Tomorrow Substack CEO and co-founder, Chris Best, and the app team will join us at Office Hours to answer additional questions. We invite you to join us and share what is on your mind.
I like this idea. I would like to highlight a potential drawback, however. One significant benefit to the email/newsletter system is that it is inherently distributed. When SlateStarCodex went down, his collective readership had a rich history of emails to piece together the blog. If readers stop receiving our work in their inboxes, we lose out on that failsafe. Now, the overwhelming majority of us may never have a need for it, but some will. I know, it's a niche issue; I just thought I'd share it.
I love that you're continuing to invest in the platform, though. This is a great idea overall and I'm happy to see it.
Thank you for this feedback. It's an interesting point, and I'll share it with the team.
Right now, just to be totally clear how the app works: Readers will only stop receiving emails if they 1) choose to do so and 2) are actively receiving posts in the app, where all of a writer's posts are kept on publication pages and in the reader's archive (in addition to on the web). If a reader isn't using the app actively, they go back to receiving emails.
It shouldn't! You own the email of anyone who subscribes to your publication, in the app, in email, and on the web. You can walk away with those emails at any time, and we expect writers to be discovered by more readers in the app.
Until it’s possible for readers to pay for a subscription within the app, I don’t see how this is a positive development. You’re encouraging people to bypass email, which was the whole point in the first place, and in the process are ensuring that many of those people will not become a paid subscriber. Very slick app for readers; incredibly frustrating for us. You should have waited and launched when in-app payments were possible.
One other thought -- it seems that right now, the app doesn't show the email header and footer. A lot of writers use that to include CTAs around sharing the post and subscribing to a paid option without having to clutter up the actual post. It would be great to have some option for including these in the app version of the post as well.
So exciting to see this! Especially thrilled that Substack will be keeping to its philosophy of keeping the app itself in the background. Looking forward to seeing what's next for the app!
This is the first time in a while that I have seen something this big come out of nowhere and the company behind it was prepared for questions from all affected by it. Solid rollout, Substack team.
Thank you for saying that! We know how important it is for writers to not be surprised, as so many of you are running businesses with our software. We hope to keep building with writers in the future and welcome ideas.
Really exciting to see this launch, a great step forward for all Substack creators and readers. In the search screen on app, there's a list of categories. How do we request for new ones to be added? For example, we wouldn't love to see a "Gaming" one be added. Is that possible?
Hey there, I am on the community team and we are listening and watching for new categories to emerge on Substack. I will add gaming to the list of potential categories we might add.
I'm a little unclear on a few things. 1) If someone signs up for my newsletter for free via the app, is their email address loaded into my CVS file? 2) Will app users receive push notifications when a new post is live? 3) The comment about watching legal cases is kinda vague, but it seems like Substack paid subscriptions will eventually have to pay a cut to three middlemen: Substack, Stripe, and whatever fee the apps stores can legally extract for in-app purchases. Am I reading that right?
"2) Yes, if they choose to receive them. The reader is in control of that."
Defaults are a core architectural choice that YOU are making on behalf of both readers and writers. So are readers going to get emails when they sign up through the app by default?
If not, I am concerned. I did not sign up to be a Substack writer so you could own my relationship with readers. You guys will at some point sell your firm to a private equity company, and then they will exploit us.
In the sign up flow of the app, the reader will have the choice to continue to get emails or receive push notifications, or both. You will always have your email list and be able to use the email feature in your subscriber dashboard to directly reach readers via email.
Wanted to make sure you saw an update: We're adjusting how the email pausing works in the app. We always want to be thoughtful about keeping writers' trust, so we've made the following changes:
1. As of now, the toggle you see after turning on push notifications will default to leaving email on as well.
2. In the next release, we're going to pull it out of onboarding and just have it be a setting you can find if you want.
We're going to continue to iterate on making this great for writers and readers. Feedback like yours helps us do this, so thank you.
Also - just to reiterate: Regardless of a reader's choice about notifications, readers' email addresses will still be added to your list that you own when they subscribe to your publication.
And if that subscriber at some point stops reading in the app or turns off notifications, we revert to sending them your posts via email so you don't lose your connection with them.
Thanks for clarifying! I don't know what the future holds for app store fees either, but I have a hard time believing those fees will be zero. Not complaining, but I am concerned that Substack might ultimately put all of the creators who use the platform at the mercy of the app stores.
You can also view more technical FAQ here in our support center https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/sections/4538222076820-App-FAQs
Tomorrow Substack CEO and co-founder, Chris Best, and the app team will join us at Office Hours to answer additional questions. We invite you to join us and share what is on your mind.
Save it to your calendar: substack.link/office-hours
Looking forward to that. App is great so far!
I like this idea. I would like to highlight a potential drawback, however. One significant benefit to the email/newsletter system is that it is inherently distributed. When SlateStarCodex went down, his collective readership had a rich history of emails to piece together the blog. If readers stop receiving our work in their inboxes, we lose out on that failsafe. Now, the overwhelming majority of us may never have a need for it, but some will. I know, it's a niche issue; I just thought I'd share it.
