Announcing the all-new Substack Reader for web
Revenge of RSS
There’s a new reading experience waiting for you at Substack.com. Now you can read all your Substack subscriptions—and more—in a clean, simple, and fast web reader. Everything stays in-sync with your Substack app for iOS.
Want to add a publication from outside Substack? No problem—just select “Add RSS feed” from the left sidebar.
And for old-school online readers who like to navigate by hot-key, we’ve got you covered. Just use J/K to hop between posts without touching your trackpad.
Other noteworthy features:
Press
Eto archive a post,Sto save it for later, orLto leave a like.Access your Profile, your Library, and Discover from the left sidebar.
Use Search at the top of the screen to find new Substacks.
See recommendations from the writers you subscribe to right beside your inbox. Posts that generate more subscriptions float to the top of the list, which we think is a reasonable indicator of quality.
Last but not least…dark mode!
We’re invested in building distraction-free places for you to connect with the writers, readers, podcasters, and video-makers you love. In the new Reader, there are no pop-ups, auto-playing videos, or whirring gadgets. You’re in control.
For those with fond memories of Google Reader, we hope this scratches an itch and brings some welcome additions. We’re always working to improve in response to your feedback, so please feel free to drop us your thoughts.
Try it out at substack.com/inbox, and get the same experience on mobile by downloading the Substack iOS app or joining the soon-to-launch Android waitlist.
Happy reading!
Whichever of you on the team came up with Revenge of RSS—
I'm a reasonable drive away from Vegas if you wanna get married real quick.
Oh Sarah! I thought you would never ask (blushes) !!
Next week OK for you ?
I mean, no pressure or anything ...
I'm freelance right now, so next week should work!!
It's no pressure, of course. Given how long we've been steadfastly committed, our friends will all agree that it's about time.
We should have done this last year... it's been far too long. But obviously, only if we are both fully masked, and quadruple vaccinated: I can't bear to kiss a woman unless she has taken three negative PCR tests every day, and insists on wearing full PPE including a face nappy and a tin foil helmet. And we have to think of the kids: what if they were born with in-vitro Covid, the poor dears?
Hmmm, I can't tell if you're making light of covid protection or if you're just being a citizen of 2022, but in the case of the former, we must annul this marriage.
OK: its off. I guess a quickie divorce is called for.
I'll have to cancel the Elvis Chapel of Love.
Finally!
First comment!
I've been waiting for this since Google sunsetted Reader, after all
Thank you
Looking good! It seems the Substack team is making some improvement every week. I appreciate y'all trying to make the platform better on a consistent basis.
The reader looks great and I have really enjoyed it! Thank you for this!
A feature request that is more quality of life than anything, I would really like to be able to customize the "recommended" sidebar by tweaking whose publications add to that list. A majority of the recommendations are from "On Substack" or "Substack Community" and while obviously I wish to remain subscribed to those publications, I am less likely to be interested in what they recommend. There are some other publications I might want to customize so the recommended pubs are more likely to be things or topics I am interested in. I don't know how feasible this request is, and can't complain about how it is operating otherwise.
Good catch, Scoot. I haven't been using the recommendations much because...well, I'm just not interested. And now I understand that may be because of the "On Substack" or "Substack Community" subscriptions.
I stand corrected. I just took a quick walk through my recs, and most of them come from other 'stacks I follow. Only one was a "substack" recommendation.
4 of my top 10 recommendations are from substack, and when I click the "view all" button under the sidebar, there's another sidebar with recommended publications and 7 of 7 of the top ones are from substack.
There's nothing wrong with them being from substack in and of itself, but the principle still stands that being able to customize this would really help these features be tailored to me and my interests. Again--I don't know how feasible that is, but it would be really nice!
It’s feasible! I think it would be great to be able to x-out specific recommendations or say “See fewer recommendations from Substack Reads.” Right now the system is quite simple but we’re very focused on making this better.
OPML for RSS import would be a start I reckon. I have too many feeds to import.
Thank you very much! I really appreciate both how innovative Substack is with their system and how willing to listen to the community you are about features. Can't wait for the future of this platform!
