On the Mac, the only option has been using the web based version Instapaper or Read It Later. Read Later is free app that was recently released in the app store that offers a native OS solution.

What is Read Later?

Read Later gives you access to your Read It Later or Instapaper. accounts in a single easy-to-use application. Within Read Later you can manage your read later account without logging in to the services via browser.

This Mac OS X app syncs articles from Read It Later or Instapaper. However, to use the Instapaper service you’ll need a paid subscription. Instapaper Pro users can use the app; regular Instapaper users will have to pay $1 a month.

Similar to the iOS apps, Read Later provides adjustable fonts, text sizes¹ line spacing and margins.

Read Later has support for archiving articles to services like Evernote, Pinboard, and Delicious and has sharing option for social sites like Twitter and Facebook². You can set these up via the application’s preferences panel. The application also supports OS X Lion’s full screen mode.

You can also view the article in it’s original form.

I prefer reading my saved articles on my iPad but sometimes my iPad needs charging. During those times I can catch up on my reading with Read Later. Read Later is free in the Mac App Store.

I’m a big Google Services user but some of my friends and colleagues prefer Yahoo! I’ve written about how to integrate Google Services with my Mac, iPhone and iPad but I’ve remiss in writing anything about Yahoo! Enabling Yahoo! Services on Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) is fairly straight forward.

System Preferences

The direct method for setting up Google services on OS X Lion is via the System Preferences. OS X Lion System Preferences has a new option called Mail, Contacts & Calendars under the Internet & Wireless section. Select it.

Mail, Contacts, and Calendars

If you are an iPhone or iPad owner this next screen shot will seem very familiar to you. To setup a particular service, click the Add Account… button and select the icon for the service. In this case, we are setting up Yahoo! services so select Yahoo!.

Once you select Yahoo! you will be prompted to add you Yahoo! username and password. The username should be you complete email address. After entering your credentials click Setup.

Once your Mac has connected successfully to the Yahoo! servers you can select the services you want to sync to your Mac. Go ahead and select all of them including Yahoo! Chat.

You should now be able to read your Yahoo! Mail via the Mac OS X Mail app, chat on Yahoo! via iChat, and your Address Book should start filling up with your Yahoo! contact. Launch iCal and you will see all your Yahoo! calendar details.

Cosmetically speaking the Mac App Store will be familiar to anyone who has used iTunes to purchase apps, music or movies. The only difference is the lack of a sidebar.

I browsed through the Top Paid and Featured app sections. Some of the titles will be familiar to those who have bought apps for the iPad.  Apple’s iWork software has been broken into it’s component pieces with each (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote) available for $20. I bought Keynote to complement the version I have on my iPad. I also bought the Mac version of Angry Bird; a wildly popular casual game for the iPad and iPhone. Angry Birds entered the Top Paid the list on the first week in the Mac App Store.  I also downloaded an installed the official (and FREE) Twitter client app for Mac. I already had Twitter installed but apparently the Mac App Store app did not detect that.

Installation is quite easy. Just like on the iPad or iPhone I simply clicked the Purchase button (or Free button for free apps). Once I entered my iTunes username and password the icon changed to Installing which indicated that my apps was being downloaded and installed.

Once the installation completed, the icon changed to Installed and I noticed a bouncing Twitter app icon in my dock. I can see how having the app icon placed in the dock can help new users who may not be familiar with the Application folder but more advanced users may be annoyed. There is no way to change this behaviour.

The Mac App store app also keeps track of which apps have been installed and provides updates as they become available.  This is similar to how app updates are handled in iTunes.

Apple is offering the same generous licensing terms for Mac apps as with iOS apps. I can install apps purchase through the Mac App Store on up to five Macs in my home. Of course this is only possible if all of my computers are running Snow Leopard (or Lion when it is released). The Mac App Store app keeps track of the licenses. That means that for $20 I can buy Keynote (all of the iWork suite are available individual in the Mac App Store) and install it on my iMac, and the two MacBooks in my home. For $60 you can buy the entire suite. That’s a 50% discount over the packaged app. The loss of a physical disc does not bother me. I simply backed up my the app to a CD.

I also noticed that Mac App store prices are lower than buying them online or from Best Buy. For example, Pixelmator, a popular Photoshop replacement was just $29.99 when the Mac App Store but $99 online.  The developer has since announced that they intend to move all future app sales to the Mac App Store.  A positive sign.

I think the Mac App Store is a significant benefit to new Mac users (there numbers are growing) but experienced Mac users will find it useful as well. And we know it can only get better.