I love that you're continuing to invest in the platform, though. This is a great idea overall and I'm happy to see it.
Thank you for this feedback. It's an interesting point, and I'll share it with the team.
Right now, just to be totally clear how the app works: Readers will only stop receiving emails if they 1) choose to do so and 2) are actively receiving posts in the app, where all of a writer's posts are kept on publication pages and in the reader's archive (in addition to on the web). If a reader isn't using the app actively, they go back to receiving emails.
At what point is a reader considered inactive in the app?
Won’t this cut back on our ability to “capture” our readers emails?
It shouldn't! You own the email of anyone who subscribes to your publication, in the app, in email, and on the web. You can walk away with those emails at any time, and we expect writers to be discovered by more readers in the app.
Thanks for responding!
Tried getting the app but it did not take my email address....cannot open the app even after I was sent an email to open.
This happened to me, also...email sent!
Hrm. I'm sorry about this Linda! Can you email us at feedback@substackinc.com and we can help you get sorted?
Me too. Email sent
Me too. Email sent.
Until it’s possible for readers to pay for a subscription within the app, I don’t see how this is a positive development. You’re encouraging people to bypass email, which was the whole point in the first place, and in the process are ensuring that many of those people will not become a paid subscriber. Very slick app for readers; incredibly frustrating for us. You should have waited and launched when in-app payments were possible.
One other thought -- it seems that right now, the app doesn't show the email header and footer. A lot of writers use that to include CTAs around sharing the post and subscribing to a paid option without having to clutter up the actual post. It would be great to have some option for including these in the app version of the post as well.
Great callout, Adam! I am passing this feedback on to the app team.
This is great news. Can't wait for the Android version.
So exciting to see this! Especially thrilled that Substack will be keeping to its philosophy of keeping the app itself in the background. Looking forward to seeing what's next for the app!
So exciting!!!
This is so great. I have been waiting for this!
Why does the page freeze every time I click on "publish with buttons?"
This is the first time in a while that I have seen something this big come out of nowhere and the company behind it was prepared for questions from all affected by it. Solid rollout, Substack team.
Thank you for saying that! We know how important it is for writers to not be surprised, as so many of you are running businesses with our software. We hope to keep building with writers in the future and welcome ideas.
Amazing! This app sounds like a great idea!
Really excited to check this out!
Really exciting to see this launch, a great step forward for all Substack creators and readers. In the search screen on app, there's a list of categories. How do we request for new ones to be added? For example, we wouldn't love to see a "Gaming" one be added. Is that possible?
Hey there, I am on the community team and we are listening and watching for new categories to emerge on Substack. I will add gaming to the list of potential categories we might add.
Hi there! I would love it if ‘Humor’ could also be considered for a category.
Thanks!
Thank you very much for the reply and consideration. Definitely an emerging space
Love the format and content of WR, just subscribed!
Thank you so much for your support!
I'm a little unclear on a few things. 1) If someone signs up for my newsletter for free via the app, is their email address loaded into my CVS file? 2) Will app users receive push notifications when a new post is live? 3) The comment about watching legal cases is kinda vague, but it seems like Substack paid subscriptions will eventually have to pay a cut to three middlemen: Substack, Stripe, and whatever fee the apps stores can legally extract for in-app purchases. Am I reading that right?
Hi Michael!
1) Yes, if someone subscribes to you in the app you own their email, same as before.
2) Yes, if they choose to receive them. The reader is in control of that.
3) We don't know exactly what the future will hold re: app store fees. Right now, the payment structure remains the same as before.
"2) Yes, if they choose to receive them. The reader is in control of that."
Defaults are a core architectural choice that YOU are making on behalf of both readers and writers. So are readers going to get emails when they sign up through the app by default?
If not, I am concerned. I did not sign up to be a Substack writer so you could own my relationship with readers. You guys will at some point sell your firm to a private equity company, and then they will exploit us.
In the sign up flow of the app, the reader will have the choice to continue to get emails or receive push notifications, or both. You will always have your email list and be able to use the email feature in your subscriber dashboard to directly reach readers via email.
Hi Matt,
Wanted to make sure you saw an update: We're adjusting how the email pausing works in the app. We always want to be thoughtful about keeping writers' trust, so we've made the following changes:
1. As of now, the toggle you see after turning on push notifications will default to leaving email on as well.
2. In the next release, we're going to pull it out of onboarding and just have it be a setting you can find if you want.
We're going to continue to iterate on making this great for writers and readers. Feedback like yours helps us do this, so thank you.
Also - just to reiterate: Regardless of a reader's choice about notifications, readers' email addresses will still be added to your list that you own when they subscribe to your publication.
And if that subscriber at some point stops reading in the app or turns off notifications, we revert to sending them your posts via email so you don't lose your connection with them.
Thanks for clarifying! I don't know what the future holds for app store fees either, but I have a hard time believing those fees will be zero. Not complaining, but I am concerned that Substack might ultimately put all of the creators who use the platform at the mercy of the app stores.
We hear you and want to do right by writers.