I agree--the other day when looking at recs, I moved on because I didn't have a way to x-out ones I wasn't interested in. I'm subscribing to more and more substacks, and sometimes I'd like an x-out feature for my inbox for days I just don't have the time.
How many other 'stacks do you subscribe to?
It's not a huge number--34 I just counted--but even if I only subscribed to two newsletters, if one of them was a publication who is very liberal with recommendations, it might flood my recommendations sidebar with publications I'm not interested in. So being able to manage that would still be useful. You're right though, the density of substack-based recommendations will depend on how many subscriptions I have!
I was more curious why you had so many substack recs vs others. I'm probably right where you are on subscriptions. When I refreshed just now, I did see 4 or 5 recs in a row by one writer. I didn't like that. I can see the case for being able to customize your recs based on interests (categories, maybe?).
That would be interesting! I am sure there is a clever way to address this issue and add functionality we haven't thought of. If we pull on this thread hard enough we end up with an Algorithm, and I know that's something contrary to the Substack ethos. It'll be cool to see how this feature evolves!
Agreed! Great discussion!
I think you may be seeing more recommendations from On Substack than others because the stacks you follow haven't implemented the Recommendations feature. I am always seeing recommendations from other Substacks created by individual users instead of something like On Substack.
When are we going to have Substack for Android? I use Feedly as a news reader and I would like to change it to Substack but without an Android app it is not comfortable and Feedly does have an app.
Imminently! If you're not on the waitlist, now's a good time to get on it...https://sublink.substack.com/android-waitlist
Thank you
I can't figure out how to turn dark mode off anymore – the option has disappeared for me and I've looked everywhere for it with no luck. Hopefully this option hasn't disappeared as I can't read light text on a dark background without ending up with a headache.
Same! Did you ever figure this out?
I'm struggling with the same problem. Also I can no longer find the add RSS button :(
Dark mode! Keyboard shortcuts! Thank you 💚 🥃
I don't know exactly when this went live, but I've been using the new interface all weekend. I've added several RSS feeds and was delighted to see new posts from those sites populate in my feed right next to the Substacks to which I'm subscribed.
Kudos to the team that developed this. It's such an elegant implementation and does exactly what I want an RSS reader to do. We finally have a successor to Google Reader. THANK YOU.
You're an early adopter! It went out silently last week. We wanted to make sure the bugs were all ironed out before sharing the news.
I really, really, really can't express how happy I am to have RSS back. I believe you'll have people start using the Substack reader just because of those features (and the slick reading environment) even if they aren't actively following any Substacks. This is a great way to bring people into the ecosystem.
While you're at it, please add OPML import, as I have too many RSS feeds to add separately. THX.
Love this! For some of us RSS never left. I was just about to start adding my substack subscriptions to my feeds, now I might add my feeds over here instead :-)
Can't wait to dive in.
I have looked and looked and looked, this option doesn't appear where it says it should. I only see "library" and "archive" and "+Add RSS Feed".
Honestly I was excited to see this article, because the time I spend on reading stuff I want to substack is practically zero (I just can't handle the white background everywhere.) Has someone removed this feature?
Substack just keeps getting better and better for both writers and readers!
Agreed!
Hopefully this helps out with organic discovery for us little guys :)
!Los cambios son bienvenidos!
can i import all my feeds from feedly in bulk?
Awesome!! We love distraction free places to read, thank you team Substack
Congratulations on all your updates! I'd love to see an app for Android users! That'd be mighty kind of you! 🤓
It will arrive imminently ;) If you're not yet on the waitlist, sign up there to find out first when it goes live - https://sublink.substack.com/android-waitlist
I don't have the dark mode option... does that mean I'm not special 😢 Also, the reader feature is so amazing! Really, a truly awesome way to bring more of what I love into the Substack universe.
Oops - try now! 😅
There it is, it's on now! That's quick service 😉
Now that we know who to ping with design flaws... :D
Seriously. I just refreshed and checked my settings. Still nothing.
I found it now.
Great!
For anyone else reading you can fine “Toggle dark mode” in the “...” menu just below “Profile” in the left menu bar.
