LBRY Austen: A New Chapter in the LBRY story

We're very excited to announce the launch of the newest version of our app, Austen!

LBRY Austen is loaded with new features and an entirely redesigned look to improve user experience in the app. As you may have noticed, this app version has a name instead of a number - from now on, each major upgrade of the LBRY app will be named alphabetically after writers and thinkers who've helped shape this incredible modern world where we're able to build a truly decentralized, peer to peer content network.

About The Austen Release

LBRY Austen is packed with new features and a totally overhauled design. Here are the details:

1. Thumbnail Upload Button

We've added a nifty little button that integrates spee.ch to keep your thumbnails on the decentralized LBRY blockchain with your content. Gone are the days of having to open a web browser to copy and paste image links for thumbnails. This feature should be working, but may experience intermittent interruptions if spee.ch publishing is disabled.

2. "View On Web" Button

Another useful button that we've added is the "View on Web" button which enables you to watch free content in your web browser via spee.ch and share links to content via messaging and social media. This feature should be working, but may experience intermittent interruptions if spee.ch publishing is disabled.

3. Autoplay Option

We have now added an option to autoplay free and downloaded media. The default toggle setting is set to "off" but you can enable it in the Content Settings.

4. QR Code on Send & Receive Page

We don't speak QR code, but computers do. We decided to add a QR code for the public address (that's the one you share with people for receiving tips and funds) on the Send & Receive Page. Those pixels will save you the time of typing in strings of random characters, after all, that's time you could be watching or publishing content on LBRY!

5. Publish 'Pending...'

It's nice to know the status of your published content. Beneath the title you'll now see 'Pending...' if your publish isn't yet confirmed. Once your published content is confirmed on the blockchain, 'Pending...' disappears. Call it magic.

6. Subscription Page Redesign

People like to keep up to date with their favorite creators, so we've redesigned the Subscription page to show the latest content from their subscriptions instead of showing them per channel. Don't worry, if you want to look at the latest content from each channel all you do is click on the channel name: channel pages work the same way.

7. Improved Markdown Support

Although a video is worth a million words, we made some improvements that allow creators to enhance their descriptions with enhanced markdown syntax. Pretty cool right?

8. Confirmation Prompt

Money is power, and so is knowledge. Knowing what's happening with your LBC is ultra powerful. Now when you send Credits from the LBRY app wallet you'll be prompted with a confirmation screen to review the destination address and amount

9. LBRY Daemon Upgrade

We've included a major upgrade to the LBRY daemon in this app release. The LBRY daemon is the behind-the-scenes program that lets computers communicate with one another on the LBRY network - this upgrade should enhance system stability and reliability.

A Is for Austen

So why Austen?

Jane Austen is one of the most prolific novelists of all time, best known for her works Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility.

Austen's literature was controversial in 19th century England - as a woman in a time when women couldn't own property let alone enter public conversations about culture, morals, and rights, Austen raised her contemporaries' hackles by suggesting that maybe women can be more than roommates owned by their husband.

What happened to her novels?

They were banned. If YouTube existed at the time, they would have helped, but in this case the censorship came from parents of unmarried women, worried that her novels would turn their daughters into insane hussies. Fortunately for us, the generations since her novels' publication have seen the value in her work and removed it from the censorship bonfire.

Jane Austen's father George believed in education for all of his children. Pushing back against the status quo, his daughters were encouraged to explore his library and immerse themselves in the great works. This early education and respect led Austen to become one of the most well-known novelists in history.

Austen once said, "What is right to be done cannot be done too soon."

Decentralizing content to provide controversial ideas with the freedom to flourish is the right thing to do, and it's never too soon to do it.

Help us build the decentralized platform that provides creators with true freedom - download LBRY Austen today!

Download LBRY Austen Here