A week ago I wrote "we're live" here — the door opened and OutaStory went public. But going public isn't a finish line, it's a new starting line: for the first time, a lot of fresh eyes arrive, and fresh eyes see what you've long stopped noticing yourself. So this week moved in two directions at once — outward, so people find OutaStory where they already look for apps, and inward, so the house feels warmer and more personal the longer you stay.
Let's start with the part I'm most excited about.
Now in the Microsoft Store and the Amazon Appstore
Until last week, OutaStory was available on the web and on Android via Google Play. From now on there are two more ways to get the app onto your device: the Microsoft Store for Windows and the Amazon Appstore. If you read on a Windows laptop, you can now grab OutaStory in two clicks straight from the Store — with automatic updates, no installer detours. And if you use an Amazon Fire tablet or the Amazon Appstore, you'll find us there too.
So you have the right path right away — here are all four at a glance:
- On the web (anywhere): www.outastory.com
- Android (Google Play): OutaStory on the Play Store
- Windows (Microsoft Store): OutaStory in the Microsoft Store
- Amazon (Amazon Appstore): OutaStory on the Amazon Appstore
The Apple platforms — iPhone, iPad and Mac — are still in App Review. This week we worked through exactly the points where a review like that tends to snag; I'm confident we'll join there soon too. As soon as we do, you'll hear it here.
The lovely side effect of all this: no matter which of these ways you come in through — it's the same story, the same account, the same reading progress. Start on your phone, continue on the laptop, listen to the chapter on your tablet on the way. The device changes, the story doesn't.
Trophies: reading and writing that sees you
This is the biggest new thing this week, and it has a simple heart: the good moments on OutaStory shouldn't pass unnoticed. Your first chapter read. The first story you finished. The day someone follows you for the first time. The first story you publish. The first time someone adds your story to their favourites.
From now on, moments like these become trophies — small awards you collect just by using OutaStory. There are trophies for readers (reading, listening, finishing stories, following authors, collecting favourites, keeping a streak going) and for authors (publishing, being read, winning fans, carrying a serial forward). Some are out in the open and invite you to work towards them; others are secret trophies that only surface once you've earned them — a small surprise along the way.
And because a thank-you may be more than a badge, many trophies carry a little credit with them: a few credits you can spend right here on OutaStory — for example to have a story read aloud in a special voice. No pressure, no grind, no paywall: it's simply a warm "glad you're here" in the right places.
Everything you've collected lives together on your trophy page in your profile — the earned ones in colour, the ones still open as a soft outline that shows what's within reach next. And if you were with us back when OutaStory still stood behind a half-open door, there's a small acknowledgement of your own: the early companions from the quiet days are recognised retroactively. You've earned it.
Comments, right where the passage is
Until now you could comment on a story as a whole. That's good — but reading is often very specific: that one line, that one paragraph that floors you or makes you stumble. So comments now live right at the spot in the text.
You can highlight a passage and pin your thought exactly to it — with the quoted excerpt visible alongside, so it's clear later what it refers to. Others can reply, so a single thought grows into a little conversation in the margin of the story. For authors this is gold: feedback that's no longer a vague "I liked it" but anchored to the exact place that landed. For readers it's what good reading always was — except now you get to write in the margin, visibly.
A profile that tells you more
A profile was, for a long time, mostly a name and a picture. This week it became a place where you learn something about a person.
There's now a cover image for the top edge, plus fields you can fill in — and, importantly to me, you decide per field who gets to see it. Some things can be public, some just for you. The default is deliberately reserved. If you like following others, you can now do so more openly, and if you want, you can lift your favourite stories up as highlights — a small, curated selection that says: this is me, this is what I love to read or write. On a stories platform a profile is never just admin; it's the start of people finding one another.
Dedications and gift links
Some stories are written for someone. So an author can now give a story a dedication and a few loving ornaments — small flourishes that make reading a touch more festive, without ever distracting from the text.
And then there's something I especially love: gift links. You can gift a story via a link — and the person you give it to can read it without having to sign up first. No account requirement, no hurdle: just open the link and read. It's the digital version of pressing a book into someone's hands and saying "you have to read this."
Eight worlds, now with seasons
The new design has been the only interface for a few weeks now — eight curated "worlds" you can freely switch between. This week they gained even more life.
Each world now carries a gently animated imagery backdrop that suits the chosen mood — no fireworks, more like a quiet breathing behind the content. Two new worlds joined: a calm, high-contrast variant for anyone who likes things especially clear and legible, and a warmer, more narrative one. And because the year has a colour, OutaStory now knows seasonal moments — festive accents that briefly appear at special times and then fade again. As always: reading mode itself stays deliberately unadorned. When you read, the story should shine, not the surroundings.
For everyone who writes
This week also brought a lot for the other side — the one where stories are made.
- Characters with a face: you can now add characters with a description and age to a story, plus locations — small building blocks that help with planning and later benefit narration and discoverability too.
- A quieter editor: on the big screen there's now a two-column layout, the chapter title updates live as you type, and a new story starts with sensible defaults instead of leaving you alone with an empty form. Small things that make writing quieter and smoother.
- More control over notifications: you can now fine-tune, for more events, whether and how you want to be notified — from new fans to replies to updates about your stories.
- Reliability when switching: anyone jumping back and forth between chapters is now guaranteed not to lose text — the editor keeps a clean memory of what you're working on.
Small things, big effect
And then, as every week, there's the unspectacular that you only notice when it's missing. This time, among others: tooltips on the small icons in the top bar, so it's clear what each one hides; clearer language around credits, so you know what they're actually for; an emoji picker in comments that no longer gets cut off at the edge of the screen; and many more refinements — each one too small for a heading, all together the difference between "works" and "feels good." Reading itself has also become a touch calmer and steadier in several corners.
By the numbers
- Four ways to OutaStory: web, Android (Google Play), Windows (Microsoft Store) and the Amazon Appstore — the Apple platforms follow out of review.
- A catalogue that keeps growing: several thousand stories from more than two thousand authors, to read and — where available — to listen to.
- New this week: trophies for reading and writing (with a little credit), comments right at the passage, a profile with cover/following/highlights, dedications and gift links, livelier worlds with seasons, and noticeably more tooling in the editor.
- A welcome offer is still running: OUTALAUNCH26 for everyone who joins in these first weeks.
What's next
- The Apple platforms — iPhone, iPad and Mac — should be next, as soon as review clears.
- More serials. Last week's serialized-novel format is finding its first authors right now; I'm curious which stories will grow chapter by chapter.
- More edge-smoothing. Exactly those little "that looks odd" moments you notice are what separates a good first impression from a great one.
A week ago we opened the door. This week we made the house behind it a little cosier — and built two new ways to come in. If you like: drop by, earn your first trophy, gift a story to someone it would do good. It's built for you.
Warm regards, Thimo