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Readability for Android to be released Monday, Amazon Appstore-only for a week

Readability for Android to be released Monday, Amazon Appstore-only for a week

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A week after releasing its iOS app, reading service Readability is launching its Android app on Monday.

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Readability Android app (use this one)
Readability Android app (use this one)

Readability's much-delayed iOS app made its debut just over a week ago, and now the company's following it with a brand-new app for Android phones and tablets. The free app will be available on Monday morning at 11AM ET, though if you want to download the app as soon as possible you'll also need the Amazon Appstore on your device, where it will be exclusively available for the first week. That strategy is a nod from Readability to Amazon, aligning it with a company that's done so much for readers. "We've been talking to Amazon for a while because their heritage is so grounded in reading with the Kindle products," Readability CEO Rich Ziade told us. "We even went to great lengths to scale up the Readability experience on the Kindle Fire so that the type and interface is right-sized."

We've been using the app for a few days, and it's definitely a welcome addition to the Android time-shifted reading market, which until now has been sorely lacking. Readability's two main competitors are Read it Later and Instapaper, and while the former has a decent native Android app, Instapaper fans are subjected to myriad mediocre third-party apps that don't work nearly as well as the service's iOS app. Readability jumps immediately to the head of the Android class thanks to a beautiful, typography-based UI, and functionality identical to its iOS counterpart. It's clearly designed for Android 4.0 and beyond, with basically no support for the Menu button, but those without Ice Cream Sandwich should get used to it quickly. We're fans already, and we're betting Monday's going to make a lot of Android users into happy new Readability users.

Update: it's available!