Medium launches read-only iPhone app

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After somewhat of a brief delay, Medium’s app finally landed in the App Store today. It’s for the iPhone only, and has a focus on reading and recommending stories. In fact, that’s about all it’s capable of doing right now, as there’s no way to write using the app.

“It’s a simple app because every week, thousands of people come to Medium to write,” says Medium’s founder Ev Williams in a blog post. “They share their stories, their ideas, their dreams and visions. That’s the hard part. We’re just helping amplify their voices.”

From the App Store description:

“With Medium, we have created the cleanest, simplest way to access the stories and ideas shared on Medium.com. Every day, hundreds of new voices publish their unique experiences, views, and reflections, helping create the largest, most diverse collection of writing on the internet.”

When you sign into Medium using your Twitter account, the app fetches your personalized reading list, which is created by people you follow on Twitter and collections you follow on Medium. If someone has recommended a post, you’ll see their face in the title.

Each story is beautifully presented in full-screen, and includes an estimated read time. And if you begin to read something and lose interest, a quick swipe on the screen will get you to the next post. You can also share articles via Twitter, Facebook and email.

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As you can imagine, as the first build, the app is missing a few things. In addition to the lack of a posting feature, there’s also no way to search for authors or content, and no word on an Android or iPad version— though Medium says it is working on all of this.

For those who have never used Medium before, it’s a highly visual publishing platform that allows writers to post thoughts and essays without having to commit to starting a blog or building an audience. You can find the new iPhone app in the App Store for free.