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is features writer with five years of experience covering the companies that shape technology and the people who use their tools.
Substack announced Thursday it’s launching Apple TV and Google TV apps that audiences can use for videos and livestreams — and early reactions suggest not all users are thrilled.
Subscribers can watch videos and livestreams from creators they follow, but the app will also have a recommendations-based “For You” feed that mixes in other creators’ content. The TV app is available to both free and paid subscribers, and Substack says it will eventually add audio content and more discovery features.
For many, it appears this was not welcome news. In the short time since the blog post went live, it’s been flooded with comments from writers and users who are frustrated with the focus on video content.
“Why are you doing this Substack? Why are you veering away from the written word?” one writer asked. Another: “Please don’t do this. This is not Youtube. Elevate the written word.” (To be fair, a few commenters do seem excited about the feature.)
The negative reaction hints at a fear long held by some of the platform’s earliest adopters: Substack is no longer a place prioritizing writing. Over the past few years, the platform has added video and livestreaming capabilities, added a tweet-like feature called Notes, and pledged to spend $20 million to lure TikTok creators to the platform. Substack had held out on inserting ads for years, but last year signaled it was open to it; in December 2025 it began rolling out sponsored segments that writers could plug into their newsletters. The company used to present itself as a refuge for writers and journalists who wanted to break away from the instability and pressures of working at a traditional media company, even offering lucrative deals (that included healthcare) to star writers. Some of those marquee writers have since left the platform, whether it’s because they felt Substack had become too much like a social media platform or because of the ecosystem of Nazi newsletters that appears to be a persistent problem.
From an industry-wide perspective, putting video podcasts and other content on TVs makes sense: In October 2025, YouTube users watched 700 million hours of podcasts on their televisions (Spotify redesigned its TV app that same month, adding video podcasts and music videos). For Substack, trying to get a piece of this pie makes sense for the business — but it may have a harder time convincing longtime users of the pivot.
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