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When I began to research podcast apps, the one whose name always came up as the first to try was Pocket Casts. (One of my colleagues here at The Verge<\/em>, when he heard I was writing this article, commented, \u201cPocket Casts yesterday, Pocket Casts today, Pocket Casts forever.\u201d) It has an interesting history: it launched in 2010, was sold to NPR, along with other public media groups, in 2018, and was thereafter purchased by Automattic (the owner of WordPress.com) in 2021. Its mobile apps are now open source.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
After installing Pocket Casts, I could immediately see why it was such a favorite. The free version is slick and filled with useful features. The main page shows your subscribed podcasts as either a list or grid; if you\u2019ve got too many casts to immediately view, you can add filters for such options as In Progress, Starred, or Release Date. You can advance your audio by 30 seconds or back it up by 10 seconds, create a queue of what to listen to next (very handy on long drives), and if you\u2019re at all curious, see stats on how long you\u2019ve listened for. You can download episodes (either manually or automatically), put them in a playlist, set a sleep timer, mark episodes as played, and archive them to get them out of the way. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Other things worth noting include the ability to adjust playback speed, boost the volume of voices, and eliminate pauses between words without making it sound unnatural. It also syncs across platforms, so you can listen on Android, Mac, iPad, iPhone, or Windows and keep your place.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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In other words, this is a solid, well-thought-out podcast app with lots of options \u2014 so yes, worth the good word of mouth. And wait, there\u2019s more: it\u2019s ad-free. The paid version, Pocket Casts Plus, adds the ability to organize your podcasts in folders, access to desktop apps, and 20GB of cloud storage, among other features, for $3.99 per month or $39.99 per year, with a one-month free trial. If you sign on as a patron, you get 100GB of storage and early access to features for $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Four tabs at the bottom of the page offer access to your library and a discussion page.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
The cover of the podcast is often obscured by a Google ad.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
Castbox is an ad-supported app that has a busy main page that constantly advertises a variety of podcasts. You can search for your desired podcasts through a search box on top; from the results, it is easy to add the pod to your playlist. (As soon as you do, you will get some \u201cYou may like\u201d suggestions that, as far as I could tell, had little to do with my selection.) I did find I had inadvertently subscribed to several of the podcasts on the opening page and that auto-download was automatically enabled. Another slight irritation: although Castbox has an email sign-in, there is no way to register using your email \u2014 if you\u2019re not already registered, you can only sign in via a Google, Facebook, Twitter, or Line account.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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There are four tabs at the bottom of the page. Discover is where you can find and add podcasts. Community is a social network for discussion of various podcasts, and from a brief look, it is best ignored unless you enjoy the type of commentary found in today\u2019s Twitter \/ X. Personal is your settings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Finally, Library is where you\u2019ll find your subscribed podcasts; from here, you can go to your downloads, new episodes, and favorites. There is a reasonable set of features: you can go 10 seconds back or forward, set a sleep timer, and select an episode to be next up. But be warned: in some cases, you will only see the podcast\u2019s cover for a couple of seconds; after that, it will be covered by a Google ad. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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If you want to get rid of the ads, have unlimited subscriptions (the free version is limited to 100), and set different playback effects for different podcasts, among other features, it will cost you either $19.99 a year, $7.99 quarterly, or $3.99 a month.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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PodBean makes it easy to look for new podcasts.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
PodBean offers the standard podcast controls.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
When you look at its website, it\u2019s obvious that PodBean is more of an app for podcasters than for podcast listeners; still, it has a useful mobile app. The app comes loaded with a variety of sample podcasts, three of which are already checked for you (and are easily unchecked). The free version does show ads at the top of the home page, but there are no ads on the main page of each podcast. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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There are also a number of nice features. For example, you can change the language of the interface, auto-delete played downloads and auto-download episodes from specific podcasts and, if you suddenly realize you\u2019re running out of space (the free app allows for five hours total), clear your storage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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If you want to change your home page to the \u201cFollowing\u201d page, you can get a Podbean Unlimited Audio subscription for $108 annually or $14 a month. That also removes the display ads and gives you unlimited storage space.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Podcast Addict provides a clean interface with ads at the bottom of the screen.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
You can post your own review of each podcast.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
Like Castbox and PodBean, the first page you come across in Podcast Addict is rather busy, with changing ads on top and a variety of suggested podcasts below. You can search for your favorite podcasts and choose from the resulting list (nicely, you are immediately asked whether you want to stream or download your episodes). You can also tap on a selection for more information and subscribe from there. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Podcast Addict offers a wide range of personalization features right out of the box. For example, the settings for each podcast allow you to not only keep it updated but also edit the podcast URL, edit the podcast name, override the podcast artwork, or prioritize it in your podcast lists. You can even set an alarm. This app is, in other words, tailor-made for anyone who wants to really futz around with their podcast subscriptions \u2014 and while it does include ads, those are mostly out of the way, confined to the bottom of the page.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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To get rid of the ads, you can make a one-time payment of $6.99. There is also a Premium version for 99 cents a month or $9.99 a year that adds a playlist widget and lets you select your opening screen, among other features.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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AntennaPod\u2019s homepage shows your subscribed podcasts.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
You can filter your podcast feed using a number of criteria.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
AntennaPod is an open-source, volunteer-built app. As a result, it\u2019s straightforward, simply formatted, and offers some interesting features. A pop-in side menu lets you add a podcast to your list, see your queue, check out recent episodes, and see all your subscriptions, among others. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Once you\u2019ve set up your subscriptions, the homepage has selections to continue listening to any podcasts you\u2019ve already started, lets you see any new episodes, or use \u201cGet surprised\u201d to access a random episode. You can also download the latest subscribed episodes or manage your downloads. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Tap on the cover for any of your subscribed podcasts to go to the podcast page. There, you can choose to either stream or download the latest episode. Three buttons at the top let you get additional information about the site and filter the episodes by a number of methods (played or not played, downloaded or not downloaded, paused or not paused, and others). There are also a number of interesting settings, such as the ability to change your username for specific podcasts (in case you\u2019re particularly nervous about listening to it), tagging, playback speed, and the ability to automatically skip introductions and ending credits. And you can get stats for time played, episodes on your device, and space used.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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In other words, while Pocket Casts is a known favorite among many listeners, AntennaPod may also be worth a shot.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n