Introducing the Vocal App

Download the Vocal app:

• Vocal for iOS
• Vocal for Android

2022 has been a year of explosive growth for Vocal. At the heart of our product strategy, we have remained laser-focused on building social-oriented features to foster community across the platform. A perfect highlight of this was the recent release of our most requested feature, Comments. With over 25,000 comments exchanged and counting, this feature was the most quickly adopted in Vocal history.

As momentum continues to build in our community, we feel there is no better time than now to release our most highly anticipated product development. Today, we are pleased to announce that we are launching the beta version of the Vocal app.

After years of creators asking “when?”, we are honored to share our biggest release yet with our most valued community of creators. Vocal+ members will be the first to experience the Vocal app with exclusive early access.

What to expect

Based on the insights and feedback we’ve gathered through the years since Vocal’s inception, the first version of our app is focused on readers. It provides everyone the ability to easily discover curated stories, support creators, and participate in engaging conversation. The app will unlock a whole new level of community engagement that we are confident will translate into more reads for creators, more subscribers, more connectivity, and more opportunities for conversations to blossom and partnerships to emerge.

In the first release, you will have the ability to:

• Like and share stories
• Follow your favorite creators by subscribing
• Join the conversation through commenting
• Customize your library and check your feed for new stories

Future roadmap

This first release is just the beginning. In creating our roadmap, we are always considering what features will provide the greatest value to our creators. We are eager to share a slate of powerful features poised to further solidify Vocal as the homebase for creators. Below are some of the features we are working on:

Activity Feed: An in-app notification system that provides real-time alerts to users when actions such as likes, new subscribers, comments, and new story publishing take place.

Vocal Coins: A new payment system inside Vocal, which tokenizes our in-app currency, and will include updates to how tips, pledges, and all payments on Vocal take place.

Creator Chat: The ability for pledged subscribers to communicate directly with creators they are supporting, through live chat built directly into Vocal.

Subscriber Only Stories: The ability for creators to share stories only to their subscribers, incentivizing audience growth and revenues for creators.

Audio Stories: We are exploring ways for stories to transform from text to audio, where written stories can turn into podcasts, through text-to-speech technology. This feature is perfect for consuming Vocal anywhere on the go.

More Personalized Story Feeds: We take pride in our curation, but as we continue to grow our reader base through the Vocal app, we are making improvements to put the best quality stories in front of creators on an individual level.

Dark Mode: The first release of the app features a clean white aesthetic that matches our site. If you are a fan of dark mode, you can rest assured that it is coming soon.

Android App: Although the beta is only available to iOS users, we have love for Android too. We expect to release the Android version of the app in August, fingers crossed.

How to get the beta

If you are a Vocal+ member, you will receive an email from the Vocal Team inviting you to join the open beta. The beta is only available to Vocal+ creators with an iOS device.

In order to get the app, there are two steps:

1. Download TestFlight, Apple’s testing application, from the App Store.
2. Join the beta by clicking the ‘Get the App’ button in the email invitation.

Once the app is downloaded via TestFlight, you can access the Vocal app from your home screen at any time.

Your feedback matters

We are particularly excited to give early access to the app to Vocal+ members because we believe the feedback of our most loyal users is critical to shaping the future of the app. Sending feedback from within the app is easy using the steps below.

1. Take a screenshot by clicking the buttons on the side of your phone.
2. Tap the preview of the screenshot while it is in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen. This will open the photo editor.
3. Tap the share icon in the top right corner of the editor.
4. Tap the 'Share Beta Feedback' button (found below the 'Copy' button).
5. Write your feedback where it says ‘Tell us about your experience’.
6. Tap 'Submit' in the top right corner of the screen. This will send the feedback directly to our developers!

When will the app be available to everyone?

The app will be available for download from the App Store in mid-August. We can’t wait to share our app with the larger Vocal community and public.

This app release is a labor of love and something we’ve been looking forward to internally since Vocal was born. As always, let us know what you think in the comments below and keep creating. There’s a new generation of readers waiting to discover your original content through the Vocal app.