Introducing a new way to publish from the Substack app
The mobile editor helps you post on the go
Today we’re launching a new mobile editor, which allows you to write and publish posts directly from the Substack app for iOS. (Editor’s note: As of September 2024, mobile editor is available for Android devices as well.)
When we first launched the Substack app in March 2022, our goal was to provide a beautiful, focused reading experience for your subscriptions. Since then, the most requested feature from creators has been an in-app post editor. We’re excited to now release the first version of this feature, which makes the Substack app a more useful and powerful part of your publishing toolkit.
This first version of the mobile editor features simple text and image publishing functionality, making it easy to reach subscribers on the go or from the couch. We hope it’ll be a more casual, convenient way to bring your audience into your world: you can share a street sketch like
, a food fest dispatch like , or outfit musings like . As beta tester told us: “I found the mobile editor to be a wonderful experience. I was able to write my post single-handed while my nine-month-old napped in my arms.”
Publishing a post from the app is simple:
Open the Substack app, tap the orange “plus” button on the Home screen, then select “Post.”
Write your post in the editor. The formatting and embed options are simple to start, with more features to come later. Click the plus button to add an image or divider, or highlight some text to style or link it.
Your draft will be autosaved, but you can only edit one draft at a time for now.
When you’re finished writing, hit “Next.” Choose your publish and paywall settings, and send it directly to your subscribers.
Because this is an early version of the mobile editor, we’re still working on adding all of the bells and whistles that Substack publishers appreciate in the web editor. For example:
The editor is now available on iOS and Android.
Drafts started in the app are only saved to the app. In the coming months, we’ll work on syncing in-app drafts to the web dashboard.
Published posts can’t be edited in the app yet, but all posts can be edited from the web after they’re published.
We are working on adding scheduling and post previews to the in-app publish flow.
You can only create text posts in the app, with video and podcast posts coming soon.
Most embeds and button types aren’t yet available.
Learn more: How to publish a post from the Substack app
We’re excited to keep improving the mobile editor over the coming months. The capabilities listed above are our top priorities based on what we heard from beta testers. Although it will take some time to match the web editor’s advanced functionality, we hope this simplified experience will make it more convenient to write while on the go—giving subscribers a peek behind the scenes of your life, or sharing quicker updates in between longer posts.
Try publishing a post from the mobile editor and let us know how it goes. Which additional features are most important to your publishing flow? Can you see this capability making it easier to share updates with your subscribers? We’d love to hear from you in the comments.
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