News

Pugpig Bolt February 2026 updates: New paywall options, audio features and app improvements

We’ve made some exciting updates to Bolt, our mobile app platform. Let’s take a deeper look at some of the new features and improvements and what they mean for our customers.

10th February 2026

This month, Pugpig Bolt brings a set of changes designed to help our customers sharpen engagement, refine subscription journeys and make better use of rich formats across apps and web.

This month’s releases introduce more flexibility around paywalls and access, new ways to surface video and audio content, and improvements that make it easier for teams to curate and manage dynamic content experiences. Together, these updates are designed to support stronger reader journeys while giving product teams more control without added complexity. Plus plenty more…

Read on to explore everything that’s new, and don’t hesitate to reach out to your Customer Success Manager if you’d like help configuring any of the features below. If you’d like to arrange a demo of our mobile app platform, reach out to our team.

You can also view the full Bolt release notes.

Recent Pugpig Bolt release dates

Two-stage metered paywall | 31st Oct (iOS), 5th Nov (Android) | iOS 4.14.0, Android 4.11.0

Web audio player | 12th Jan | Web 6.8.3

Search limiting | 8th Dec | Search 2.7.18

iOS SDK update | 13th Jan | iOS 4.17.0 (SDK 26)

New feature: More flexible paywalls with two-stage metering

Useful for: Your subscriptions team

Two-stage metered paywalls introduce a more flexible way to balance audience growth and subscription revenue. Instead of showing a single hard paywall after a set number of free articles, you can now first prompt readers to register for free, then later invite them to subscribe.

This staged approach helps you capture more registered users, extend engagement and improve overall conversions, while keeping control over when and how each step appears. By separating registration and subscription prompts, you can reduce drop-off, create more conversion opportunities and apply more precise access rules across your content.

Who’s affected: Bolt customers who want to capture more registrations or subscriptions.

What you need to do: Check out our two-stage paywall documentation and speak to Support if you’d like to explore this setup.

New feature: Vertical video gets its own dedicated tab

Useful for: Your product and editorial teams

Vertical video continues to see strong adoption from both customers and users, so we’re expanding how it works in Bolt – moving beyond carousels to a dedicated tab experience.

Bolt Clips is now in beta, introducing a continuously swipable video tab designed to make vertical video easier to discover and explore. This helps to keep video viewing within your app, rather than directing users to third-party video platforms. The initial implementation supports both MP4 and YouTube videos.

We recently published some early data and lessons learned from vertical video adoption in our customers’ apps. Check out what we found here.

Who’s affected: Bolt customers with a strong vertical video strategy.

What you need to do: If you’re interested in taking part in the beta, please reach out to your Customer Success Manager.

New feature: A richer audio listening experience on web

Useful for: your product and editorial teams

Bolt Web now supports a feature-rich audio player, bringing web audio closer in line with Bolt iOS and Android. Users can listen to and queue audio content directly from timelines or within articles, all while continuing to browse.

This creates a more consistent listening experience across platforms and makes it easier for you to extend the reach of podcasts and audio journalism beyond apps.

Who’s affected: Bolt Web customers with audio content.

What you need to do: This update has rolled out automatically. If you already have audio in your app, you should now see it on Web.

New feature: Dynamic playlists for always-fresh audio discovery

Useful for: Your product and editorial teams

Dynamic playlists allow you to add a “listen to all” button to dynamic timelines, giving users an easy way to quickly create playlists based on the content they’re interested in.

They also give you a way to showcase curated playlists directly from timelines within the app, helping ensure there is always a steady flow of up-to-date audio content for users to discover and engage with.

Who’s affected: Bolt customers with audio.

What you need to do: Speak to Support to get set up.

Improvement: More control over how search works across your app

Useful for: Your product team

We’ve improved search filtering in Bolt to give customers more control over how search works across the app. In addition to filtering results by taxonomy, you can now create multiple search instances that are each limited to specific taxonomies.

For example, you might add an audio-only search at the top of your podcast timeline, helping users find the content they’re looking for more quickly and making search feel more relevant in different contexts.

Who’s affected: Bolt customers who want to offer targeted search experiences.

What you need to do: Speak to Support to configure search limiting for your app.

Maintenance: Keeping iOS apps compliant with the latest SDK (iOS 26)

Useful for: Your product team

A new year means a new iOS SDK. We have updated Bolt iOS to target SDK 26 so any future app updates will be compliant.

Note that this does not include Liquid Glass features, but that is coming very soon.

Who’s affected: All Bolt customers.

What you need to do: Your next iOS update will automatically be on this version – current live apps are safe.

In case you missed it…

Why Good Housekeeping’s new app signals a shift in media product thinking

We loved working with What’s New in Publishing on this piece. We explored the launch of GH Kitchen and what it reveals about how publisher apps are evolving beyond traditional content experiences. Read the full write-up here.

Pugpig Media Bulletin: How to design a KPI framework that prevents unintended trade-offs

In our latest Media Bulletin, Katie Ruane from Mather Economics explains why siloed optimisation creates short-term wins and delayed trade-offs, and how connecting web, app, onboarding, paywalls, pricing, and retention makes performance clearer and growth more durable. Read the full Bulletin here.

A conversation with Katie Vanneck-Smith: How Hearst UK puts brand, audience and habit at the centre of their strategy

At the Pugpig Customer Summit, Katie Vanneck-Smith shared how Hearst UK is making brand truth, audience value and habit the heart of its strategy. The conversation revealed why utility, consistency and trust are now central to building sustainable growth. Read the full session summary or watch the live recording here.

“We can’t hold back the tide of this technology, but we can build resilience” – David Buttle on engaging audiences in the age of AI

Another great session summary from our Customer Summit. David Buttle shares what AI means for search, discovery and business landscape in 2026 and beyond for publishers. An important read for any publishers navigating their audience engagement strategy for 2026. Read David’s full 2026 outlook or check out the session recording here.

What publishers can learn from The Independent’s Bulletin app

More from our Customer Summit – James Martin from The Independent shared the strategy behind Bulletin, a new short-form, audio-led, AI-supported news app built for time-poor users. The thinking behind it offers clear takeaways for publishers navigating changing habits and user behaviour. Get the full session breakdown or catch up with the recording here.

The future of the Pugpig app platform: What’s changing, why it matters, and what’s coming next

Our 2026 roadmap sets out how Bolt, our mobile app platform, is evolving across personalisation, audio, video, monetisation and experimentation, with a clear focus on habit, flexibility and long-term control for publishers. Get up to date with full info here.

And there we have it! Take a look at all Bolt product release notes for more details. And if you’re a customer, don’t forget to reach out to your Customer Success Manager if you’d like help implementing anything featured here. If you’d like a demo of our mobile app platform, you can reach out to our team. We also send these product updates out in an email newsletter – get in touch if you don’t receive it and would like to.