Improve iPhone Safari Readability

I like to catch up on my blog reading using my iPhone. However, many sites don’t have a mobile version that formats the page for a smaller device.

Instatpaper to the resuce!

Instapaper.com is known for allowing you to bookmark a web page and ‘Read It Later’ using either their website or iPhone app. What’s also great is they format the bookmarked web page so that it is readable on mobile devices. They also offer their ‘mobilizer engine’ to use as a separate service:

If you go to this site on your mobile browser: http://instapaper.com/m 

Then Enter a url of blog you like to read: For example: http://community.devexpress.com/blogs/aspnet/default.aspx

Hit Go and watch as all the formatting is removed and you see big text that only scrolls vertically. Beautiful and perfect for mobile browsers.

I’ve taken it a step further by creating a bookmarklet that will automatically call the ‘Instapaper mobilizer’ site for you when you’re reading a blog on your mobile browser. Here’s the steps to add it to an iPhone:

1. From Safari, add a new bookmark and call it something like ‘Instapaper Mobilizer’.
2. Edit the Bookmark you just added.
3. javascript:var d=document,w=window,f='http://www.instapaper.com/m',l=d.location,e=encodeURIComponent,p='?u='+e(l.href),u=f+p;if(!w.open(u,'t','toolbar=0,resizable=0,status=1,width=250,height=150'))l.href=u;   Replace the url with the JavaScript code in this box.
4. Now, while reading a blog, open the bookmark you just added.

And that’s it. Enjoy.