Gumroad Launches iPhone App

Gumroad has launched its first iPhone app. But wait -- the app does not do what Gumroad is primarily known for. For instance, you can not use the app to purchase an album or a book. Instead, the Gumroad app lets users view any content that they have already bought.

According to CEO/Founder Sahil Lavingia, Gumroad has always been focused on the creator-side experience. But lately, Lavingia and the company is now setting their sights on improving the consumer-side experience as well.

With the recently launched Gumroad app, Lavingia and his crew are trying to do exactly that. Through the app, users can watch, listen to, or read all the Gumroad content they have previously purchased on their iPhone devices. And once the app is properly set in their handsets, any content bought from Gumroad thereafter will automatically be made available in the app.

This should be good news, especially for those who have used or continue to use Gumroad when shopping for content. The company claims that there are already 8,000 movies and videos, 15,000 music-related content, and 35,000 books and comics in its library.

So why not use the app to facilitate purchase transactions from Gumroad? Lavingia is quick to note that they have not completely ruled out the possibility of making the app a conduit for purchasing Gumroad account, but now their focus is optimizing the consumption experience, especially with regards to their customers being able to fully enjoy their Gumroad content. 

Gumroad was founded by Lavingia when he was only 19. He was then a high-ranking employee in Pinterest but left in order to build a platform wherein content creators (musical artists, writers, filmmakers, designers, developers) can sell their work directly to consumers. Fast-forward now, and the fact that Lavingia is already launching an iPhone app means Gumroad is not doing bad at all. 

As of this writing, the Gumroad app is only available for iPhone users. But Android users need not fret -- Lavingia and his crew are working on an Android version, although the release dates for that is unknown for now.