When it comes to listening to podcasts on iOS, there are so many great options.
The Apple Podcasts app comes built into every iOS device with syncing.
Itâs undoubtedly a great app, but is it the best? On iOS, users have
countless third-party options. My goal for this article is to break down some
of the major podcast apps and help you determine which is best for what you
want out of an app.
Is Apple Podcasts the best podcast app for iPhone?
Apple Podcasts is the dominant player in the podcast app market. Usage-wise,
itâs one most popular podcast apps on smartphones.
Itâs got a lot of good things going for it. Itâs built right into every iOS
device. It has a native app for tvOS and macOS as well. On Apple Watch, itâs
one of the best ways to listen to podcasts when away from your iPhone as it
supports streaming over LTE. I think it does a great job of recommending new
shows as well. I wish it would include a âsocialâ aspect similar to Apple
Music, though.
The overall design fits right into iOS. Itâs very similar to Apple Music. On
the bottom menu, it includes Listen Now, Library, Browse, and Search. Listen
Now shows you the unfinished podcast episodes from shows you subscribe to or
one-off episodes you have added.
Library will show you a list of all the shows you have added to your
subscription list. Browse will allow you to browse the Apple Podcasts directory
by featured, top charts, and by category. Search will allow you to search for
specific shows.
Syncing playback position and unplayed episodes across devices is a bit of a
struggle on Apple Podcasts. I am not sure why Apple canât figure this aspect
out. If you plan to use Apple Podcasts, I advise that you only use it on an
iPhone and maybe an Apple Watch.
I wrote an article back in 2021 that details my frustrations with the service.
One of the most unsung features of the Apple Podcast app is to create
âStations.â This feature is under the Library section. If you tap on the
Edit button, youâll see the New Station option. This feature will allow you
to group podcasts together that you can trigger via Siri. If you listen to a
couple of morning shows like The Daily and Up First, you can group them in a
âMorning Newsâ station.
Iâd love to see Apple invest in adding functionality like the ability to
follow friends, share snippets of a show, more options around playback (voice
boost, smart speed, etc.), password-protected feeds, and just overall
stability. As Spotify continues to grow its market share, Apple is hopefully
going to invest in not only exclusive content but also its app, as well.
You should use Apple Podcasts if you want the default Apple experience on
macOS, iOS, tvOS, and watchOS.
It lacks some advanced functionality that other apps offer, but it holds its
own. Is it the best podcast app for iPhone? If you want the default Apple
experience, itâs a pretty solid choice.
Overcast
Overcast has been around since 2013 and has a significant following. In the
tech-podcast community, Iâd argue itâs the most popular outside of Apple
Podcasts.
Overcastâs design strikes a nice balance between following modern iOS design
standards, but remaining unique. The default color scheme is light and
unobtrusive.
The main navigation includes a list of your playlists, subscriptions, and
buttons to manage your subscriptions and playlists further.
One of the features it brought to the mainstream was the trim silence feature.
Before Overcast, a few smaller apps had implemented it, but I prefer how it
sounds with Overcast. Smart Speed is described as a way to âpick up extra
speed without distortion.â Smart Speed âdynamically shortens silences in
talk shows. Conversations still sound so natural that youâll forget itâs on
â until you see how much extra time youâve saved.â For those who want to
save some time listening to certain podcasts, yet who donât want the
distortion that comes with 1.5x or 2x speeds, Smart Speed is a happy medium.
All of your shows will be shorter, but you likely wonât be able to tell any
difference in listening quality.
Voice Boost is a feature that aims to normalize the volume and make shows
easier to listen to when in noisy situations, such as a car or airplane. For
shows with less-than-ideal editing, Voice Boost can make shows easier to listen
to, and it was upgraded to version 2 in early 2020.
block quote
Voice Boost 2 is a mastering-quality audio-processing pipeline that applies
broadcast-standard loudness normalization, light compression and EQ, and a
true-peak lookahead limiter to your podcasts, in real time, without sacrificing
quality or battery life. And it runs at less than 1% CPU usage on an iPhone SE.
block quote end
Overcast, like most apps, is pulling from the Apple Podcasts directory to power
its directory. One of the places Overcast excels is with its Now Playing
screen. Itâs the easiest to use in my experience. I can quickly see show
notes, change chapters, or adjust the audio settings. Some of the other great
features are clip sharing (sharing a snippet for a show) and AirPlay 2 support,
which is helpful for HomePod and Sonos usage.
