A reading list that has no server

Linkloft is an offline bookmark manager for Android. No account, no cloud, no company that can switch it off.

Pocket closed. Omnivore closed the year before. Both handed their users an export file and a deadline, and both were perfectly good products — that was never the problem. The problem is that a reading list living on somebody else's server is only ever on loan.

Linkloft is the version that cannot be taken away, because there is nothing to take it away from. Your library is a file on your phone.

What it holds

Not only links. Web pages, videos, music, documents, places and files on the phone itself, in one library you can search, filter and organise into collections. Share into it from any app, paste a copied link, or pick a document to keep alongside them.

How it compares

  Linkloft Raindrop.io Browser bookmarks
Where your library lives Your device Their servers Your browser account
Account required No Yes Usually
Sync across devices No Yes Yes
Local files alongside links Yes Paid cloud storage No
Collections, tags, search Yes Yes Folders only
Export without paying Yes, JSON / CSV / HTML Yes Yes, HTML
Platforms Android only Everywhere Everywhere
Cost Free, with a one-off paid tier Free tier, subscription Free

When Linkloft is the wrong choice. If you need the same library on a laptop and a phone, use Raindrop — sync is the thing it does that Linkloft deliberately cannot. If you only ever save web pages and are happy in one browser, your browser's bookmarks are free and already there. Linkloft is for the case where you want everything in one place and you want it to stay on your phone.

What "private" means here, exactly

The privacy policy says all of this in full, including what is stored on the device and for how long.

The trade-off, stated plainly

There is no sync, and there will not be, because sync needs a server and a server is the thing this app exists to avoid. What there is instead: backup to a folder you choose, which can run on a schedule and keep the last few copies, and export in three formats. Moving to a new phone is a restore, not a migration.

Linkloft on Google Play