So I’m in the process of switching from Spotify to Tidal for my music streaming (since Tidal pays artists like three times more than Spotify does). The only problem is, Tidal doesn’t support podcasts, which is another big thing I used Spotify for.
So what are some good apps for podcasts? I listen both on my PC and my Android phone, and I’m not really thrilled about the idea of paying for another subscription (so now I’m making two payments to cover the functionality I got with a single, cheaper payment). I’m cool with paying a one-time up-front fee, though.
After seeing your note, I thought, “damn, I’ve used AntennaPod a LOT, I’ll donate!”
If you go to donate they basically say that all their costs are covered right now, but ask if you can help in non-financial ways (translations, help on the forum, beta test, code if you can, spread the word, UX work). I’ll be honest, that level of transparency makes me love the app more than I already did!
Have been using Antennapod on Android for some months now. It is by far the best app I have used. Feature rich and no ads is the best one can hope for.
I’ve seen both AntennaPod and PocketCasts mentioned; I’ve used both over the years. I liked AntennaPod; the only reason that I stopped using it was because I switched to Spotify since that let me pick up listening from where I left off on my desktop. I moved to PocketCasts afterwards because I’ve been slowly trying to get off of Spotify (and because they open-sourced their mobile apps). I don’t like that they require premium to have it sync with the webplayer, but it works.
I use Pocket Casts, but I paid for the “plus” upgrade before it was a subscription. Nowadays if I didn’t have that option I’d probably just use either Google Podcasts, or if you have a NextCloud instance available to use somewhere, then something like GPodder Sync + NextPod on the server/web side and AntennaPod should allow you to keep things in sync.
Edit: Err scratch that, I just set this up on my NextCloud instance, and while it syncs with AntennaPod and Kasts a KDE/Linux app - the actual web app on NextCloud doesn’t seem to allow you to play podcasts through the browser, it’ll only let you see your subscriptions and any sync actions done recently. You’d still need a PC app that is compatible with GPodder Sync in order for you to listen in on your PC.
Apologies about that! Someone had told me about this setup a bit ago, and I noted it down to give it a try later on - I definitely should’ve tested it before mentioning it here.
But all is not lost - GPodder looks to have a release for all of the PC platforms, and is compatible with the gpodder.net sync service (which is what the nextcloud apps are based off of) and AntennaPod can still use that sync backend as well.
Ah, well now I feel silly. I didn’t notice the triple dot menu button at the end of the “Episodes” entries. However, it does look like you can only do this from a podcast you’ve already started playing from elsewhere, bringing up the “Podcasts” section and clicking the menu buttons on each podcast only lets me view the podcast’s home page, or its RSS feed directly (instead of letting me see a list of episodes and choosing one from said list).
So it seems like you could do Mobile (start episode) -> Web (resume episode, then pause again) -> Mobile (finish episode) but you can’t do Web (start episode) -> …
However I could be of course overlooking something again 😅
I’m throwing in another vote for Pocket Casts. Bought it back in 2015 and the web player as a separate purchase. It’s had ups and downs over the years, but I’ve always returned on the rare occasions I tried something different in hopes of finding something better–granted I’m grandfathered into premium at this point. It ticks all the boxes for me and I’d probably buy it again if I didn’t already have it.
I switched to Podcast Republic awhile ago because I like the playlist feature and being able to have different “channels” for similar types of podcasts. Very customizable too! They have the android app and a website, though I’ve never used the website
I believe not all of them, and sometimes pod casts with e.g. music are removed. I am a big fan of the Uplifting Trance Sessions by DJ Phalanx and they got removed from Spotify quite often. The guy said that Spotify was removing them because of licensing issues or something like that.
Podcast addict was perfect for me, the ability to automatically add things to your queue based on priority was great. I used it to play a 10 minute news podcast every morning then jump back to whatever podcast I was listening to and have other weekly podcasts jump in after that
I’ve also been using the app for user and got grandfathered into a lifetime membership, although I think it’s been inserting ads in my podcasts. I only say that because I have a VPN on my phone and suddenly my phone will play a Swedish ad I can’t understand.
Fwiw I don’t think pocket casts is doing that, but rather your podcasts themselves. A lot of podcasts use dynamic ad insertion that allow them to inject ads into the podcast at download time as opposed to them being baked into the episode. It lets the hosts have relevant ads in their entire backlog of episodes rather than just ones released during the campaign window.
If synchronising your episode progress and subscriptions is important, I’d use google podcasts for a commercial solution. I used it for a while and it worked great.
I’ve since moved on to audiobookshelf, for a self hosted option that achieves the same sync across devices.
PocketCasts was pretty much perfect for me for a long time and recently (past couple years maybe?) they did a big update which made it noticeably worse. I tried a few other apps and they had even bigger issues. I’m still using PocketCasts and they’ve fixed some of what they messed up but it isn’t perfect.
They have a good library of podcasts built in but also allow you to add custom rss feeds for any smaller shows they don’t have or if you have private feeds from patreon or elsewhere.
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I’ve been using podverse for a while now and it’s been great except for a few quirks with the queue
newpodcastapps.com
Using antennapod on Android, can fully recommend. For other apps and platforms check https://podcastindex.org/apps
Ideally, you would donate to the project you choose :)
Agreed, AntennaPod is the most feature complete podcast app I’ve ever used.
After seeing your note, I thought, “damn, I’ve used AntennaPod a LOT, I’ll donate!”
