The read-it-later app for iOS, Instapaper, arrives on Android and is now available. Tech Web site The Verge got an exclusive hands-on with the app, and here are the details.

Missing Features

The Verge said the app looks like the iOS version, sans the Friends feature and currently popular reading on Instapaper. Web search also isn't available to search, along with Full Screen.

There's also "no shortage of font options" and screen brightness, line spacing, margins and font size can be adjusted while reading. Dark Mode is is available for reading at night, though Sepia is missing.

"In an Android app, with little work on the developer's part, you can share to just about any app or social network present on your phone (like Dropbox)," The Verge said. E-mail clients can also be selected, while an Instapaper button is added to the Share option in other apps. The iOS version requires a bookmarklet to be added.

Tablet-Specific UI

The Verge tested the app on a 7-inch Android tablet, and said the app scaled up by showing articles in boxes rather than rows while running smoothly - a "nearly identical" experience to the iPad app.

The app is the 1.0 version, and as a result "isn't as polished as you'd expect." Two buttons do nothing when tapped: the pencil icon doesn't do anything unless there are custom-created folders, and the three-dot menu at the bottom of the site's HTC device also performs no function.

Updates Imminent

Automatic article syncing isn't in, unlike the iPhone version, but the developers did say updates are coming to bring the app more in line with the iOS version. Despite the flaws, The Verge said, the app is still the best read-it-later client available on Android.

"Android is not in my world. It's not in my attention span most days. Thinking about the iOS app is a full-time job, and staying competitive on iOS is a full-time job," Instapaper creator Marco Arment said to The Verge during its talk show On The Verge. He later said the success of the Kindle Fire and Nook versions convinced him to develop an Android version, outsourcing the development to Tumblr for iPhone and Android developer Mobelux.

Instapaper for Android is available now on Google Play for $2.99.