In March of 2022, Overcast shipped a major new update that overhauls much of
the design. If youâve used the app before, youâll notice the new design
immediately when you open the app for the first time after updating. The home
screen features a far more modern design, with an emphasis on new colors,
rounded corners, and customization.
Macro Arment describes this as the âlargest redesignâ in the nearly
eight-year history of Overcast. The Overcast home screen features your created
playlists at the top, which are now fully customizable with colors and icons.
Below your playlist, youâll find a new section for recently played and newly
published podcast episodes.
Overcast is a free download, and it will have ads (sold by the developer) in
the Now Playing and Directory screens. The ads are generally for other shows,
and Iâve found them useful. If you subscribe to the yearly subscription
($10), you can disable ads. You also get a file uploads option if you
subscribe. If you find yourself downloading lectures from YouTube (and
converting to MP3) or listening to DRM-free audiobooks, youâll love this
feature. You get to enjoy all of Overcastâs playback features with whatever
audio you upload as well.
Overcast can be downloaded on the App Store for free.
Spotify
Spotify paid subscribers hit 100M in Q1 2019 Spotify likely has the second
largest market share of all the podcast apps on iOS. If you are a user of its
music service, I could see why youâd want to use it for podcasts as well.
While it lacks features of some of the other applications, itâs doing some
exciting things with playlists and podcast episodes. Overall, it offers bare
minimum functionality compared to other apps, though. Spotify is spending a lot
of money on content, so it remains to be seen if youâll need to at least have
it downloaded in order to enjoy some of your favorite shows.
Is Spotify the best podcast app for iPhone? You should use Spotify for podcasts
if you are a premium subscriber already and you want everything to be inside of
one application. Otherwise, thereâs no reason to use it. One key thing it
lacks is the ability to add your own RSS feed. If a show isnât in the
directory you cannot add it unless the show is working directly with Spotify.
This includes premium shows from places like Relay FM.d Breaker.
Breaker podcast app
Breaker is one of the more innovative podcast apps Iâve used, and a lot of
apps could learn something about integrating social functionality into their
existing apps. As I mentioned earlier with Apple Podcasts, weâre missing a
social aspect to podcast listening. With Breaker, you can follow friends to see
what theyâre listening to, new shows they subscribe to, and shows they
âfavorite.â You can also comment on shows you listen to and your friends
can see it.
Itâll show you episodes that are getting a lot of traction as well.
If you are a podcaster, you can even âclaimâ your show so people who listen
to your show can âfollow youâ and engage further. I think this is a great
way to build out the community further. Breaker also includes the ability for
podcast hosts to generate revenue from their podcasts inside of Breaker. Iâd
love to see Apple build a way to support creators inside of Apple Podcasts, as
Iâd like to be able to support the shows I love.
Breakerâs overall design is lovely. I love how everything is laid out. It
feels like a modern reimagining of what a podcast app should look like. From a
playback perspective, it includes speeds up to 3x with the option to âskip
silencesâ to speed up shows.
I canât think of a single thing I donât like about Breaker. Of all the apps
Iâve tried, it is the most unique. If you are bored of all the current
podcast apps, you should definitely check out Breaker. Itâs a free download
on the App Store.
Castro
Castro for iPhone
Castro takes a unique approach to subscription management. You subscribe to
shows, but then it uses a queue system to manage the shows. As new episodes
come in, you can choose to queue a show or archive it. This feature is helpful
if you listen to shows that have daily episodes. If you have favorite shows,
you can set them to auto queue, so you never miss them. I love Castroâs
innovative approach to library management. If you are someone who struggles
with keeping up with new episodes, Castro will be a great fit. Like a lot of
the other apps, it includes the ability to use different playback speeds and
trim silences (Castro Plus required).
