Most users like me do not want loads of bookmarks that demand sorting out regularly. Instead, a simple solution that allows users to browse what they need and discard what they want quickly, without much effort is most welcome. Meet Pocket, a browser extension that is available for Firefox, that lets you read the saved content on the web later when you are on a plane, train, or anywhere without an internet connection.
The add-on automatically syncs to your phone, tablet, or computer and supports an easy and convenient user interface. The ability to sync with any platform is proving beneficial, especially when it comes to hopping between workplace and home devices.
In this post, we are explaining how to use Pocket on Firefox.
How to use Pocket in Firefox
Once you have installed this add-on, the Pocket button appears in Firefox’s Navigation Toolbar. A single click on the button saves the current page to Pocket. It turns red, indicating that the page has been saved. Alternatively, you can see an item in the Context Menu – Save to Pocket when you right-click on the page background.
Save an article for later reading
You can sign in with your free Pocket account with your Firefox account, and begin right away and save the articles and videos to access them later by visiting here.
In the upper right-hand corner, the Pocket icon can be seen. It’s Read something button. A click on the drop-down window shows your reading list. You can edit and search all from within.
An options menu is visible under the icon, that lets you customize the settings.
For instance, a click on the ‘Online list’ button directs you to a page where all the saved items appear. Just click on the Item to check it out. Pocket will display the optimized view for articles. To see the original, click the share button and select ‘View Original.’
You can Archive, Favorite, or Share on this page.
Later, just select the Archive option from My List to read the article. Your reading position will be automatically synced across devices.
Clicking on Save Mode lets you quickly batch a reading list just by clicking on interesting links.
If you prefer using keyboard shortcuts, you can press Alt/Option+W to save the current page. There are several other keyboard shortcuts as well. To see the entire list, open Pocket, click the Settings icon, and select Keyboard Shortcuts. Here you will see a list of available shortcuts, and have the opportunity to edit them.
On an ending note, if you choose to use the Pocket feature, the impact on Firefox’s performance or memory use will be minimal. For users who choose not to use the feature and remove the button from their toolbar, the impact will be reduced even further.
Disable Pocket in Firefox permanently
Although the extension is good and serves its purpose well, a handful of users might question me – when there is a browser’s bookmarklet that works just fine to add things, and a bookmark to the website for reading, what’s the need for an add-on? Well, you can disable it; however, the process is not simple and straightforward.
The process isn’t as simple as uninstalling an extension or toggling a checkbox in settings. To disable Pocket Integration, you have to go through the following process.
Open Pocket, click Options (a cog wheel icon that is visible) and select “Account” from the left side section.
Next, hit the “Logout” tab.
Uninstall the add-on. For this, go to Tools > Add-ons, chose “Extensions”, and hit the “Remove” button for Read It Later.
Now, open your Firefox profile directory. To do this, click on the Firefox menu, choose the ‘Help’ section and switch to ‘Troubleshooting information’ screen. You should see ‘Applications Basics’ section there. Adjacent to the ‘Profile Folder’ you will notice the ‘Show Folder’ button. Hit the button.
Here, locate and delete the “Read It Later” folder and the “readItLater.sqlite” file
That’s all to it! This will disable Pocket in Firefox, and the icon should not be visible to you when you restart the browser.
Please note that if you were using the previous version – 0.9 user, you can find old bookmarks under Firefox’s bookmarks. Open the Firefox bookmarks section and search for a folder named ‘Read It Later’. If found, delete it.
All said, if you still use Pocket and do not mind its integration with Firefox then, skip all of the above steps and enjoy it—the feature is live now in Beta and Nightly versions of Firefox, and is likely to be made Live with the next major Firefox release. Visit getpocket.com to get them.
