After seven months of Apple exclusivity, Substack’s mobile app has arrived on Android. Now, both software ecosystems have access to a reading tool the newsletter platform has touted as “like your email inbox, but better.” We’ll leave the accuracy of that statement for you to decide—we’re just here to show you around. Tap any post to read it, and a new bottom bar will appear. From there, you can tap the heart icon to like the article, the speech bubble to comment, the share icon to, well, share. On iOS you’ll also get a save icon (a bookmark), to stash the post for later, while on Android you’ll get an archive button (a box with a lid on it), which does pretty much the same. When you’re done reading, hit the back arrow in the top left to return to your inbox. If you have an iPhone or iPad, you can swipe right to do the same thing, while Android users can get there with a short swipe on either side of the screen. While reading, open a post’s menu by tapping the three dots in the top right corner of the screen. From there, you’ll be able see the publication’s main page (View Publication), and Save the post (on Android, you’ll find Archive, instead). Users with iPhones will also get an extra button to adjust Display Settings. Speaking of saving articles to your in-app library, you can swipe left on any post in your inbox to archive it. If you view a publication, you can tap the three dots in the top right to share it and manage your subscription. That’s all you get if you have an Android device, but if you have an iPhone you’ll also get an extra button to unsubscribe directly. Although the Manage subscription option exists, you cannot actually manage your subscription in the app—it will take you to a web page in your device’s default browser. Android users get the short end of the stick here, too: the subscription management URL doesn’t actually take you to a browser. Instead, you have to manually copy the URL and paste it into the browser’s navigation bar. The Android app does provide a button to automatically copy the address, which is… fine. The final option inside the Notifications area within the Substack app allows you to pause email notifications so you don’t get double-notified of new posts in the app and your inbox. This setting is actually off by default, so you’ll want to turn it on to keep your alerts to a minimum. Tap on any publication to see more information about it on its profile page, including its latest posts and the people involved. If you like it, hit Subscribe, and you’ll join as a free subscriber. You’ll also get a confirmation email that includes additional subscription options, such as paying to access the full suite of posts. A final option is Discover via Twitter, which involves linking your Twitter account to see what people in your network are reading and writing. To do so, you’ll have to provide your Twitter username or email, as well as your Twitter password. This will give Substack Reader the ability to see tweets on your timeline (including protected ones); your lists and collections; your profile information and account settings; your email address; and the accounts you follow, mute, and block. Now go stack those subs. We’ll see ourselves out.
