Substack turns on iOS in-app payment option for all paid newsletters

Substack now lets users subscribe to any paid publication from the official iOS app. The news comes after the company tested the feature with 30,000 creators.

This makes subscribing to something a much speedier affair, with the entire process taking just a few taps on the old smartphone screen. Prior to this, it wasn’t always possible to upgrade to a paid subscription directly in the app.

However, there’s a fairly major caveat. It’s likely that subscriptions paid for by in-app purchases will be more expensive than usual. That’s to accommodate Apple’s cut of the revenue. Substack says it “automatically sets” iOS app prices higher so creators take home approximately the same amount. These creators can dive into the settings to lower the price.

There’s another way to subscribe to your favorite Substack creators without burning too much time. Apple now allows iOS apps in the US to include external payment links, which stems from a legal ruling . This isn’t quite as speedy as an iOS sub, but the prices are right.