Why Did Medium Remove Writing/Editing From Its Mobile App?

Summary

Medium removed writing and editing features from its mobile app, causing disappointment among writers who valued the convenience of composing and editing on-the-go, despite the company's focus on enhancing the reading experience.

Abstract

In March, Medium announced the removal of story editing features from its native mobile apps, a decision that was met with dismay by its user base, particularly writers like Shashi Sastry. This change was part of Medium's strategic focus on providing an exceptional reading experience, although the rationale behind it was not entirely clear to users who found the mobile writing and editing capabilities to be highly beneficial. The mobile app allowed for quick capture of story ideas and immediate correction of errors in published stories, facilitating a seamless workflow for writers. Despite the setback, Sastry remains a staunch advocate for Medium, acknowledging its value as a platform for writers, but he expresses concern that the removal of these features may stifle the creative and expressive process that writing entails. While he does not plan to abandon Medium, he is open to exploring alternatives and workarounds, and he laments the loss of these features, fearing that his feedback may not influence Medium's management to reinstate them.

Opinions

Shashi Sastry is dismayed by Medium's decision to remove writing and editing features from the mobile app, considering it a negative development for writers.
The author appreciated the ability to quickly jot down story ideas and make instant corrections to published stories using the mobile app.
Medium's focus on enhancing the reading experience is acknowledged, but the author questions how writing and editing capabilities could impede that goal.
Despite his disappointment, Sastry values Medium as a writer's outlet and does not intend to leave the platform abruptly, given his investment in it.
The author is open to hearing thoughts on the future of writing platforms and potential alternatives to Medium.
Sastry expresses skepticism about the impact of his feedback on Medium's management, doubting that the writing/editing feature will be restored to the mobile app.
He feels the need to express his dissatisfaction and share his concerns with the broader community, emphasizing the importance of writing as a form of creativity, expression, and self-im

Not happy, Jan!

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(August 2022 update: Medium has reinstated mobile app writing/editing. The listening and responsiveness from Medium’s management, although slow, are appreciated.)

I read the following with dismay in the Medium Creator Newsletter of 15th March.

…we’ve made the difficult decision to remove story editing features from our native apps…

I checked immediately, and shock-horror, the write button and the edit menu were gone. So was the listing of draft stories. Does anyone know exactly why Medium did this? It sort of tries to explain it with this preface:

With our focus on an exceptional reading experience…

Even assuming Medium is trying to get more readers for itself (and for us writers), how did the ability to write and edit get in the way of this goal?! I don’t get it. Do you?

Sure, the writing experience on the app was not as complete as on the web. In fact, I had campaigned with Medium dev to provide all the desktop features on the mobile app and was hoping it would get there someday. But still, it was about 90% the same, which was pretty good.

There were two excellent facilities when we had the writing & editing feature on the mobile app:

Instead of noting down new story ideas in Nebo, WhatsApp, or my diary, I could just hit the ‘Write a story’ button on my mobile, capture the thought in the title, and expand it later on the web. I grabbed more good ideas this way.

While re-reading my published stories, if I spotted a disturbing error, I could correct it instantly, wherever I was in the world, as long as I had my smartphone.

I love Medium. See the laudatory story I wrote about it.

But from a writer’s point of view, I am saddened by this decision to remove writing/editing from its mobile app, as I believe that Medium is still one of the best outlets for writers.

Sure, we need more readers, but writing is not only about being read by the most people possible. It is also about creativity, expression, catharsis, recreation, self-therapy, self-improvement, etc. By removing this feature, Medium sends my writer persona a negative vibe.

I will not abandon Medium in a knee-jerk reaction. I have too much invested in it. And there are some kludgy workarounds for writing and editing from my phone and iPad. But if others have thoughts on the future and alternatives, I’d be keen to hear them.

I don’t think anyone in Medium management will read my dirge, so I have little hope the writing/editing feature will be returned to the mobile app.

But I did need to lament and share — from my laptop.

Please consider Medium membership to clap, comment, highlight, and get full access to my stories and those of other excellent writers. (It’s only $5 a month. Give it a go!)

Why Did Medium Remove Writing/Editing From Its Mobile App?

Not happy, Jan!

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