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Best podcast app?
- Thread starter MacBH928
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I've read their plan is to become a major player and then act as a sort of Medium for creators.
May be aiming at the benefits of becoming a big platform, if they manage to get there.
I like it old in that regard, the old open RSS (no interest in closed platforms or special superproductions whatosoever, personally). But Apple podcasts lacks tons of features, is worse in searching, sorting, speeding, etc.
At the moment Himalaya looks close to overcast (w/o the smart playback), with no big ads / no fees for listeners.
Today it looks good (not sure about "tomorrow", yet).
I've read their plan is to become a major player and then act as a sort of Medium for creators.
May be aiming at the benefits of becoming a big platform, if they manage to get there.
I like it old in that regard, the old open RSS (no interest in closed platforms or special superproductions whatosoever, personally). But Apple podcasts lacks tons of features, is worse in searching, sorting, speeding, etc.
At the moment Himalaya looks close to overcast (w/o the smart playback), with no big ads / no fees for listeners.
Today it looks good (not sure about "tomorrow", yet).
Believe it or not, I never really liked Spoty for music, given the many errors in album credits. No doubt that it should be a good option (but, again, I believe it bears a paid subscription, offering only-for-the-platform shows too).
I've been with the Apple Podcasts all along, but it is very, very limited an annoying in too many regards.
The Luminary podcast service is already trying the "Netflix of podcasts" nonsense. I've got no interest in paying for a service as there's plenty of ad-supported and free content already out there. There are lots of podcast players which work with the open system as well and are far superior to Apple's app.
It doesn't sound like Himalaya actually has raised substantial money, either: https://www.axios.com/podcast-start...ing-c5fb6b86-799a-45f3-bf9e-c0bf67ad1156.html
Yep, i've read that article too.
I speak as a user that has just tried Castbox and Himalaya after sticking way too long with the native Apple podcasts, terrible in so many domains. And both of those look quite complete at the moment as far as ux goes.
Luminary is not yet operating in Europe aside UK. I was willing to try it based on the info I could gather, as it looked interesting too. By now it’s only in a couple of countries. But agree: I want an open RSS model strongly too. By principle. To me this is a deal breaker. No interest in closed podcast environment.
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Did you checkout Downcast? All you need is the app and a connection to download episodes now and then.
I'm a long-time overcast user as well. Purchased it when it was for-pay, previous subscriber and current beta tester (so I get the premium features in return for some analytics data & feedback).
I really appreciate the Smart Speed feature (unique when it first came out, but I think others have copied it since then). It simply shortens the gaps when there are long periods of silence. It's saved me several hundred hours over the past few years, without taking into account increased playback speed (1x vs 1.2/1.5x)
I really appreciate the Smart Speed feature (unique when it first came out, but I think others have copied it since then). It simply shortens the gaps when there are long periods of silence. It's saved me several hundred hours over the past few years, without taking into account increased playback speed (1x vs 1.2/1.5x)
Hé. I'm already at 2x and felt limited by Apple podcasts, which doesn't go any faster.
I usually don't go over 1.2x (which, when combined with smart speed is roughly equal to about 1.3x). But the app has a setting for up to 3x if you want.
Also, while overcast does have the small banner ads, they are not intrusive at all. The Developer (Marco Arment) is also a podcaster himself and if you listen, he's been a long time proponent of keeping the podcast ecosystem as open as possible.
He recently introduced a revised recommendation engine that is very lightweight, responsive and not creepy.
The 3x has now become a standard except for the Apple Podcasts App, it seems. Everyone may have just copied Overcast there.
As for the ads, somehow reviewers of the free Overcast version made me understand that there were audio ads too, added to the ones actually in the episodes themselves (which I've already learnt to live with except in some shows where there are way too many ads too many times).
As I use Podcasts mainly offline, non intrusive banners are not a problem (pop ups, are, ofcourse).
[doublepost=1568569017][/doublepost]Oh, I'm still at 2x and no further yet, but less than that seems really slow now for most speakers and subjects. It's funny how one get's used to that.
Plenty of decent apps out there with varying levels of "pro"-ness to them giving you options over lots of things. I settled on Pocket Casts
Edit: Literally just seen this article about PC going sub-based for some extra features https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/17/20870656/pocket-casts-plus-podcast-app-subscription-update-price
Not sure I'm liking where this is going now...
Edit: Literally just seen this article about PC going sub-based for some extra features https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/17/20870656/pocket-casts-plus-podcast-app-subscription-update-price
Not sure I'm liking where this is going now...
Hmm... not liking the sound of this either. Sounds like ads incoming if you don't subscribe.
Let's wait and see how it goes. It's a great app although for some reason I still sticked with iCatcher that now also supports CarPlay for the people that own a car that supports that (I don't unfortunately). So iCatcher and Downcast are very good alternative in case ads might appear in PocketCasts in the near future. The only thing those two lack is Chromecast support and the UI is not so nice as PocketCasts.