I need a bookmark manager:.

• Simple, cross-platform (Mac, iOS, browser)
• Not just read-it-later
• No (or limited) social aspects
• Simple organization

Pocket, Instapaper, Readwise Reader, Reeder, Matter, M.b bookmarks, Omnivore don’t fit. Pinboard is closest but it’s browser only and dated. Suggestions?

@Mtt I’m a big fan of Raindrop. It’s the only one besides Pinboard that fits or nearly fits your criteria.

@Mtt If you don't mind sharing, I'll be curious to hear what you find and why it works better than all the options you listed.

@bradbarrish @Mtt I second the Raindrop recommendation.

@Mtt I've been going through a search myself. Raindrop was better than pinboard.in but I wish the Mac app were better. I've been using Anybox for a month and I think this will work for my permanent bookmarks. No browser version, but I can live without it. I've been using Omnivore for "read later" and then archiving anything I want to keep in Anybox.

@Mtt +1 for raindrop.

@manton This is my ideal workflow:

1. Quick save into 'catchall' type of folder
2. From there I can archive or move to ↓
3. "Read Later", "To Do", "Frequent", and "Temporary"
4. No "automatic reader view"

If it could do that with fast sync, that meets 90% of my needs and I'd be content. Some apps can get close to it with a tagging interface, but so often that's clunky. I don't need to pull out image previews or see how many times a link has been saved or use AI to summarize or turn it into an audio version or share my bookmarks with followers or tag articles with 15 different tags or export as pdf. I just want a place that stores/organizes links and syncs fast.

M.b is pretty close. If it had a dedicated Bookmarks app/interface that was fast, I'd be all-in on it.

@robbirming I've tried GoodLinks and it's close. Not bad at all. Just something about the UI didn't click with me. Need to try again.

@bradbarrish @pratik @kimonostereo @valera I tried Raindrop before and had a lot of syncing issues. But maybe I should give it a go again.

@Mtt I’ll pile on for Raindrop. Their native iOS app is particularly nice.

@Mtt Pinboard's age is kind of beside the point if it does everything you need. And the Pinner third party app works fine on iOS anyway. That said, Raindrop seems to be the next best, though its lack of support for feeds in the places I wanted them made it a non-starter.

@Mtt It sounds like you want a note in the Notes app.

@gregmoore Haha…That's my current setup. No joke.

@chrislott I was under the impression that Pinner was no longer under development.

@Mtt There are several native clients for Pinboard (Spillo, Pinner, etc). Been using that for years.

Heard good things about Raindrop though.

@Mtt Very late, but Raindrop does seem to fit the bill. I've seen you've had syncing issues, I never experienced those.

@Mtt have a look at booky.io

@Mtt Not a bookmark manager, but this is just one of the ways I use Devonthink

@prealpinux Thanks, I will!

@letters That’s interesting. Will dig in.

@wfm That app has always been something I’ve wanted to explore. Perhaps now is the time.

@jasonekratz It’s definitely the leading candidate so far.

@torb Which is your favorite app?

@maique Looks like I’m going to have to give it another shot.

@jasonekratz Booky.io and a better Pinboard app are also on the list to try out.

@Mtt I have no idea. I'm just a happy user. If Raindrop had RSS feeds for tags---and the developer made clear he didn't plan to add that feature---I might have considered switching to raindrop.io, though I do prefer the fast and simple interface of Pinboard, after which all the rest seem over-developed. The archiving feature on Pinboard is broken, though, at least last time I checked!

@Mtt that workflow is interesting

@rcrackley I got that lifetime Pinboard thing too back when it was offered. Looks like it was 2012. I installed Pins to give it a shot.

@rcrackley @Mtt I had a Pinboard account I created over 11 years ago. In late last year or earlier this year (I can’t recall exactly), I deleted it for a few reasons.

From a technical standpoint, Pinboard still functions, but it hasn’t seen many improvements in the past 10 years. Its API is limited and poorly designed, essentially implementing the same interfaces as Delicious.

A few years back, the person behind Pinboard tweeted about planning a new API, but nothing ever came of it. We even discussed potential API designs and improvements, but to the best of my knowledge, no progress was made.

Several years ago, I created a native macOS app because I wanted to use Pinboard in Dark Mode. However, since I decided to delete my account, I archived the project. You can find more about it here.

@Mtt I've looked into this abyss many, many times over the years and have never found something better, functionally, than Pinboard. So I’m still there. Raindrop is intriguing, but too complicated for what I want.

@Mtt Not making light of your needs but I often forget just how powerful the simplicity of a text file can be. I recently kept paper on hand for the real-world equivalent.

@Mtt I use microsoft edge browser on all platforms. Bookmarks sync.

@gregmoore I have 14,140 links in Pinboard. That would be a heck of a text file. :-)

@letters it makes me smile when I add a link to Pinboard only to find I added it a couple years earlier.

@jthingelstad I think I’m staying with Pinboard. I just created a Shortcut that pulls the title of the page, gives me tag options, then ads an AI created description to every bookmark. 🤪

@nathanrhale I use Safari everywhere and utilize that in full for pages I frequent. However, I’m more speaking of the hundreds (thousands?) of accumulated links for things like research and writing.

@gregmoore Oh, you’re right for sure. I’m all in on plain text for so many things. I just want a slight step up for bookmarks organization. The nature of my job requires a lot of research for project after project, and I need a simple way to store info and keep it organized.

I do use Notes for so many things. As well as Obsidian and Marked 2.

@Mtt ah that makes sense.

@Mtt it has been rock solid for me. I have tens of thousands of bookmarks, it's under active development and new features are thoughtfully added. Also worth noting that the few times I've reached out to the developer, he always responds. Honestly couldn't ask for more. Needless to say, I'm a very happy customer.

@Mtt, @chrislott makes a great point and not having RSS feeds for tags, or anything for that matter, is the only quibble I have with Raindrop. I was previously a Pinboard customer and still pay for it, so I simply have an IFTTT applet running that creates a bookmark in Pinboard whenever I bookmark anything in Raindrop.

@Mtt I'm currently using Linkding hosted in Pikapod. It's a lot like Pinboard with a few annoyances fixed and no read-it-later service. Works really well for me. Not sure if it's got apps though, I only use the browser interface.

@jthingelstad What do you do with that many links?

@Mtt just chiming in on the Pinboard train, with the Pins app on iOS. It’s more of a workflow situation for me, but it always works.

@Mtt Spillo on Mac, Pins on iOS

@wfm I recently tried DevonThink to organize some tax documents. What do you use it for?

@valera All bills, receipts, bookmarks, pdf files on topics I'm interested in, research I'm doing, pretty much everything goes into Devonthink. I have it on my phone and my mac. The one on my phone acts as an inbox of sorts. If I see an interesting article in a paper that I may want again, it gets quickly scanned in. I have different databases on the mac version and just sync the inbox between my phone and mac. Then stuff in the inbox gets processed on my mac.

Sometimes I will create a smart group around a topic, for example, I have a current one called "Retrofit" and I have a bunch of stuff in there about insulation, solar panels, heat pumps, grants. Using tags, they all end up grouped together. I'm only using a fraction of its power.

@wfm thank you. Does it actually move local files into organized structure of some sorts or just referenced them?

@valera you can choose to enter documents directly into Devonthink or index them from a folder elsewhere. I would have a combination of both, but it’s purely a personal choice.

@wfm thank you for your replies. Bummer that it’s not cross platform and requires subscription for the mobile app.