Matter Refounded and Rebounded

I love the read-it-later tool Matter, but it seems like it's no longer an active project getting updates. The Matter Obsidian plugin makes my startup time somewhere from 30-60 seconds and it hasn't been touched in 2 years. Readwise, meanwhile, just updated their plugin this week.

— Robert (@mineinmono.net) January 24, 2025 at 7:09 PM

If I were to make a list of my favorite apps (and someday, I’m sure I will), the read-it-later Matter would be near the top. I use it daily. During the day, I capture articles I want to read when I have some time. Sometime in the evening, I send most of the captured articles to my Kindle. When my iPad is safely stowed away for the night and I’m reading on my Kindle, I pour through the articles I’ve saved in their handy digest/magazine format. Not all of them get read, but most do.

Only a month ago, I wondered aloud on Bluesky why Matter hadn’t received any updates in quite a while. Well, it turns out there are some very good reasons for the lack of updates. Founder Ben Springwater explains in an email to subscribers.

There are years that ask questions, and years that answer. For us, last year was both.

Rob and I founded Matter together in 2020. In 2022, we became fathers, only three weeks apart.

Then, last year, we were both diagnosed with cancer.

I had radiation and two major surgeries. Rob had his lung removed. It was a surreal time.

Yet the world doesn’t stop for cancer. While we battled, Matter faced its own adversity.

We’d begun the year confidently, placing a big bet on paid growth. But by summer, it was clear the strategy wasn’t working.

Still unable to walk, I made the painful decision to let go of half our team.

Rob and I had to face the truth: Matter is a great product—3x App of the Day, with many thousands of passionate users—but it isn’t the next Duolingo.

Its destiny is one of slow, steady growth and enthusiast appeal. And that’s okay.

The founders decided that Matter is basically a mature app, which is true, and that they needed to focus the company (which was refounded to include two of the indispensable engineers) on expanding their portfolio of apps.

Now armed with the knowledge of what is going on with the company and why the app isn’t seeing frequent updates, I actually feel much more comfortable as a subscriber. The only issue I have with Matter is that the Obsidian plugin seems to take an inordinate amount of time to load on MacOS. Other than that, the experience is very smooth.

Having been through cancer myself, I know how disruptive it can be to a life. I am grateful and relieved that the Matter guys are back to health and rebounding.¹

1. I would respond to wish them well, but they are requesting that kind of support on Xitter, and well, you know… ↩︎