Reading on the Phone

Substack's new phone app + recommendations

Hey there, survivalists,

I’m dropping this mid-week mailing to share some good news for all of us weirdos who read long form writing on their phones: Substack has released its first phone app.

click through to see the video (and hear surprisingly calm piano music)

Some quotes from the announcement, which I quite liked:

. . . As media businesses became more and more anemic, writers were relegated to content-production roles and playing attention games on social media, where “engagement” is prized above all else, including quality and truth.

It is clear to us that these problems can’t be solved with a tweak to an algorithm or a just-so regulation. Instead, the entire system needs to change. With Substack, we have set out to build an alternative media ecosystem . . . where writers are rewarded with direct payments from readers, and where readers have total control over what they read . . .

It is an app for deep relationships, an alternative to the mindless scrolling and cheap dopamine hit…