Medium: Read & Write Stories

Review by eFreeware

Medium is a reading and publishing app from A Medium Corporation, a free download with more than 10 million installs and a 4.7 average across over 515,000 ratings. The pitch is straightforward: long-form stories from people who know their subjects, gathered in one place and read without ads interrupting them.

What draws me to it is the combination of depth and range. The catalog spans business, technology, design and current events, written by insiders, thought leaders and independent voices rather than a single editorial desk. If you want to spend an evening with a well-argued essay instead of a feed of short updates, that is the job this app sets out to do.

It has been on Google Play since June 2015, and the current build dates to October 2026.

Reading, saving and listening

The core activity is reading, and the app is built to keep you at it. The developer describes a minimal, distraction-free layout, and there are light and dark modes for different times of day. Stories are free of advertising, which matters over a long article.

Saving is handled in a few ways. Highlights, bookmarks and lists let you build a knowledge base worth revisiting. That is more deliberate than a simple save-for-later queue, and it suits anyone reading with a purpose, whether that is research for work or background on a subject they keep coming back to.

Audio versions of any story are available as well. That opens up the catalog for listening while you drive, exercise or handle chores, and it means a long piece does not have to compete with the rest of your day. I would treat it as a second way into the same material rather than a separate product.

Following writers and joining the conversation

Medium is a community as much as a library. You can follow your favorite writers and publications, and the app recommends stories based on your interests, so the surface you see should shift as you read. Over time that should make the home view more relevant than a generic front page.

Interaction goes both ways. Readers clap for stories they like and take part in comment threads, which the developer pitches as thought-provoking discussion around the writing. For a reader who wants to argue a point or thank an author, that layer is part of the appeal.

There are also exclusive newsletters you can opt into for delivery to your inbox. That is a useful bridge if you would rather have selected writing arrive on a schedule than open the app to browse.

Publishing your own work

The app is not only for consuming. Writers can publish their own work, build an audience and earn through the Partner Program. For someone who has been posting in less visible corners of the internet, that is a meaningful difference: the same place where you read is a place where your writing can be found.

The reading and publishing sides reinforce each other. Following writers shows you how others structure a piece and handle a comment section, and publishing puts you on the other end of the same clapping and commenting tools. I would not call it a full publishing suite, but it covers the basics of writing, sharing and being paid for it.

The app carries a Teen content rating, which is worth noting if you are setting it up for a younger reader.

What you need before you start

Getting going is simple: download it, and you are reading. The developer says you can move between your smartphone, tablet and desktop, so a story started on one device can be picked up on another. Light and dark modes are there from the start.

Membership is the main thing to understand. Medium is free to download and shows no ads, and it offers in-app purchases. A membership costs $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year through Google Play, renews on its own unless you cancel a day ahead, and is managed in the Google Play Subscription Center. A membership unlocks the full catalog and pays the writers you follow. That is the arrangement to weigh before you commit, since the subscription is the part that costs money.

The readers and writers this suits

This is for people who prefer length to speed. If your reading list runs to analysis of a business decision, an essay on design, or a careful account of a news event, the format here is built around that. The bookmarking, highlighting and lists make more sense for someone who reads to retain something than for someone skimming headlines.

Writers get a second reason to install. Publishing, building an audience and the Partner Program turn the app into a place to put work in front of readers rather than just a place to find them. The audio option and the syncing across devices round out the practical side for anyone who reads in fragments of time.

The community features are the part I would think about hardest. Clapping and commenting are part of how the app works, so a reader who wants to stay anonymous and silent will be using a subset of it. That is not a flaw, just a fair description of where the emphasis sits.

A considered pick for long-form readers

Medium suits anyone who wants substantial writing from people with something to say, without ads breaking up the text. The reading tools, the audio versions and the cross-device access cover the practical needs of a regular reader, and the publishing side gives writers a route to an audience and, through the Partner Program, to payment.

The cost is the membership, at $4.99 monthly or $49.99 annually, and it is the one thing I would decide on deliberately rather than by default. The app is free to download and carries no ads, and the subscription is what the developer ties to unlimited access and direct support for writers.

If you read long pieces and want a home for them, this is a sensible download. If you write and want readers, it is worth more than that.

What's new in version 4.5.1784910815

We made improvements and fixed bugs to give you the best Medium experience.