Top Words App Alternatives for Enhanced Reading & Note-Taking
Words App was designed to be your ultimate read-it-later inbox, consolidating articles from Instapaper, Readability, and Pocket into one seamless experience. It offered offline reading, robust organization with tags and folders, and a highly customizable reading interface. However, if you're looking for a different approach to managing your saved articles, taking notes, or simply a fresh user experience, there are many excellent Words App alternatives available. This guide explores some of the best options that can enhance your digital reading and information organization.
Best Words App Alternatives
Whether you prioritize comprehensive note-taking, a dedicated read-it-later service, or a flexible knowledge management system, these alternatives offer diverse features to meet your specific needs. Let's dive into some of the top contenders.
Evernote
Evernote is a powerful cross-platform, freemium app that excels in note-taking, organizing, and archiving. While Words App focused on article reading, Evernote offers a broader spectrum of features including cloud sync, text formatting, OCR, and a web clipper, making it a robust alternative for managing a wide range of information. It's available across Mac, Windows, Web, Android, iPhone, and more.
Pocket is a dedicated read-it-later service that allows you to save webpages for offline reading, much like a core function of Words App. It's a freemium service available on Mac, Web, Android, iPhone, and various browsers. Key features include an adapted article view, offline reading, and text-to-speech, offering a streamlined experience for consuming saved content.
Joplin
Joplin is an excellent open-source and free alternative for those who prioritize privacy and flexibility in note-taking and to-do management. It supports Markdown, end-to-end encryption, and cloud synchronization, allowing you to sync notes across Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, iPhone, and more. Its web clipper also makes it a strong contender for saving articles.
Standard Notes
Standard Notes is a simple, private, and open-source note-taking app that emphasizes end-to-end encryption and privacy. Similar to Joplin, it's a strong alternative for users concerned about data security, offering Markdown support, cloud sync, and extensibility through plugins. It's available across Mac, Windows, Linux, Web, Android, and iPhone, and can even be self-hosted.
CherryTree
CherryTree is a free, open-source hierarchical note-taking application for Windows and Linux. While not a direct read-it-later app like Words App, its rich text and syntax highlighting features, along with its ability to store data in a single file, make it a robust solution for organizing large amounts of information and notes, including saved article summaries or excerpts.
Diigo
Diigo offers enhanced reading and research capabilities through annotations, highlighting, sticky notes, and bookmarking. It's a freemium web-based service with apps for Android and iPhone, and browser extensions. For users who valued Words App's focus on article consumption, Diigo provides powerful tools for interacting with and saving web content, including PDF annotation and offline saving.
Instapaper
Instapaper is one of the original and most popular simple tools for saving web pages for later reading. As Words App integrated Instapaper, Instapaper itself is a direct and excellent freemium alternative for offline reading, featuring a clean design and browser extensions. It's available on Web, Android, iPhone, and iPad.
Notezilla
Notezilla is a commercial sticky notes app for Windows and phones, offering features like reminder alarms, attachments, and organization via folders/tags. While primarily a note-taking tool, its sync capabilities and ability to attach notes to websites make it a useful alternative for quick annotations and managing snippets of information from articles, especially on Windows.
Refind
Refind focuses on helping users discover and save quality links. While Words App was about reading saved articles, Refind adds a discovery engine and social networking aspect to link saving. It's a free web service with apps for Android and iPhone, making it a compelling alternative for those who want to save and revisit interesting web content, and also find new articles.
Leanote
Leanote is a freemium, open-source service that functions as both a personal notebook and a blogging platform. It offers Markdown support, full-text search, and nested notebooks across Mac, Windows, Linux, Web, Android, and iPhone. For users who valued Words App's organizational features, Leanote provides a robust environment for note-taking and even publishing content.
The best Words App alternative for you will depend on your specific needs, whether it's robust note-taking, a streamlined read-it-later experience, or advanced organization features. Explore these options to find the perfect fit for your digital workflow.