Think Safari Reader looks familiar? That's because Apple used open source Readability code

Filed under: Utilities, Apple, Browsers

One of the most talked-about features in Apple's new Safari 5 browser is Safari Reader, the button that delivers a stripped-down, ad-free, extra-readable version of any web article.

If that sounds an awful lot like the open source Readability bookmarklet we've covered on Download Squad in the past, that's because it is. The Register reports that Apple used some of the code from Readability -- originally written by Arc90 and licensed under an Apache 2 license -- in Safari Reader.

There's probably nothing legally wrong with what Apple did, because they put a tiny nod to Arc90 in the Safari license. But still it's a bit lame of Steve Jobs and Co. not to even tell the original authors of the code that they were using it.

That would give the developers something to brag about, at least. Instead, the people who made Readability were praising Apple for paying attention to web content in Safari 5, without realizing until later that it was their own code being used.

D'oh!

Think Safari Reader looks familiar? That's because Apple used open source Readability code originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 08 Jun 2010 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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