Tumblr updates set to cater for longform writing

Tumblr is rolling out a series of updates over a two day period. The new updates are designed to make it simpler for those who want to write long form content. This feature puts Tumblr against new popular platforms such as Medium and WordPress, at least for personal blogging standpoint.

Visually, it seems that Tumblr will be going for similarly clean look to Medium (with a bit of luck though, it won’t try and ape Medium’s reading timeframe).

Explaining the feature, Tumblr writes on its blog that it will be rolling out “New ways to structure your work, like subheads and horizontal lines. Coming soon: some real crafty shit. Whatever you want to write—simple things, flashy things, handsome things, trashy things—now you can write the hell out of it.”

Read more: Medium: Twitter co-founders’ new venture has an identity crisis

The other new updates include the ability to place images and video anywhere, as well the ability to see what a post would look like live as you’re editing it. The former feature can be activated by pressing a new “+” (plus) button which pops up when you start a new line of text.

Since launch, Tumblr has been far more friendly towards gifs and images than towards writing. The move will probably therefore probably be a fairly welcome one.

In addition to the new online features, Tumblr has updated its Android and iOS apps. With the new updates on its app, users can receive push notifications for their “asks,” answers and fan mail via the app, and swipe notifications to like posts and follow people on the service.