We've been heads-down building for a while now, and it's finally time to talk about what Junco actually is.
The short version: Junco turns your email newsletters into podcast episodes. You connect your Gmail, pick the newsletters you care about, and the app generates a podcast you can listen to. On a walk, doing dishes, driving, wherever you'd normally listen.
We built it because we were drowning in newsletters we never read. Not because they weren't good. Just because reading takes focused attention, and focused attention is in short supply.
What's in the app
Turn newsletters into episodes. Connect Gmail, select a sender, choose up to three emails, and Junco generates an audio episode from the content. One sender, one episode. Mix emails from a couple of senders and you get a Mixtape.
A real podcast player. Background playback, lock screen controls, a queue you can reorder, and the ability to skip back and forward. It feels like a podcast app because it is one.
Offline downloads. Save episodes for when you're on a plane or the subway goes dark. Your downloaded episodes stay available no matter what.
Favorites and filtering. Star episodes you want to come back to. Filter your library however you like.
A dedicated inbox address. Every Junco account comes with a personal address (you@listen.tryjunco.com) you can use to subscribe to newsletters directly. It keeps everything out of your main inbox, and anything sent there shows up in Junco automatically. No Gmail connection required for those senders.
RSS support. Not everything lives in Gmail. You can pull in RSS feeds too.
Push notifications. Get notified when a new episode is ready, no need to open the app and check.
Beta testing
We have 10 testers already giving us feedback, and we're looking for 20 more.
If you subscribe to newsletters but struggle to actually get through them, this is for you. We want real feedback from real use. What's confusing, what's missing, what you'd tell a friend about it.
If you're interested, reach out. Beta spots are limited and we want people who'll actually kick the tires.
This is the first post, so there's not much else to say yet. More soon.