Anyone with a Substack account can now post on Substack’s web and mobile apps, transforming the newsletter platform into more of a social network, the company announced Thursday. (Currently, users posting to their profile from a mobile device can only do so through the Substack iOS app, but support for Android is coming soon.)
Substack members can publish content, acquire paid and free subscribers, and accrue pledges from their Substack profile without setting up a publication. However, creating publications allows them to take advantage of more advanced features such as websites, multiple administrators, and sections. Substack says that if they do choose to start a new one, they can import any subscribers they may have accrued.
Substack is increasingly turning a publishing platform into a social network
However, users cannot make their substack profiles private, so anyone can follow and read posts. If they want to post for a limited audience, they must create and link to a private publication on their profile.
In addition to these updates, Substack also announced that it will continue to work on making the platform more mobile-friendly. Last month, the platform began allowing users to publish full posts via its mobile app. Today, the company revealed it’s also testing live video and in-app payments.
