6 ms·

Reading articles may be an almost perfect fit for web, but we see a really clear pattern among the 70% of our users that read in mobile: they discover stuff to

by cjbest 5y ago

Reading articles may be an almost perfect fit for web, but we see a really clear pattern among the 70% of our users that read in mobile: they discover stuff to read on the web through links that get shared, but once they sign up they overwhelmingly read in their email client. Email is actually pretty great for this, and email is especially powerful for giving writers direct connection to their readers. But there are limits to what you can do there, and stuff like community discussion, audio and video, and even 'not accidentally going to the promotions tab' can get a big upgrade. Somewhat related: developing for email is still a pretty big pain. It's kinda like the bad old days when you had to support IE6 - lots of people still use old versions of outlook or whatever.

gonehome 5y ago
Yeah, the app is great - I loved the email newsletters and read them in my client, but filtering quickly becomes a hassle. Being able to open the app to read when I want to will be much nicer.
klabb3 5y ago
> developing for email is still a pretty big pain. I hear you, it's a shit show! I'm gonna have to do that myself soon and I don't look forward to it. > But there are limits to what you can do [in email] But email will still be a very common entry point for readers (unless you expect to change the behavior of your users), so you still need to link to the app or website from the email. As a user I don't mind an app from a technical perspective. It gives me more options! But what are the things the app can do that the web cannot?
- moviewise 5y ago
  > But what are the things the app can do that the web cannot? As a subscriber to many Substack newsletters with different publishing schedules, I've found it to be a bit tedious and distracting to have my email inbox be inundated with new posts. I'd rather go to a reader app that has all the newsletters I've subscribed to in one place for when I have the time and the interest to spend a couple of hours reading. I'd like for the app to just send me a reminder once a week with who published what so that I can decide if I want to go to the reader app and peruse at my leisure. As a writer on Substack I've found that readers like to reply directly to the emails they receive instead of leaving a comment on the web version so that others could see it and perhaps react/interact with it. If the app could help harness a community for the writers by making it more comfortable for readers to like and leave comments, then that would be beneficial in building a brand. Additionally, if the app has a mechanism to recommend Substack newsletters that are similar to the one a particular reader is reading then that would help expand the reach/discoverability of lesser known writers.
  - klabb3 5y ago
    So you want an aggregate newsletter with the top posts of the last X days in your email and then a link to substack? What part of that experience isn't possible on the web?
    - moviewise 5y ago
      Yes, I'd like an aggregate email notification, sent no more than once a week, containing only the titles of recent posts of all the newsletters I subscribe to that will allow me to go to one place, like an app, where I can read all these articles at once rather than piecemeal. Prior to the app, the only way to get notified of a new post was to get an email from the newsletter, which as I mentioned can start to become pretty tedious because of the constant stream of emails. Alternatively, one could bookmark all the newsletters one subscribes to on a web browser and keep checking them, which is also quite tedious. A reader app is a better solution.
  - kevincox 5y ago