You’re right we should probably add this to the settings page as well
Well, if I had just looked as the screenshots on the initial post that might be akin to asking for directions, right? Haha! I work in tech, so I think I decide where I think things should be before I read the instructions.
Hey, I'm reading an article,
I'm afraid there is no option to enable the dark mode.
Would you please let me know how to enable it when I read other person's article?
I don't see a dark mode option anywhere either, Brian. You're special. Just like everybody else. :)
Haha, thanks Holly! I'm glad to know I'm not the only one. It's possible they are rolling it out slowly. Hopefully, we'll be able to join the masses soon enough.
Look for the three dots below "Profile" in the left navigation menu. You should have Toggle dark mode option.
I miss Google Reader and Feedly isn't clean and intuitive. Hope your pivoting has a minimalist interface.
I miss Reader too!
Same!
Horrific UX. You can't toggle dark mode on and off for web? on a reading app? Wtf
Dark mode isn't available under settings.
I cannot find the "Toggle dark mode" setting with the "Add RSS Feed" sidebar. Until yesterday I had dark mode on, but today it automatically reverted back to the default view, and I cannot find the dark mode option anywhere.
Please help.
Dark mode works for me just fine when I'm looking at my profile settings. I can readily toggle and see the change. However, I want to read https://tictoctrading.substack.com/p/weekly-plan-12223 and not be blinded. Week after week, it's so bright that I copy the content and paste it into Notepad (I have Windows in dark mode, so Notepad is dark too). Is there anything I can do to see content dark, not just my profile settings?
This seems great!
Do you plan to support OPML imports? I have to many feeds to add them one at a time
Indeed, OPML is what's needed. I will use it as soon as available.
Same problem here, no way am I importing 100+ feeds!
Sensational!
Sweet! Can’t wait to experiment with it.
It seems people who use the Reader will never see the newsletter's header or footer, in which I usually ask subscribers to upgrade to paid. Is that right?
Yes that's correct — email headers/footers are only attached to emails and not included in the post when rendered in substack reader or on your website. There is however there is a quite prominent "Upgrade to paid" button at the top of the web reader.
We've heard this request from a number of writers and will try to figure out a way to make it work. One question — are there any instances where it *wouldn't* make sense to show your email header/footer on a post in the Reader? Or is this what you want 100% of the time?
N
The reason I put these requests in the header and footer is so they only reach the free subscribers, not those people who have already upgraded. If I start adding this text to the main body of the newsletter, those paid subscribers have to read it. Basically, I need a way to speak with just the free subscribers each time I send out a newsletter.
I AM OLD SCHOOL, GET IT SOMEPLACE AND THEN LEAVE IT ALONE BECAUSE IT IS GREAT AND DOESN'T NEED TO BE TWEAKED, TEAKED AGAIN AND RETWEAKED. GOOGLE DID SOMETHING THIS PAST WEEKEND THAT PUT MY TITS IN A WRINGER FOR ABOUT 5 HOURS. I DONT NEED THIS. IT IS LIKE TOOTHPASTE THAT IS NEW AND IMPROVED. IS IT REALLY? ALL I WANT TO DO IS READ MY READINGS, SIMPLE! AND REPLY IF I CARE TO, SIMPLE! LEAVE THINGS ALONE PLEASE, BOOKS WERE BOOKS FOR SEVERAL CENTURIES WITHOUT NEW AND IMPROVED FEATURES, NEW AND IMPROVED PPAPER FOR EASY DOG EARRING THE PAGE YOUR ONE, MORE PAPER ON THE SIDE FOR YOUR NOTES, EH! LEAVE IT ALONE FOR A COUPLE OF CENTURIES LET THINGS SETTLE IN, OH AND I AM NOT TYPING IN CAPS BECAUSE I AM SHOUTING IT IS JUST EASIER TO READ THAN THAT LITTLE ITSY BITSY TYPE YOU ALL SEEM TO LIKE THAT I NEED A MAGNIFYING GLASS TO SEE. SO RELAX I AM NOT YELLING AT YOU, STEVEPOWER
This is great! I use https://hq.getmatter.com for all of my reading, but this is going to be welcomed to many.
