaded for offline access, liked, archived, or deleted, perfect for knocking out a reading backlog without pulling out your phone.
It’s not just a stopgap, either. Instapaper sync is now officially available across all currently supported Kobo ereaders, including color and stylus-equipped models like the Kobo Libra Colour and Elipsa 2E.
Why is Pocket gone
Pocket’s disappearance wasn’t random. Mozilla chose to shut it down in May 2025 alongside several other small projects, aiming to shift its resources back toward Firefox. For Kobo owners, that left a noticeable hole, especially since Pocket was tightly woven into the ereader’s software.
Fortunately, Rakuten found a natural alternative. And while Pocket and Instapaper don’t match perfectly, the core experience remains intact.
How Instapaper compares to Pocket
Functionally, Instapaper handles the basics just fine. But if you were used to Pocket’s focus on visual fidelity, you might notice a few differences. Instapaper strips most images and layouts down to plain text, prioritizing clean readability over formatting.
That’s not necessarily a drawback, especially on e-ink screens, but it’s worth knowing if you often save image-heavy content.
One feature is still missing on Kobo
There is one small catch: the Instapaper integration doesn’t yet support handwritten notes. So if you’re using a Kobo with a stylus, like the Elipsa 2E, you won’t be able to jot annotations directly onto Instapaper articles just yet.
Still, the core experience is here, and it’s smooth. For most users, this change is more of a trade-in than a downgrade.
Kobo keeps offline reading alive
Losing Pocket could’ve been a real blow to Kobo’s appeal. But with Instapaper stepping in, that threat feels like a distant memory. Articles sync, downloads work globally, and the reading experience is uninterrupted.
That’s what matters, and Kobo delivered.
