Pocket, One of the Only Apps I Ever Liked, Is Shutting Down
Pocket, an app for saving and reading articles later, is shutting down on July 8, Mozilla announced today.
The company sent an email with the subject line “Important Update: Pocket is Saying Goodbye,” around 2 p.m. EST and I immediately started wailing when I saw it.
“You’ll be able to keep using the app and browser extensions until then. However, starting May 22, 2025, you won’t be able to download the apps or purchase a new Pocket Premium subscription,” the announcement says. Users can export saved articles until October 8, 2025, after which point all Pocket accounts and data will be permanently deleted.
The Mozilla-owned Pocket, formerly known as "Read It Later," launched in August 2007 as a Firefox browser extension that let users save articles to... well, read later. Mozilla acquired Pocket in 2017.
“Pocket has helped millions save articles and discover stories worth reading. But the way people save and consume content on the web has evolved, so we’re channeling our resources into projects that better match browsing habits today,” Mozilla said in an announcement on Distilled, the company’s blog. “Discovery also continues to evolve; Pocket helped shape the curated content recommendations you already see in Firefox, and that experience will keep getting better. Meanwhile, new features like Tab Groups and enhanced bookmarks now provide built-in ways to manage reading lists easily.”
In that announcement, it also said it’s sunsetting Fakespot, Mozilla’s failed attempt at consumer-level AI detection tools. The Distilled announcement post says the company made the choice to shut down these products because “it’s imperative we focus our efforts on Firefox and building new solutions that give you real choice, control and peace of mind online.” It also says the choice will allow Mozilla to “shape the next era of the internet – with tools like vertical tabs, smart search and more AI-powered features on the way.” Which is what everyone wants: more AI bloat in their browsers.
The “Pocket Hits” newsletter will continue, the company says, under a new name starting June 17. “We’re proud of what Pocket has made possible over the years — helping millions of people save and enjoy the web’s best content. Thank you for being part of that journey,” the company said.
As I said, I’m upset! I use the Pocket Chrome extension almost daily, and it’s become a habitual click for articles I want to save to read later even though I fully know I never will. Before the subway had Wi-Fi, back when I commuted to work 45 minutes each way every day, I used Pocket to save articles offline and read outside of internet access. Anecdotally speaking, Pocket was a big traffic driver for bloggers: At all of the websites I’ve worked at, getting an article on Pocket’s curated homepage was a reliable boost in viewers.
404 Media contributing writer Matthew Gault suggests copy-pasting links to articles into a giant document to read later. Now that Pocket is no longer with us, I might have to start doing that.
Pocket and Mozilla did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