I have been using Feedly for the last couple of years but this might just replace it once and for all
Very cool! Thanks so much for this.
Has anyone else had issues with the iOS app being very slow the past 1-2 weeks? It is borderline unusable. Scrolling gets stuck and hiccups. I haven't upgraded to the newest iOS yet, perhaps that will fix the problem? (using iphone 13)
Hello Michael! We're aware that there's an issue affecting some users in this way —and as it happens, I'm one of them!— and the team think they know what's to blame. A fix will be implemented as soon as possible, but I don't have a specific timeline I can share yet, I'm very sorry to say. Thanks for sharing, of course, and I hope we resolve it for you soon!
Thanks for letting me know I'm not crazy! Look forward to the update.
No issues for me with the iOS app. I'm running the latest version of the app and iOS.
Well, iOS16 didn't solve it either... Hmm.
Please, how do I toggle dark mode off? I don't have those options anymore and it's permanently dark and it's driving me insane.
I just signed up to give the service a try. Didn't even attempt importing my email list after realizing I was stuck in dark mode with no way to get out. I can't work like that.
Hey, did you find an answer to this? It's also driving me bonkers, as I like to switch throughout the day...
Unfortunately no. It's still driving me INSANE. I can't read anything.
Is there any solution to this yet? Dark mode for a reader is disastrous and I can't turn it off. It's so much more difficult to read (like literally, I remember reading a study that proved it's a huge burden on the brain).
Hey, thanks for your patience. Dark mode is a system preference so you have to change it on your computer if that's the way you'd like it to display on Substack.
Here are some help articles that might help:
PC: https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-enable-dark-mode-in-windows-10#:~:text=To%20enable%20dark%20mode%2C%20navigate,mix%20and%20match%20color%20themes.
Mac: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208976
That's just stupid.
It doesn't make sense to let system config adapt to your service.
Do non-substack RSS feeds show up in the app? Or only the web app?
both!
AMAZING
Thanks so much for all of this!
Good move!
Amazing SO stoked for this
Looks good.
Can you please fix the glitch which means that when I log in via the reader page on my laptop (windows) I do not see the audio files which go with the posts. I have to view in publication to access the audio transcripts. It works fine on my phone...
Thanks!!!!!!!!
Sounds good. I have wondered about accessing content with my laptop. It’s easier for me.
Great! I'm going to have a look right now!
I am way too Untekky to understand all that - but it sounds good.
Woohoo! Thanks, y'all! Loving the addition of RSS and hot keys. Looks like the scroll bar on the right side has now become a scroll bar for recommendations. I'd still like to see a scroll bar for the actual inbox posts, which was what the righthand scroll bar was before you added the recommendations widget (which I like). I dislike using arrows to scroll through the list to find a post I want to open. Thanks!
ah good catch - I think I understand and know how to fix this! for now you should be able to scroll the center column (your inbox posts) if you hover over it while scrolling.
I'm assuming you mean hover then scroll with mouse wheel?
yep
And yes, technically I could use two fingers on the mouse pad, but that scroll bar would just make life perfect again. I look forward to its return in the future. Thanks, Nick!
That only works if you're using a mouse. :)
Great
I use an iMac always updated, now Monterey 12.6. Never have any problems except, can someone please, please tell me how to put a video in a post?
Keep up the innovation! Thanks for the clean UI.
saving
Excellent news, Thank you.
If i can ask something here I can't change in the setting anything you suggested i can everything is there but its like everything is for show i can't even post anything the buttons r frozen help me please i really liked the platform
Did Substack take away this RSS feature? I went to add a blog I love reading and cant find this option
please make a light-theme toggle that isn't tied to my system preferences...
Is this still live or behind a paywall? I do not see this functionality when I log in. Thanks
Has something changed with the product? None of the screenshots make sense, there's no help articles about this, and there's a small section about RSS at the bottom of my inbox but no way to add a new subscription. What's going on here??
Is the RSS reader deprecated? The button to add RSS feeds is no longer available.
Has this been discontinued? I don't see an option to add an RSS feed in my sidebar.
I don't get it. How do I install this for Brave on MacOS? I don't use a cell phone to read articles. I use my Mac.
Where's my dark mode?
