A first look at Safari 5′s Reader view
Apple’s packed a lot new functionality into its WebKit-based browser, including greatly improved HTML5 support and JavaScript performance, not to mention the ability to choose Microsoft’s Bing! as your search client. However, the feature that’s already won over this blogger is Reader, which allows the user to pull text out of complex pages and presents it in an easy to read (mostly) text format.
Safari 5 presents journalists and users with a lot of new features (Download for Leopard, Snow Leopard) to pore over and dig through. Whereas features like improved HTML5 compatibility hold promise for the future, Safari Reader is something you can sink you teeth into right now.
To invoke Reader view, click the button in the Address Bar. For menu and keyboard jockeys, go to the View menu and “Enter Reader” (⌘ + Shift + R). Safari will pull out the text and images from the body of the article and present them in an easy-to-read format that removes nested ads and widgets, such as related story boxes, etc.
Reader improves the readability of even relatively uncluttered layouts.
To return to the normal page view, press ⌘ + Shift + R again, hit Escape (esc) or click outside Reader view.
Out of sight…
That said, try out Safari Reader view on this PCWorld article/page, which is packed with elements and images just scantly related the content. Press ⌘ + Shift + R and watch all of that “junk” just melt away. Reader spreads the layout to emphasize the text and removes a multitude of “busy” elements that distract from the real content.
That said, students, bloggers and journalists are going to love Safari Reader view as this feature allows them to quickly and easily view and grab text from even the nastiest of page layouts — sweet.
Although I’m definitely looking forward to consuming HTML5 content (Flash, be gone!), as well as coding for those features, Safari Reader is an advanced feature I’m already using right now…
What’s your take?
Like you, I think the Reader app is great. The removal of the adds also kicks Google in the crotch along with the blogging sites that are supported by all those web ads. Google my wish they had not made war with Apple.
FYI
Keyboard shortcut not needed.
If available, a READER button will appear in the Address Bar.
Great Feature.
Try this URL and enjoy the article and art.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/drawing-fire-into-ubaydi/
Just like TiVo — let’s you skip the ads. Someone’s ox is getting gored on this one — and there’s going to be some complaining.
As a consumer, though — I love it. It’s nice being able to get away from all of the ads and such. If there’s any real substance to the sidebars, etc., you’ve still got the original web page to view. What’s not to like.
Way to go, Apple.
It’s funny. I was already using Readability. When I installed Safari 5, it did not put a READER button in the address bar. For which I’m grateful. I do not like the Safari reader as much.
Isn’t it “pore over?”
“Pour[ing] over” things when it involves electronics makes me nervous.
I like Reader, though.
“Pore” is correct:
pore 2
verb [ intrans. ] ( pore over/through)
be absorbed in the reading or study of : Heather spent hours poring over cookbooks.
While we’re at it:
“let’s you skip the ads” should be:
“lets you skip the ads”.
[...] See also: A first look at Safari 5’s Reader view [...]
Its weird, i was just reading the article “iPhone 4 gets a real antenna” and i noticed the reader button. i clicked on it and i noticed a link to this article. Basically, this was linked in another post, and when i said “Wtf does this do…” a link explaining was already there.
Cool…
[...] if you’re want to your Mac to speak a webpage or article in Safari, pull up the text in Reader Mode, which strips out the extraneous crap — links, advertisements, captions, boiler plate, etc. — [...]
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