Hacking Safari Reader For Fun and Profit

Safari 5 introduces a new feature that allows you to view a simplified, distraction-free, easier-reading version of a web page by clicking on a "Reader" button in the address bar of Safari.

Reader provides a cleaned up version of the page, content only, overlaid on top of the page that you're viewing with the click of the "Reader" button in the address bar.

So this...

becomes...

Note, I'm using Ars Technica as an example. While it's easy on the eyes and doesn't need to be cleaned up (in my opinion), they do break articles into pages. Safari Reader shows all pages in the scrollable viewer, which is the other reason it is awesome.

What's going on here?

How is Apple doing this?

Apple launched the Safari Reader with zero explanation of how it decides which content to show in the Reader and which to hide. It seems to use some combination of the RSS feed (evidence being that it seems to only work when there's an RSS feed on the site) and the page content. It mostly does a great job at distilling the content from the blog post, though I have seen some cases where it will drop important content -- like the first paragraph. (Oops, that wasn't an ad!)

The Haters

Not everybody likes Google reader. There are a number of people who feel that Apple is crossing the line with this tool, overriding and therefore violating how the blog owner wants to present their content (read, "Don't hide my ads!")

If you don't like that Apple's doing this with your website, keep in mind that you're offering your content via Syndicated RSS. Really, you're giving an unformatted version of your content away already anyway.

The Dissatisfied

And some feel that Apple could have done a better job on the "easier-reading" part as well. Soon after Reader launched, someone discovered how to modify the appearance of the Reader overlay, and soon after that we've got a number of "Reader Hacks" to improve our Reader experience.

Thanks to the dissatisfied, restless, and creative Safari users, a number of Safari Reader hacks that have surfaced in just a week or so.

Hack Your Safari

Before you can apply any of the Safari Reader hacks, you need to know where to do your hacking. Modifying the Reader's appearance is actually very simple by modifying the reader.html script inside the Safari.app bundle.

Find Safari.app in the Applications folder. Right click (option click) on Safari.app and select "Show Package Contents" Locate Reader.html in Safari.app/Content/Resources

That's the file that you'll be replacing with a modified version that you get from folks creating the modifications. First, make a backup of it. Then edit it or replace it at will.

Some Nice Hacks

Antique Safari Reader - Gives your Reader a nice warm Sepia effect. The author Brett Terpstra has also added several other goodies, like an Evernote button to the toolbar. Check the post for more details.

Safari Reader Inverted Hack - Changes Safari to a light on dark display.

Safari Reader Background Dimmer - mouse gesture controlled dimmer on the website in the background in case it isn't obscured enough for your tastes.

And here's a less involved, make the background completely dark, version.

Keep an eye on our list of Safari Reader hacks for more as they come in.