    Sounds like you need to set up a quick filter that moves these interesting but low urgency items into a "Read it Later" folder. This is one of my favourite thins about email, it is a way to deliver something to me, but imposes no limitations on my workflow. I can customize however I want. This is one reason I would never use a substack app. I don't want a different app for substack, medium, WordPress, blogger and have to check them all and learn their imposed workflows. I just want everything sent to my email then I can use the workflow that I want for all of the content.
- sachinmonga 5y ago
  > As a user I don't mind an app from a technical perspective. It gives me more options! But what are the things the app can do that the web cannot? A simple but important one: being able to get a notification on your phone when a new post lands in your inbox. There are lots of subtle little things around readability, scroll performance, etc. too. There are also a decent number of Podcasts on Substack now, and listening in a web player (on mobile) is a pretty sub-par experience.
  - aozgaa 5y ago
    How is this different from getting a notification in gmail?
    - no_butterscotch 5y ago
      That would be for any and all emails? I turn off gmail notifications. I suppose some of their readers might want to know when the Substacks they subscribe to have new content but don't want to know when they're getting new spam.
    - cyberpunk 5y ago
      It has a different logo on it, for.. uhh... a better experience? >_<
  - bathtub365 5y ago
    Can you elaborate on what “scroll performance” means? The only time I’ve had trouble with scrolling when I’m reading something on my phone is when an app or website thinks they know how to scroll better than the OS does.
    - jamil7 5y ago
      I'm not sure how they meant it in this particular context but IMO good scroll performance with a lot of media on the page can be quite tricky to do on the web and a bit easier on iOS. This might be better these days than it was when I last did web dev (3+ years ago).
  - 5y ago
- pc86 5y ago
  Here's hoping the emails don't become "There's a new article from $NEWSLETTER! Click here to read it!"
Avshalom 5y ago
- pc86 5y ago
  Even if you're right (not a point I'm conceding) you're being unnecessarily hostile about it.
mizzao 5y ago
What do you think of readers like feedbin that some folks are outsourcing their email inbox to?
arthurofbabylon 5y ago
By "read in their email client" (presumably on mobile) I will assume that people view but do not read. Attention spans on mobile are atrocious (notably, the fulcrum is screen size having a neurological impact on ability to pay attention - this is a biological fact) – very little real reading takes place. I can imagine Substack is more of an "aspires to read X" platform than a place for actually reading X. This argument is anecdotally supported by the sensationalism of popular pieces I see go viral, the payment system (it is always easier to quickly monetize aspiration than behavior), and its reliance on growth through virtue-signaling (eg twitter).
- edmundsauto 5y ago
  Not affiliated with Substack, but this doesn’t feel like a fair assessment. For me, email is the best way to consume curated content that I don’t get distracted. Often, like with Matt Levine, it’s a way around a paywall and obnoxious sites.
- secondo 5y ago
  > Attention spans on mobile are atrocious (notably, the fulcrum is screen size having a neurological impact on ability to pay attention - this is a biological fact) – very little real reading takes place. If you have any further reading on this please share. n=1 with exception for scientific papers I do essentially all my reading on my phone and I do not experience any attention difference. I also have my phone on perpetual DnD so notifications and other distractions are not a thing.
- hackernewds 5y ago
  > " aspires to read X platform then a place for actually reading X " This assumes this is goal for Substack founders and leadership. The null hypothesis absence of other evidence, is that the goal is active reader/subscriber growth
- native_samples 5y ago
  If it was aspirational reading people wouldn't pay so much for it.
- kevincox 5y ago