I'm trying to disable the dark mode, guys. I searched on Google to discover how to do it, but there's no such option, even on the settings.
I have Substack on Android. I can't turn off dark mode. Is it even possible?
Warren Jones has no Newsletter
I wish there was somewhere where I could learn about substack. This, obviously, is not the place.
What? Warren Jones has no newsletter. He was just writing in to try to understand Substack. He failed.
I feel the same. Been trying to understand Substack, so that I can publish on Substack, for about 2 years.
Nice. Google Reader was one Google's stickiest products IMO. Lots to love about this idea. Will check it out.
Amazing!!
thank you Substack
is Dark mode available?!
Yes! See the screenshot in the post for how to enable :)
Thank you for continually making Substack better and better!
One request: Can you add the ability to heart posts from the Inbox, please?
Coming soon!
You guys sincerely rock! 😎
This is amazing. I'm oldfashioned (and old) and don't use my phone much, but on my desktop this looks just fabulous. Congratulations and thank you, Substack team.
Thanks for making this!
Could you please consider adding support for other email newsletters? I know that might sound heretical, but not all writers are on Substack (yet), and I really value the feature in my current RSS reader (Inoreader) that lets me create special email addresses on the fly to use with other newsletters and then read those in my RSS reader.
Thanks for taking this into consideration :)
thanks! this is so helpful
Freaking amazing!
Great! Thank you, Substack 😁
This is awesome! Thanks again to the Substack team.
Brilliant!
Syncing has never worked between the Substack app on my phone and iPad, so I’m curious if the release of the new web reader helps at all with that.
The article says it syncs between web and the iOS app. I really hope it starts syncing between various iOS devices as well. That is my one gripe with the app, but it's also the kind of thing I think they'll fix when they have time to have an engineer look into it.
Very nice!! Looks good.
love it!
What happened to the read next feature? It’s gone from my app now:-(
Yet no one knows how to sort by MOST RECENT.
It's cool but often when you click to read an article you lose dark mode
Can substack be read on my Samsung tablet in w10 pc?
A tech challenged senior citizen currently living in MX, I do NOT have a cellphone. And the rules to buy one have changed. The only way I hav of contacting others is using gmail. I have thousands of connections on FB. And recently joined substack.. but don't know how to use it. is there a good place to start. I did set a connection on substack but don't know how to communicate with the people who have already followed me on the substack platform. Is there a site where I can acquire the the knowledge I need?
What happened to the Substack RSS feed reader? I used it in the past, but now the "add RSS feed" menu option is gone.
Love this! But...
What has happened to the RSS reader and the toggle for dark/light on the Reader?
I don't use Substack allot. I find it frustrating to navigate. For example I don't want email notifications. Does anybody really have a positive relationship with email these days? However I do want to stay subscribed to particular writers so that when I go to the Substack site I can find the writers I am interested in. The user-face does not provide a straightforward option for this. If if does it is not clear. It seems I have set myself up to do this with some writers but not others. It is convoluted and unclear. Why not one setting that alleviates the suffering of having to go in and set up each writer in the "app" individually. When I unsubscribe from email notifications, am I unsubscribing from a particular author completely or just their notification? It would seem that sometimes I am and sometimes I am not. The ambiguous use of words like "app" and "unsubscribe" is not helpful.
This article is over a year old. Does anyone know how to toggle off the dark mode? I'm excited to read, but my eyes won't handle the black screen for long. Thanks!
the dark mode feature for reading my stacks on the website has left me! i can't find it in settings. anyone?
I cant find dark mode too... I am tired to read with light text...
Where is dark mode in Substack on web page? I cant find it!
Way to go, people!
Guess Dark Mode only works with Macs as shown above. Boo Hoo!
this functionality is no longer available,
"Want to add a publication from outside Substack? No problem—just select “Add RSS feed” from the left sidebar".
What a pity...
How do I make every substack page I load use dark mode? I just went from https://substack.com/inbox/post/74021172 which was displayed in dark mode to this comment page which is being displayed in light mode. AAAARRRRRGHHH!
I'm using Brave on MacOS Ventura.
Any way to add external RSS feeds in the iOS app?
