The best newsletter apps for iPhone in 2026

Four questions separate the apps more than any feature list:

• How do newsletters get in? Some apps ask for access to your existing Gmail or Outlook account. Others give you a separate address to subscribe with. The second keeps your personal email out of it.
• Does it show the newsletter as designed? Brand and design newsletters lose a lot when they are flattened into plain text.
• What does it cost? Several apps are free to download but keep the useful parts behind a subscription.
• Is it only for newsletters? Read-it-later tools handle articles, PDFs and books as well. That is powerful, and also more to manage.

Stakker is built only for newsletters. You sign in with Apple or Google and get an address of your own, which you use to subscribe. Every edition is shown as the sender designed it, links open inside the app, and the stack of unread editions ends rather than scrolling forever. A sender you never subscribed to has to wait for your yes. The catalogue lets you subscribe to more than two hundred newsletters in a tap, with a strong selection of Scandinavian fashion, interiors and car brands. It is free and iPhone only.

Meco can link to an existing Gmail or Outlook account and route selected newsletters out of the inbox, or give you a Meco address instead. It leans on AI: summaries of each newsletter and a personalised audio briefing. It runs on iOS, Android and the web, with paid Pro plans for the full feature set. A good pick if you want AI help and many platforms; less so if you would rather not grant access to your email account. Stakker vs Meco.

Reader is a read-it-later tool for power readers: articles, PDFs, ebooks, videos and newsletters in one place, with strong highlighting and exports to note-taking apps. It is a paid product after a 30-day trial. If you read a lot of different formats and keep notes, it is excellent. If you only want your newsletters, it is more than you need. Stakker vs Readwise Reader.

If most of what you read is on Substack, its own app is the natural home, and you can set delivery to prefer the app over email. It does not cover newsletters from brands, newsrooms or writers on other platforms. Stakker vs the Substack app.

Both now sort email automatically. Apple Mail on iOS 18.2 and later uses Primary, Transactions, Updates and Promotions, and Apple says Updates is where newsletters go. Gmail uses tabs such as Promotions and Updates. That keeps newsletters out of the way, but also out of sight, and they still share the app with everything else. Stakker vs Apple Mail and Stakker vs Gmail.

• You want newsletters to feel like reading, not email: Stakker.
• You want AI summaries and Android support: Meco.
• You read everything, everywhere, and highlight it all: Readwise Reader.
• You only read Substack: the Substack app.
• You want nothing new: Apple Mail categories or Gmail tabs.