Smashing, the reading curation app by Goodreads’ founder, shuts down

Tech Crunch - Apr 17th, 2025
Open on Tech Crunch

AI-powered app Smashing, designed to help users curate news, articles, and social media posts, is shutting down due to its failure to scale quickly enough. Founded by Otis Chandler of GoodReads fame, Smashing was launched in June last year and allowed users to follow interests, submit content, and vote on its relevance. Despite raising $3.4 million from investors like True Ventures and hosting an AI-powered bot, the app could not achieve sustainable growth. The company made the announcement via email, citing insufficient growth as the reason for closure.

The closure of Smashing highlights the difficulties faced by startups in the competitive landscape of news aggregation technology. Despite its innovative approach and financial backing, Smashing struggled in a market with numerous alternatives like Bulletin, Particle, Feeeed, Tapestry, and Reeder. This development follows the recent shutdown of another AI-powered news app, Artifact, by Instagram’s co-founders. Both cases underscore the challenges in creating a scalable and sustainable product in the AI-driven news curation sector, despite the growing interest in personalized content consumption.

Story submitted by Fairstory

RATING

7.0
Fair Story
Consider it well-founded

The article provides a clear and timely report on the closure of the Smashing app, offering insights into the challenges faced by AI-powered content curation platforms. It maintains a neutral tone and is well-structured, making it easy to read and understand. While the factual accuracy is generally strong, the piece could benefit from additional verification and perspectives to enhance its credibility and depth. The story's impact and engagement potential are moderate, appealing primarily to tech enthusiasts and industry stakeholders. Overall, the article effectively informs readers about a relevant tech development but could be strengthened with more comprehensive sourcing and transparency.

RATING DETAILS

8
Accuracy

The story accurately reports the closure of the Smashing app and attributes the reason to its inability to scale rapidly enough, as stated by the company. The launch of Smashing by Goodreads' founder Otis Chandler and the specific features of the app are correctly described. The article also mentions the amount of funding raised and the investors involved, which aligns with available information. However, the exact launch date and the precise details of the features could be further verified for precision. The mention of alternative apps and the comparison to Artifact's closure are factual, though additional verification of these claims would enhance accuracy.

7
Balance

The article provides a balanced perspective by discussing both the challenges faced by Smashing and the existence of alternative apps addressing similar needs. It does not overly favor Smashing or its competitors, presenting a neutral stance on the situation. However, the article could include more perspectives, such as user experiences or expert opinions on the viability of such apps, to provide a more comprehensive view of the market challenges and opportunities.

8
Clarity

The article is well-structured and uses clear, straightforward language, making it easy to understand. The logical flow of information, from the closure announcement to the discussion of alternatives, helps maintain reader engagement. The tone remains neutral, which aids in presenting the facts without bias. However, some sections could be more detailed, particularly regarding the features of the app and the market context.

6
Source quality

The article references statements from Smashing's company email, which is a primary source and lends credibility to the information. However, it lacks citations from independent sources or experts that could corroborate the claims made about the app's features and market conditions. Including insights from industry analysts or users could enhance the reliability and depth of the reporting.

6
Transparency

The article provides clear information about the closure of Smashing and its reasons, but it lacks transparency regarding the sources of some claims, such as the comparison to Artifact and the list of alternative apps. More explicit attribution of these details would improve the transparency of the report. Additionally, the article could benefit from disclosing any potential conflicts of interest, such as relationships with the mentioned companies.

Sources

  1. https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/16/smashing-the-reading-curation-app-by-goodreads-founder-shuts-down/
  2. https://beamstart.com/news/smashing-the-reading-curation-app-17448724665225
  3. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/Apps/article/96310-goodreads-cofounder-launches-smashing-a-content-curation-app.html
  4. https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/16/as-deezer-approaches-profitability-it-rolls-out-a-custom-algorithm-and-other-new-features/
  5. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/daily-reader-labs-announces-smashing-an-easier-way-to-find-content-you-love-302181836.html