If you go to donate they basically say that all their costs are covered right now, but ask if you can help in non-financial ways (translations, help on the forum, beta test, code if you can, spread the word, UX work). I’ll be honest, that level of transparency makes me love the app more than I already did!
Have been using Antennapod on Android for some months now. It is by far the best app I have used. Feature rich and no ads is the best one can hope for.
I’ve seen both AntennaPod and PocketCasts mentioned; I’ve used both over the years. I liked AntennaPod; the only reason that I stopped using it was because I switched to Spotify since that let me pick up listening from where I left off on my desktop. I moved to PocketCasts afterwards because I’ve been slowly trying to get off of Spotify (and because they open-sourced their mobile apps). I don’t like that they require premium to have it sync with the webplayer, but it works.
I use Pocket Casts, but I paid for the “plus” upgrade before it was a subscription. Nowadays if I didn’t have that option I’d probably just use either Google Podcasts, or if you have a NextCloud instance available to use somewhere, then something like GPodder Sync + NextPod on the server/web side and AntennaPod should allow you to keep things in sync.
Edit: Err scratch that, I just set this up on my NextCloud instance, and while it syncs with AntennaPod and Kasts a KDE/Linux app - the actual web app on NextCloud doesn’t seem to allow you to play podcasts through the browser, it’ll only let you see your subscriptions and any sync actions done recently. You’d still need a PC app that is compatible with GPodder Sync in order for you to listen in on your PC.
Apologies about that! Someone had told me about this setup a bit ago, and I noted it down to give it a try later on - I definitely should’ve tested it before mentioning it here.
But all is not lost - GPodder looks to have a release for all of the PC platforms, and is compatible with the gpodder.net sync service (which is what the nextcloud apps are based off of) and AntennaPod can still use that sync backend as well.
Are you sure NextPod can’t play the episodes? Because it lists it as a feature on their github https://github.com/pbek/nextcloud-nextpod
Ah, well now I feel silly. I didn’t notice the triple dot menu button at the end of the “Episodes” entries. However, it does look like you can only do this from a podcast you’ve already started playing from elsewhere, bringing up the “Podcasts” section and clicking the menu buttons on each podcast only lets me view the podcast’s home page, or its RSS feed directly (instead of letting me see a list of episodes and choosing one from said list).
So it seems like you could do Mobile (start episode) -> Web (resume episode, then pause again) -> Mobile (finish episode) but you can’t do Web (start episode) -> …
However I could be of course overlooking something again 😅
I tried it out today and came to the same conclusion. It’s not possible to use it as a standalone player unfortunately
I’m throwing in another vote for Pocket Casts. Bought it back in 2015 and the web player as a separate purchase. It’s had ups and downs over the years, but I’ve always returned on the rare occasions I tried something different in hopes of finding something better–granted I’m grandfathered into premium at this point. It ticks all the boxes for me and I’d probably buy it again if I didn’t already have it.
I didn’t see it in the comments but I am very happy with Podcast Guru om android.
I switched to Podcast Republic awhile ago because I like the playlist feature and being able to have different “channels” for similar types of podcasts. Very customizable too! They have the android app and a website, though I’ve never used the website
Guess not what you’re after, but I switched from Spotify to Deezer which has podcasts built in. So I only need one app.
Spotify also has podcasts built in
I believe not all of them, and sometimes pod casts with e.g. music are removed. I am a big fan of the Uplifting Trance Sessions by DJ Phalanx and they got removed from Spotify quite often. The guy said that Spotify was removing them because of licensing issues or something like that.
With Deezer that has never been an issue.
Another vote for AntennaPod for Android You can use MusicBee on PC
Just I don’t think you can sync podcasts or progress between the two
Still love Pocketcasts and would use nothing less (though I have a lifetime membership since I beta’d the web player when it first launched, so YMMV)
I love pocket casts, but their recent price hikes are wild. AntennaPod is a nice open source alternative that I’ve been enjoying the last few weeks.
I am very happy with podcast addict on android. Powerful, not the cleanest ui though.
Podcast addict was perfect for me, the ability to automatically add things to your queue based on priority was great. I used it to play a 10 minute news podcast every morning then jump back to whatever podcast I was listening to and have other weekly podcasts jump in after that
I also use Podcast Addict, I recommend it.
Me too, lots of functionality and options to customise it to your needs.
I’ve been using Pocketcasts for years, and I’ve been very happy with it. Works on Android, PC, and through web browsers. I’ve never had to pay for it.
I’ve also been using the app for user and got grandfathered into a lifetime membership, although I think it’s been inserting ads in my podcasts. I only say that because I have a VPN on my phone and suddenly my phone will play a Swedish ad I can’t understand.
Fwiw I don’t think pocket casts is doing that, but rather your podcasts themselves. A lot of podcasts use dynamic ad insertion that allow them to inject ads into the podcast at download time as opposed to them being baked into the episode. It lets the hosts have relevant ads in their entire backlog of episodes rather than just ones released during the campaign window.
If synchronising your episode progress and subscriptions is important, I’d use google podcasts for a commercial solution. I used it for a while and it worked great.
I’ve since moved on to audiobookshelf, for a self hosted option that achieves the same sync across devices.
PocketCasts was pretty much perfect for me for a long time and recently (past couple years maybe?) they did a big update which made it noticeably worse. I tried a few other apps and they had even bigger issues. I’m still using PocketCasts and they’ve fixed some of what they messed up but it isn’t perfect.
They have a good library of podcasts built in but also allow you to add custom rss feeds for any smaller shows they don’t have or if you have private feeds from patreon or elsewhere.