Substack announced Thursday it’s launching Apple TV and Google TV apps that audiences can use for movies and livestreams — and early reactions counsel not all customers are thrilled.
Subscribers can watch movies and livestreams from creators they comply with, however the app may also have a recommendations-based “For You” feed that mixes in different creators’ content material. The TV app is on the market to each free and paid subscribers, and Substack says it is going to finally add audio content material and extra discovery options.
For a lot of, it seems this was not welcome information. Within the quick time for the reason that weblog put up went reside, it’s been flooded with feedback from writers and customers who’re annoyed with the concentrate on video content material.
“Why are you doing this Substack? Why are you veering away from the written phrase?” one author requested. One other: “Please don’t do that. This isn’t Youtube. Elevate the written phrase.” (To be honest, a number of commenters do appear excited in regards to the characteristic.)
From an industry-wide perspective, placing video podcasts and different content material on TVs is sensible: In October 2025, YouTube customers watched 700 million hours of podcasts on their televisions (Spotify redesigned its TV app that very same month, including video podcasts and music movies). For Substack, attempting to get a chunk of this pie is sensible for the enterprise — however it could have a tougher time convincing longtime customers of the pivot.
