There's something really satisfying about these kinds of personal pipelines. You stitch together a few tools that weren't designed to work together, automate the glue, and end up with something that fits your workflow better than any single product could. I love it.
I've built a few of these for myself -- a bridge that exposes Apple Notes
over HTTP so I can access them from a Linux VM, a sync tool that pulls Notion
pages down as local markdown. None of them are "products" but they're some of
the most useful things I've built. The common thread is always the same: take
something locked into one device or ecosystem and make it accessible where you
actually want it.
The author's point about not needing a new device is the right instinct. The best version of this stuff is almost always "what can I do with what I already have" before reaching for new hardware.
Btw, I have my own Kindle Oasis, so want to give this a shot!
I've had my Kobo Clara HD for almost 8 years and I still use it daily with KOReader.
It's so easy to install KOReader and it's really repairable. I replaced the SD card at one point, and another time I thought it was broken or needed a new battery but came back to life after reseating cables.
Before that I had a kindle and you had to jump through a lot of hoops to install KOreader, and I remember you had to be careful not to upgrade the firmware so it could be jailbroken.
Like I said I've had the Kobo for 8 years, so I hope this is still the case.
Not only that but KOReader has native support for OPDS feeds, which the OPs read-it-later service Readeck also natively supports.
I have been using it like this for a while and it is absolutely bliss to be able to view a catalogue of my inboxed articles on my kindle, with annotation (exports of which are also supported in KOReader).
I missed my oasis dearly but I couldn’t wait anymore and got a Kobo Libre (not sure the exact model, th color one); it’s pretty much as good, only thing i miss is the dual battery system.
Koreader is well supported and has all the features you mention.
Hopefully condoned plug for a service I built, Polyreader (https://polyreader.app), which lets you quickly send articles to your Kindle.
It supports (multiple simultaneous) collections, send via email, saving new articles from links while reading on your Kindle, and little niceties like sending yourself a reminder note at the end of an article ("tell mom this was interesting").
Nice. I quit my job to build a product[0] to solve this exact problem.
I’m not interested in news but I love reading blog posts, newsletters and interesting technical discussions on HN or reddit.
So I built KTool as a “read it later on Kindle” solution. It supports web links, newsletters (via email forwarding) and RSS. I also added the ability to compile multiple articles into one magazine/ebook and deliver them at a specific time.
made something with vibe assistance, for generating ebooks from the guardian.com.
the approach here is to self host a web service and download the books from the experimental browser as .mobi for kindle use. These are then fully local and easy to delete after.
https://github.com/tomesparon/guardian-rss-mobi-maker
I also just did this! My solution was to automate creation of a set of static html pages that I view in the “experimental” kindle browser. It’s set to scrape a paper and build the site at 6am every morning. That was I don’t have to mess with the file transfers, and it’s there waiting for me when I wake up. Also I can mess with the layout a bit easier. Only downside is that I have to have next/back buttons rather than tapping on the screen.
A while ago I made this to get content from websites for reading in pdf. With what I use (Supernote) you can have an automated script to pull articles in the morning and put them in a dropbox folder that automatically syncs with the device.
After a couple of attempts I settled on a a different approach for my old Kobo.
It can connect to Dropbox so I deployed a small app in Fly.io which takes a link, bundles it as an epub and uploads to the right folder. Day-to-day all I use is a bookmarklet
Love this approach — using existing hardware creatively instead of buying new gear. The Readeck + Calibre pipeline is clever, especially since Readeck can export directly to ePub.
One thing worth noting: if the "requires a computer" limitation bothers you, KOReader (an open-source reader that runs on Kindle) can fetch RSS feeds and even Wallabag/Readeck content natively over wifi. Might close that last gap without needing a new device.
This setup feels cumbersome, since you also have to manually track which items you have read. Kobo seems to offer better features in this sense (better than a jail broken kindle), however I like the build of my Kindle Oasis 2 too much.
I faced the same issue, but I wanted to use my Kindle to read RSS feeds without relying on my PC, phone or Amazon, so I built a FOSS web-based RSS reader compatible with the Kindle browser. It may make your life a lot simpler.
I've built a few of these for myself -- a bridge that exposes Apple Notes over HTTP so I can access them from a Linux VM, a sync tool that pulls Notion pages down as local markdown. None of them are "products" but they're some of the most useful things I've built. The common thread is always the same: take something locked into one device or ecosystem and make it accessible where you actually want it.
The author's point about not needing a new device is the right instinct. The best version of this stuff is almost always "what can I do with what I already have" before reaching for new hardware.
Btw, I have my own Kindle Oasis, so want to give this a shot!
This gives you full access to upload whatever ebook you want (SSH, WebDav, Syncthing, ...) and it can fetch RSS feeds (i use it with FreshRSS.)
PS. The (very old) Kindle Oasis is still the best device there is to read on in my opion. Which is crazy, since it was released from 2016-2019...
It has 2 phyisical buttons to turn the page, and an ambient light sensor to auto adjust the brightness, and a 300 PPI display.
I'm still "waiting" for a better / equal device to be released.
[1] https://kindlemodding.org/kindle-models.html
[2] https://github.com/koreader/koreader
I've had my Kobo Clara HD for almost 8 years and I still use it daily with KOReader. It's so easy to install KOReader and it's really repairable. I replaced the SD card at one point, and another time I thought it was broken or needed a new battery but came back to life after reseating cables.
Before that I had a kindle and you had to jump through a lot of hoops to install KOreader, and I remember you had to be careful not to upgrade the firmware so it could be jailbroken.
Like I said I've had the Kobo for 8 years, so I hope this is still the case.
I have been using it like this for a while and it is absolutely bliss to be able to view a catalogue of my inboxed articles on my kindle, with annotation (exports of which are also supported in KOReader).
Koreader is well supported and has all the features you mention.
That said, I do most of my reading on a Books Palma 2 now. Smaller, so it fits better in a smaller bag or a pocket. And does have physical buttons.
It supports (multiple simultaneous) collections, send via email, saving new articles from links while reading on your Kindle, and little niceties like sending yourself a reminder note at the end of an article ("tell mom this was interesting").
It's also cheap (free tier or $1/month).
I’m not interested in news but I love reading blog posts, newsletters and interesting technical discussions on HN or reddit.
So I built KTool as a “read it later on Kindle” solution. It supports web links, newsletters (via email forwarding) and RSS. I also added the ability to compile multiple articles into one magazine/ebook and deliver them at a specific time.
Give it a try if you’re a Kindle owner.
[0]: https://ktool.io
the approach here is to self host a web service and download the books from the experimental browser as .mobi for kindle use. These are then fully local and easy to delete after. https://github.com/tomesparon/guardian-rss-mobi-maker
I keep waiting for Amazon to break mail-to-kindle, but fortunately that hasn't happened yet. Gmail, though... breaks every three months or so.
https://github.com/lnenad/newser
After a couple of attempts I settled on a a different approach for my old Kobo.
It can connect to Dropbox so I deployed a small app in Fly.io which takes a link, bundles it as an epub and uploads to the right folder. Day-to-day all I use is a bookmarklet
One thing worth noting: if the "requires a computer" limitation bothers you, KOReader (an open-source reader that runs on Kindle) can fetch RSS feeds and even Wallabag/Readeck content natively over wifi. Might close that last gap without needing a new device.
It could even be paired with an AI summary service that could summarize Reddit/HN activity, like Huxe does in it's generated podcasts.
Link: https://inkfeed.xyz Repo: https://github.com/adhamsalama/inkfeed-reader