Substack is a service where authors publish articles, and subscribers receive them by email. The Readine app makes reading more comfortable and adds a few useful features. You do not need to visit Substack every day, and you can clean up your mailbox.
An author’s publications live inside the Substack app. This is one more app alongside Telegram, YouTube and newsletters. There’s no single stream for reading — you have to keep switching.
| What | Why |
|---|---|
| Cognitive load | You spend attention and effort switching between apps over and over. |
| Lower engagement | The more steps you have to take, the less inclined you are to bother. In the end you skip it, unsubscribe, or pick one convenient app and ignore the rest. |
| Missed publications | You simply don’t notice some publications because the notification got buried among others. |
| No single list of what’s unread | If you’re the anxious type, it matters to know you’ve seen everything. |
| Search and archive don’t really work | First you have to remember where the publication you need was. Or search one app after another. |
Publications come through in full, with images. You get offline copies, tags and search. This is not the only source — Readine reads RSS, Telegram, YouTube and Twitter.
Private publications open through the password-protected feeds module: you give it access to your subscription tier. The module is billed per feed.
Tags, notes and full-text search are included.
Offline copies are kept even if the author deletes the publication. You can set up file export to your own drive.
You pay for the author’s subscription separately on Substack. Readine does not sell someone else’s content. Readine helps you read what you have already paid for, in one place and without extra apps.
Updates are not instant — if the author deletes a publication before a copy is made, it won’t appear in the feed.
Audio and video open on Substack — they don’t play in the app.
| What | How |
|---|---|
| Subscription to the author | a payment on Substack, not in Readine |
| Copying a publication into Readine | an extra payment |
| Fast feed updates in Readine | a separate paid module |
| Export as a file to your own archive | a separate paid module |
| End of the Substack subscription | previous publications can be read |
| Search, tags, notes | available, free |
| Full text of the publication | available, with images |
| Video offline | not kept |
| Many other features | try them in the app |
Q: Will emails from authors keep coming?
A: Substack sends the emails, and you can unsubscribe there. To read in Readine, just add the author’s page — you don’t need a separate email address.
Q: Do I need to visit Substack?
A: No. You visit it when you need to set up or renew a subscription. You can read in Readine.
Q: Are publications kept if the author deletes them?
A: Yes. The offline copy stays, and the exported file too.
Q: Is this included in the free plan?
A: No. Reading Substack requires a paid module. There are 3 days to try for free, no card needed.