I got the reader as I am going to start publishing to Substack and the font size isn’t adhering to my accessibility settings in my iOS. It’s very tiny font size.
Where can I make the font size bigger in the app? For sight impaired people, this should be standard in all app rollouts, especially those with as many users as Substack. This app is almost a year old. WTF?
great...!
Help! I was listening to a substack podcast and couldn't shut it off! No matter where I looked on my phone including the sub stack app, I didn't see controls for the player. I could select another podcast and it would play but I couldn't stop it somehow. Is there a way to make the sub stack reader appear on the desktop or at least on the app?
Thanks
Lots of websites, including webcatalog.io and pcmac.download, offer "the Substack Reader app for Windows" executable downloads. Yet you mention no Substack app for Windows. Are they all fakes?
Thanks for the info.
Re the Comment function on Substack. I suggest that Substack add an “edit” button, function that allows commenters to edit their comment after they’ve posted it.
FB provides such an edit link - used often, very popular among writers and commenters!
Twitter and Instagram both lack this helpful option for writers and commenters. Thank you!
Can we also get a feature to underline the articles? Like highlights in Medium
Love to see continuing development on this platform. Why did it take me so long to find it?
I wish you would make an app for writers. To be able to write and publish from mobile.
Thank you so much for bringing this
I received and email that purports to be a subscription RECEIPT from Greenwald, dated yesterday September 27. Though I like Greenwald, I never subscribed to his newsletter, at the tune of $50. Please make sure that that sub is canceled. Confirm to me in writing (email)
Thanks
Thenkyou
Great to know! I run two separate newsletters here on Substack..This one and also IbadahPlug. It will be really great if you can provide a way for us to earn from subscriptions in Nigeria. This is the major challenge I'm facing with the platform. Please look into it. Thanks!
Didn’t know I had RSS nostalgia, but here we are!
Brilliant, I'm all for less distractions when I read!
„Posts that generate more subscriptions float to the top of the list, which we think is a reasonable indicator of quality.“
That‘s an engagement-based algorithmic ranking. 🙃
How is Substack Reader better than https://theoldreader.com/ that I've been using all these years since Google Reader was shut down?
And also. If there is a case to switch from other RSS readers to Substack, is there a way to bulk import RSS feeds?
Yes! I am loving the shortcuts. Especially the L for like.
Simple and less stressful for my subscribers to like my health and beauty post ❤️
Not sure if anyone has already raised this - the reader doesn't preserve the styles of the individual substacks - colours, font choices, layouts - these choices can be integral to the tone and feel, and uniqueness, of substacks. Any plans to incorporate these?
“Revenge of RSS” 👍😆
Thanks!!!
Excellent!
Substack... you rock!
I haven’t been on Substack for very long, and I am thoroughly impressed with the amount of new tweaks and additions. Such a well run and thoughtful place to be. Thank you!
Sweet! Thank you!
This may not be the right place to report this (I did alert Sergey @ Substack in an old comment thread but am not sure if he'll see it: https://merylnass.substack.com/p/substack-just-added-about-27000-views/comment/9321470), but it looks like there's a glitch in the Substack dashboard.
My 9/4 post (https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/p/50-reasons-to-give-your-child-the) is showing as having generated 1,476 paid subscriptions and 1,476 free subscriptions. I wish I had gotten 1,476 paid subs 🤣 It looks like the paid is showing the # of free subs.
Thanks, Substack team!
Now this is good!
Oh boy!
Do you have an 'Idiots Guide' for geriatrics like me?
1. type in substack.com
2. click post
3. press “escape” when done
🥰
Wow. Epic win
It's September and there is still no Android app. Good luck, I'm leaving!
You should hang on *just a bit* longer....
This is amazing!
Can’t wait!
When will be able to access our dashboards on the iOS app?
Nice!
Does Substack allow you to post videos to subscribers?
Yes! More here: https://on.substack.com/p/video-on-substack
Just what we needed!
Long live RSS!
Amazing! Looks great.
HOW do I put a video in a post?
Learn more here! https://on.substack.com/p/video-on-substack
This works on your iMac! Just click substack.com/inbox