On Android especially, the Instapaper app is way behind the Pocket one.
Pocket mostly applies successfully the latest Android design principles. It is not perfect, but it is a solid implementation.
Instapaper looks like it has been written by somebody discovering the support lib along the way. Bad drawer implementation, no attention to detail. It does not even look like the dev is using its own app, because there are some seriously low hanging fruit that should be easy to solve (for example I can't click on the drawer icon, only on the title for some reason).
It's hard to justify a subscription with such a weak effort and it is probably a vicious circle where the dev doesn't have a reason to improve his app either.
Pocket mostly applies successfully the latest Android design principles. It is not perfect, but it is a solid implementation.
Instapaper looks like it has been written by somebody discovering the support lib along the way. Bad drawer implementation, no attention to detail. It does not even look like the dev is using its own app, because there are some seriously low hanging fruit that should be easy to solve (for example I can't click on the drawer icon, only on the title for some reason).
It's hard to justify a subscription with such a weak effort and it is probably a vicious circle where the dev doesn't have a reason to improve his app either.