Reviews for Substack

Substack push the app hard but the app makes it hard to see your subscriptions without pushing lots of dross. At least improve your recommendation algorithm if you are going to do that, I'm drowning in 💩. If I do mark something as 'show less of this' I lose my place and have to scroll all the way back past the same posts again. It's sometimes a bit slow too. I use it only because a few writers I like are on the platform.

Using the app is more frustrating than viewing substack in the browser. When I leave the app, it doesn't appear in recent apps, so I can't return to it except by restarting the app, which loses my place. When I select text, I get a three item context menu "Copy Restack Cancel". There's no web search option. There shouldn't be a Cancel, because clicking outside the menu should dismiss it, as it does in every other app with a context menu.

I am getting charged twice a month for a single subscription and there has been no way to resolve, no customer service support. I have tried to cancel, but it doesn't work (I tried it again - maybe it'll work this time but I doubt it). Also, the only way to cancel a sub is to use the website, which is super clunky on mobile. I love the content creators I follow, but there needs to be support for billing issues.

Meh. Not loving the UI. Kinda difficult to navigate. It's awkward for writing because the part of the screen you're writing on is covered by the keyboard. Correcting typos is frustrating. Was hoping to use it to write but I don't like to be annoyed while I'm writing. It's nice being able to read what friends write and discover new people writing interesting stuff.

This app is good, but some features on this platform are confusing. There is a difference between "following"someone and "subscribing" to them. There is also no way to subscribe to someone and just receive notifications in-app, the articles WILL get emailed to you too, unless you block them through your email, which is bad design on Substack's part. It's a great app for making reading more approachable and less intimidating.

The app disappears if you try to switch to a different app (long standing issue), I can't see more than 2 comments at a time all of a sudden AND if I don't check it enough for their liking they start sending me emails for every person I follow. I don't want EMAILS! So I unsubscribed from everything except my original one paid subscription. No chance of me subscribing to anything else, because this is too freaking annoying. Fix your basic stuff instead of adding new features. Do not recommend.

Good content, terrible UI. Comments disappear after writing them. No search functionality or ability to view just a single comment thread. You can't pay for subscriptions in the app, but when I try to pay in the browser it keeps redirecting me back to the app. Half the things I click on do nothing. There's no history of things I was reading so I have no way to go back and find or refer to things later.

SUBSTACK STOP PUSHING AUDIO AT ME Every time I open the app, it starts playing a random audio post, often by people I'm not even subscribed to! The posts are clogging up my history so I can't even find posts I listened to/read ON PURPOSE! Now, even if I restart my phone and I haven't TOUCHED the app, it'll stick a random post that I DON'T LIKE in my 'now playing' on my phone! AND I CANT GET RID OF IT I'm uninstalling. This is RIDICULOUS

love the app and wish it stays this way with no reels type feature or excessive ads and AI pushed on you . I feel like theres a genuine connection between you and others. this is what social media is supposed to be. however, I've had a problem that I find quite annoying. I can't seem to upload posts or notes or even write comments on notes using the app.. however I can do so on the browser version. if you can fix this definitely would give 5☆ edit: Please fix your app, now it's not even opening

Terrible for writers! DO NOT write in the app. It will NOT be saved or recoverable! Got this app because I'm a blogger. I'm down a computer rn and am looking for a monetized platform for blogging through an app. Guess I'll have to KEEP looking! This app is NOT like the Substack Website! If you are a writer, avoid the app at all costs! It has no button in the app for finding your drafts or editing them!! This is strictly a reading app but if you look for a Substack Writer app, there isn't one!

As a service, great. As an app, not so much. There are redundancies everywhere, but other things that can't be found or seemingly can't be done in the app at all. The website functions and navigates somewhat differently so bouncing between can be frustrating. The app finally stopped crashing and removing itself from the carousel every time I switched away from it, but now the bar to like and comment from will not show up in a post. We had a good month or so in there where it all worked well.

I've had it for almost a year now, and I don't routinely go in and read some of the great people who I know contribute. What disappoints me is how trite and inflammatory the notifications I get are. I never focused on Facebook or Twitter either, but most of the notifications I see seem pretty dumb so I'm turning off notifications. As far as I can tell, these notifications aren't from prominent or serious thinkers, they are brief messages from somebody with a gripe about somebody else.

I have been thoroughly enjoying this app until the July 31st, '25 update. I tend to listen to the articles but "stack" them up, and it no longer has that option anymore, as well as having the option to play the next article. Granted, some of the computer voices are ridiculous, but that makes it sort of amusing to listen to.

Good idea, horrible execution. It's a glorified mailing list, and it sends an email for EVERY individual article published in a subscription. Even when you select "prefer push". No daily/weekly summaries option. I don't want to read the articles in email, I want to read them in the app. The only way to avoid the emails is to unsubscribe from the creator, which defeats the purpose. The UI is unintuitive and clunky. Articles in the app have to be archived one at a time, no opt for multi select.

The app decides to play random podcasts from people I've never heard of without any interaction. It even recently did this when I didn't even have the app open and wouldn't stop when I closed the app. I had to open Substack and stop it in the app. The media control is still there, it's just blank now. The app also frequently disappears from the app switcher. However, the actual content on Substack is very good.

Overall, a well done app but the experience of subscribing to get access to a post is terrible. It requires switching to a browser, logging in, finding the writer you want to subscribe to, subscribing, having to enter a credit card in the process (does substack even support saving credit cards?). Then you go back to the app to continue reading, but the app doesn't know you have a subscription, so you need to exit the article to find it again. You would get more subscriptions with less friction

There are many functionality issues with this app from crashes to drafts not syncing between it and the PC as well as very few features. However, not even being able to log in or get the app to send an email to let me unlock it after it randomly logged me out takes the cake. What is even the point? If you wanted to be desktop only you should've just stayed that way.

Not worth the trouble. Since this app was first introduced, it's gone from bad to worse. It doesn't update activity reliable, and posts I've already read remain as unread for days. As often as not, the list of Notes cycles through the same 4 or 5 notes repeatedly, instead of continuing down the list. It regularly recommends new writers to me that write on subjects that are practically the antithesis of the stuff I tend to read, and it's not possible to edit a comment like you can in the browser.

While full of amazing content, the app is ephemeral when one switches away to another app. Substack disappears from the app switcher, even losing one's place in the current article. If you don't immediately like an article there is no history to help you find the same article, leaving you lost from something you might want to continue reading. It's almost better to open an article in a browser tab to make sure the article doesn't get lost forever.

Does most of what I need, but doesn't always work as intended. For example, when I send out a test version of a newsletter, I get a notification via the app saying I can read it there. This function has never worked. Additionally, not being able to edit newsletters from the app is super unhelpful. Overall, both the app and the web version could be more user friendly. The taxonomy needs a lot of work. Aside from that, I like the app and the Substack platform.