by cjbest 5y ago

gonehome 5y ago

Yeah, the app is great - I loved the email newsletters and read them in my client, but filtering quickly becomes a hassle. Being able to open the app to read when I want to will be much nicer.

klabb3 5y ago

> developing for email is still a pretty big pain. I hear you, it's a shit show! I'm gonna have to do that myself soon and I don't look forward to it. > But there are limits to what you can do [in email] But email will still be a very common entry point for readers (unless you expect to change the behavior of your users), so you still need to link to the app or website from the email. As a user I don't mind an app from a technical perspective. It gives me more options! But what are the things the app can do that the web cannot?

moviewise 5y ago
> But what are the things the app can do that the web cannot? As a subscriber to many Substack newsletters with different publishing schedules, I've found it to be a bit tedious and distracting to have my email inbox be inundated with new posts. I'd rather go to a reader app that has all the newsletters I've subscribed to in one place for when I have the time and the interest to spend a couple of hours reading. I'd like for the app to just send me a reminder once a week with who published what so that I can decide if I want to go to the reader app and peruse at my leisure. As a writer on Substack I've found that readers like to reply directly to the emails they receive instead of leaving a comment on the web version so that others could see it and perhaps react/interact with it. If the app could help harness a community for the writers by making it more comfortable for readers to like and leave comments, then that would be beneficial in building a brand. Additionally, if the app has a mechanism to recommend Substack newsletters that are similar to the one a particular reader is reading then that would help expand the reach/discoverability of lesser known writers.
- klabb3 5y ago
  So you want an aggregate newsletter with the top posts of the last X days in your email and then a link to substack? What part of that experience isn't possible on the web?
  - moviewise 5y ago
    Yes, I'd like an aggregate email notification, sent no more than once a week, containing only the titles of recent posts of all the newsletters I subscribe to that will allow me to go to one place, like an app, where I can read all these articles at once rather than piecemeal. Prior to the app, the only way to get notified of a new post was to get an email from the newsletter, which as I mentioned can start to become pretty tedious because of the constant stream of emails. Alternatively, one could bookmark all the newsletters one subscribes to on a web browser and keep checking them, which is also quite tedious. A reader app is a better solution.
- kevincox 5y ago
  Sounds like you need to set up a quick filter that moves these interesting but low urgency items into a "Read it Later" folder. This is one of my favourite thins about email, it is a way to deliver something to me, but imposes no limitations on my workflow. I can customize however I want. This is one reason I would never use a substack app. I don't want a different app for substack, medium, WordPress, blogger and have to check them all and learn their imposed workflows. I just want everything sent to my email then I can use the workflow that I want for all of the content.
sachinmonga 5y ago
> As a user I don't mind an app from a technical perspective. It gives me more options! But what are the things the app can do that the web cannot? A simple but important one: being able to get a notification on your phone when a new post lands in your inbox. There are lots of subtle little things around readability, scroll performance, etc. too. There are also a decent number of Podcasts on Substack now, and listening in a web player (on mobile) is a pretty sub-par experience.
- aozgaa 5y ago
  How is this different from getting a notification in gmail?
  - no_butterscotch 5y ago
    That would be for any and all emails? I turn off gmail notifications. I suppose some of their readers might want to know when the Substacks they subscribe to have new content but don't want to know when they're getting new spam.
  - cyberpunk 5y ago
    It has a different logo on it, for.. uhh... a better experience? >_<
- bathtub365 5y ago
  Can you elaborate on what “scroll performance” means? The only time I’ve had trouble with scrolling when I’m reading something on my phone is when an app or website thinks they know how to scroll better than the OS does.
  - jamil7 5y ago
    I'm not sure how they meant it in this particular context but IMO good scroll performance with a lot of media on the page can be quite tricky to do on the web and a bit easier on iOS. This might be better these days than it was when I last did web dev (3+ years ago).
- 5y ago
pc86 5y ago
Here's hoping the emails don't become "There's a new article from $NEWSLETTER! Click here to read it!"

Avshalom 5y ago

pc86 5y ago
Even if you're right (not a point I'm conceding) you're being unnecessarily hostile about it.

mizzao 5y ago

What do you think of readers like feedbin that some folks are outsourcing their email inbox to?

arthurofbabylon 5y ago

By "read in their email client" (presumably on mobile) I will assume that people view but do not read. Attention spans on mobile are atrocious (notably, the fulcrum is screen size having a neurological impact on ability to pay attention - this is a biological fact) – very little real reading takes place. I can imagine Substack is more of an "aspires to read X" platform than a place for actually reading X. This argument is anecdotally supported by the sensationalism of popular pieces I see go viral, the payment system (it is always easier to quickly monetize aspiration than behavior), and its reliance on growth through virtue-signaling (eg twitter).

edmundsauto 5y ago
Not affiliated with Substack, but this doesn’t feel like a fair assessment. For me, email is the best way to consume curated content that I don’t get distracted. Often, like with Matt Levine, it’s a way around a paywall and obnoxious sites.
secondo 5y ago
> Attention spans on mobile are atrocious (notably, the fulcrum is screen size having a neurological impact on ability to pay attention - this is a biological fact) – very little real reading takes place. If you have any further reading on this please share. n=1 with exception for scientific papers I do essentially all my reading on my phone and I do not experience any attention difference. I also have my phone on perpetual DnD so notifications and other distractions are not a thing.
hackernewds 5y ago
> " aspires to read X platform then a place for actually reading X " This assumes this is goal for Substack founders and leadership. The null hypothesis absence of other evidence, is that the goal is active reader/subscriber growth
native_samples 5y ago
If it was aspirational reading people wouldn't pay so much for it.
kevincox 5y ago