Dates
- Release into Beta: August 20, 2026
- Release into Production: August 28, 2026
- End of measurement period: TBD - At least 15 days after production release
Background
The Android and iOS mobile apps have had the saved tab and custom reading lists for many years now. They have had slightly different functions on Android versus iOS, but custom lists have always been shared and synced on the server. This year, the Web team is adding a "Saved" function, and they will support saving articles to one list, and soon after custom lists. We want to make sure that the experience matches across Web and the mobile apps when users simply saves something, and adds it to a custom list.
Web team is aiming for August to scale reading lists, and start introducing custom lists.
User story
As a Wikipedia reader who saves articles, I want saving, organizing into lists, and viewing all my saved content to work the same way across Android, iOS, and Web, so that my saved articles are always where I expect them, no matter which platform I'm on.
Current state
- Android current behavior for saving an article from article view. After saving, you have the option to MOVE it to another list.
- Android current "Saved" screen: the default list "Saved" appears alongside other lists
- Android allows adding the same article to multiple custom lists
- If an article is moved to another list from "Saved" the article disappears from “Saved” list
- If an article is added to a new list from "Saved" the article remains in “Saved” list
- iOS current behavior for saving an article from article view. After saving, you have the option to ADD it to a list. Tapping on the saved option again after saving unsaves it immediately from the custom list and all articles.
- Current unsave behavior on iOS:
- Article view: tapping on the saved icon again removes the article from "All articles" AND all custom reading lists
- Saved: Unsaving an article from the "All articles" view always removes the article from "All articles" AND all associated reading lists [Confirmation dialog is shown]
- Unsaving an article from the from a custom list removes it from the reading list, but NOT the "All articles" view
- Current unsave behavior on Android
- Article view: Tapping on the saved option again after saving gives you options to add to another list, move to another list, or remove from Saved.
- iOS allows adding the same article to multiple custom lists, but it's hard to discover: only accessible by navigating to the article, and long-pressing on the "Save" icon
Requirements
Modify saving behavior from article
Saving with the article saved menu
- Tapping Save on an article, always shows an updated bottom sheet that includes
- Confirmation that article was saved
- Entry point to create new collection (use existing behavior for Create from article view)
- Show 3 most recently created collections, and ability to access full list by swiping up (Match existing behavior in Android upon "Move to reading list")
- Bottom sheet dismisses automatically after article is added to collection
- Show toast after save, with confirmation, and ability to "View list" that takes them to the custom list
- If no reading list selection is made, leave the bottom sheet up until the user dismisses
- If a user taps again after saving, the bottom sheet reappears & they can add the article to additional lists lists
Unsaving with the article saved menu
- Tapping the save icon again always re-triggers the bottom sheet
- If an article has been saved, but not added to any custom lists, user can unsave by tapping the top item
- If an article has been saved & added to custom lists, user can unsave from all lists by tapping the top item (show confirmation that it will also remove it from any collections)
- If an article has been saved & added to custom lists, user can unsave from individual collections by tapping each collection
Modify "saved" view
"All articles" view
- Add "All articles" option within Saved,
- "All articles" displays every article saved across all lists, including in the default list, and custom lists
- Articles appear only once, even if they belong to multiple lists
- Custom lists remain unchanged and continue to function as before
- When viewing "All articles", each article should show which custom lists it's on within Saved (match current behavior when searching for an article within teh "Filter" funtionality)
Update filter to search
- Change "Filter" functionality to a Search icon
- Search whichever view is active: if All articles are active, search article titles. If Collections view (reading lists) is active, search through reading list titles (matching iOS functionality)
Unsave behavior from Saved tab
- Unsaving from "All Articles" removes the article from ALL lists it belongs to: it is fully removed from the user's saved content: Show a confirmation prompt before deletion (See iOS for precedent), Prompt must clearly communicate that the article will be removed from all lists, not just one
- Unsaving from a custom list only removes the article from that list; the article remains in "All Articles"
[iOS only] Make it easier to save articles to additional lists
- Longpress on article in "All articles": add "Add to collection" option that triggers the same dialog seen from long-press on save icon from article view
- Longpress on article in a custom collection: add "Add to another collection" option that triggers the same dialog seen from long-press on save icon from article view
Rename reading lists
- Rename Reading lists to Collections in all places it appears
Migrate custom reading list users
- For all users: do not show the "Saved" list within the list of collections
- Add a Sort by "Collection" option in the "All articles" view that groups articles by collection, leaving articles not belonging to a collection at the bottom
- Show announcement (onboarding) to only existing users with custom lists, letting them know what is changing about Saved reading lists
- Shown once per app user
- Only show once a user has tapped into "Saved"
How will we measure success
Experiment duration: 15 days
Release 50602-r-
Only 7% of users on Android of users on Android engage with reading lists, so it's necessary to zoom in on Saved reading list users to measure impact.
Hypothesis: If we update the Android reading list experience to match the current iOS & proposed Web experiences, we'll improve the continuity of the "Saved" / "Collections" feature for Wikipedia users, and see a 1% increase in 2nd-day feature retention after release, compared to before.
- KR 1: 1% increase in 2nd-day FEATURE retention saved reading lists feature overall after release, compared to before release.
- GR 1: No more than 10% decrease in share of users that engage with Saved after release vs before release
- CR 1: Did we see a change in overall 2nd-day app retention for the cohort of users that engaged with saved reading lists before release versus after?
- CR 2: Did we see a change in overall 2nd-day app retention before release versus after?
- Engage = save articles from anywhere or access articles from "Saved" tab
References
Designs