Tumblr introduces a new interface designed for long-form writing

Tumblr is about to get more powerful. The platform will introduce a series of new features that make it more friendly toward long-form writing – and more competitive against blogging platforms like Medium and Squarespace.

The new set of tools makes writing and adding media on Tumblr more dynamic than before. You can, for instance, add an image or video anywhere simply by clicking the ⊕ symbol that appears when you stat a new line of text.

The update is also meant to help you better visualize what your posts will actually look like once you publish – everything should look the same as you write it as it will once made public.

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This aided by a new formatting workflow – instead of using a traditional toolbar, you’ll see editing tools dynamically pop up over selected text, including new ones such as subheads and horizontal lines.. Text rendering has been improved, too.

Tumblr says there are also smaller tweaks users can find on their own, and more “real crafty” features are coming soon. The updates announced so far will roll out to users over the next two days.

Meanwhile the company also updated its mobile apps. Both Android and iOS users can now receive notifications for asks, answers and fan mail, while receiving small UI updates as well.

Those of you on Apple devices get some extra features: you can swipe notifications to like posts or follow users, passwords integration with 1Password and Authy has been improved and users can now empty their app cache if they feel the app is taking up too much storage space.

➤ Big Update, Tumblr [Android | iOS]