A new iOS app called HyperTexting is repackaging the open web as a scrollable, social media-style feed, letting users follow websites, blogs, newsletters, and podcasts in a single interface. The app launched in 2026 and is a free download on iOS, built by Caleb Hailey through his company Herd Works.
Hailey, a 20-year tech industry veteran, said the project grew out of frustration with the direction social media platforms had taken. After uninstalling social apps during the COVID era to escape what he described as “doom scrolling,” he returned to RSS reader apps to keep up with online content. He then began developing tools to make posting to personal websites easier, eventually combining both ideas into HyperTexting.
The app runs on RSS under the hood but does not promote the protocol in its marketing. Users can follow sites and scroll through their content in a feed format familiar to social media users, complete with follow, like, and comment functions. An “Explore” section surfaces trending content across the web, and an optional Safari extension lets users add new sites to follow while browsing.
HyperTexting also includes a publishing component. Users can connect their own website — including WordPress blogs, Ghost newsletters, or sites built with static site generators like Hugo or HyperTexting’s own HyperTemplates tool — and post directly from the app. Those posts are then linked to the source site and appear in followers’ feeds.
“The greatest decentralized social network ever created already exists, and it’s called the World Wide Web,” Hailey told TechCrunch. “Let’s just use that.”
The app is currently free. Hailey said future revenue options may include premium subscriptions or a single sponsored post per day, though no firm plans have been announced.
Source: TechCrunch