If you use Pocket to read web articles on your Kobo ereader, you’re going to have to find another option starting the second week of July. Update: Now they’ve backtracked and it looks like Kobos won’t lose Pocket support (see update below).
Pocket has announced plans to migrate accounts to Firefox so moving forward Pocket users will have to login with a Firefox account instead of a Pocket account, and Kobo ereaders don’t support Firefox and probably never will.
The migration process will start on July 11th, so when that happens Kobo users will no longer be able to sign in to Pocket accounts.
Here’s a quote from the Mozilla support website about Pocket transitioning to Firefox:
I use Pocket on my Kobo e-Reader. How does this change affect how I log in to Pocket?
Kobo devices unfortunately do not support the specific modern web technologies that Firefox accounts require. Therefore, once this transition is complete, Pocket users will no longer be able to log in, sync, and read articles on Kobo e-Readers. We recognize the value that came from this collaboration, and deeply regret that we will not be able to continue supporting it into the future.
You can continue to use Pocket on your iOS or Android device or use Pocket’s website.
A lot of Kobo users are going to be disappointed by this, but hopefully Kobo will come up with an alternative solution. Kobo should come out with their own service instead of relying on a third-party to provide web article support, like Amazon does with Send-to-Kindle. Either that or overhaul their wonky web browser so that it actually works properly and offers an article mode, but that’s probably never going to happen either.
Update: Soon after posting this article, they changed the FAQ regarding how the transition will affect Kobo ereaders moving forward. This is what the page says now:
I use Pocket on my Kobo e-Reader. How does this change affect how I log in to Pocket?
Kobo is aiming to update the Pocket login on their eReaders to support Firefox accounts. The exact timing is to be determined, however Pocket’s existing Kobo users will not be affected, nor lose access to their accounts. Note that new Pocket accounts created after August 15th may not have access to the existing Pocket login option, depending on when Kobo support becomes available. Kobo users can also continue to use Pocket on their iOS or Android device or use Pocket’s website.
Oh no….99% of my Kobo usage is reading Pocket articles nowadays 🙁
Guess I won’t be getting another e-reader, unless Pocket/Instapaper support exists on other devices.
Good news then…..a failure of communication, or some quick backpedalling?
Ouch!
I really like the ease of using Pocket on Kobo. Just send articles to Pocket and read later in a format that I prefer to the app on android…including my preferred fonts.
Pocket is literally the only reason I am using Kobo
Why would they even do this? Kobo + Pocket is the only reason I’m using Pocket *and* the main reason I’m using Kobo! In fact, I just got a Kobo Elipsa and have been enjoying reading articles on the big screen. I guess that’s a joy that’s going to be short-lived 🙁
How could you not see the update?
While Kobo support is annoyingly unaware of the problem, Pocket support is really helpful.
This is what they told me (a Pocket with Firefox account user) a few days ago: “Currently, it is only possible to log in through a Kobo using your email or username plus a dedicated Pocket password and not through an SSO system such as a Firefox, Google, or Apple Account. If you haven’t created a Pocket password, this can be easily resolved by following our password reset process. Keep in mind, that Kobo’s browser currently does not support the Captcha required by this process and needs to be done from a computer or a mobile device.”
Hope it will help anybody with similar issues.
I can’t believe Kobo still doesn’t have anything up on their support website about this. It’s like they’re just ignoring the problem and hoping people don’t notice.