Another one of Castroâs features is the ability to import MP3 files via
iCloud Drive. This feature allows you to side-load DRM-free audiobooks or
lectures.
One of the other apps I looked at (Overcast) supports a similar function, but
it is limited to 2GB in total file size (Castro Plus required).
Castro is a free download, but it requires a subscription ($18.99 per year) to
unlock additional features like trim silence, enhance voices, night mode,
custom app icons, and more. Castroâs overall design is unique and well done.
If you are the type that subscribes to a lot of podcasts but only grabs a
handful a week, Castroâs functionality is perfect for you.
Castro can be downloaded on the App Store.
Pocket Casts
Pocket Casts for iPhone
Pocket Casts has been around the iPhone podcast app scene for about as long as
any app has been. One of the features it pioneered was storing your feeds on a
server so refreshing is fast and has minimal effects on battery life, and
almost all apps have copied it today.
From a design perspective, Pocket Casts is just beautiful. I love the colors it
uses along with the fonts. Like a lot of the other apps, it contains multiple
playback speeds, a trim silence option, and a voice boost option. In my years
of using the app, Pocket Castsâ playlist system is probably the most robust
and laid out the best.
Outside of Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts probably has the best directory layout.
While most of the third-party apps simply pull from the Apple Podcasts
directory API, how they lay it out is up to them. Pocket Castsâ directory
looks great, and it makes it easy to find new shows.
If you are looking for an iPhone app with a native macOS app, Pocket Casts is
your best solution. Iâve found its macOS app to be more straightforward to
use than the Apple Podcasts app for desktop options. Other apps can now be run
on macOS thanks to Apple Silicon, but none of them can match the native macOS
feel of Pocket Casts.
Pocket Casts is a free download on the App Store, and Pocket Casts Plus adds
free desktop apps, cloud storage for audio, new icons, and more. Pocket Cast
Plus is $.99/month or $9.99/year.
Player FM
Player FM is one of the newest apps Iâve been testing. It has a great design
with a slick user interface. Itâs a free download but offers a premium
subscription to unlock some useful features. Similar to Pocket Casts, it offers
cross-platform functionality, so you can play your shows from iOS, Android, the
web, or even on Chromecast.
In testing the app, one of the aspects I thought was very well done was how you
can create categories (playlists) to organize your podcasts. If you bounce
around. from various genres like sports, news, and technology, the categories
help keep them separated. The directory from Player FM is extremely
well-curated, so if youâre the type of person who is always asking for
recommendations, Player FM is a great place to start.
Wrap-up on best podcast apps for iPhone
Overall, there are lots of great options for podcast apps. If you want a
default Apple experience, use Apple Podcasts. If you want social features,
Breaker is the best app for you. If you want the best overall audio experience,
Overcast is hands down the best. If you subscribe to a lot of shows, Castro can
help you manage your now playing list. If you want an Android app or an
excellent macOS app experience, check out Pocket Casts. I think Overcast and
Pocket Casts are my favorites, but I bounce around between them all to keep
learning about new features. I am a power user, and they offer the most
power-user features. Breaker has social features that no other app can touch.
Castro can help you keep up with a lot of shows at once. There are options for
all types of users. If you arenât happy with Apple Podcasts, check out the
alternatives.
9to5 Podcast Network
Donât forget about the great lineup of podcasts on the 9to5 Network.
⢠9to5Mac Happy Hour
⢠Watch Time
⢠Apple @ Work
⢠9to5Mac Daily
⢠Electrek
from
Electrek.co
⢠Space Time
from
Space Explored
⢠Quick Charge
from
Electrek.co
⢠9to5Toys Daily
from
9to5Toys.com
⢠Alphabet Scoop
from
9to5Google.com
⢠9to5Google Daily
from
9to5Google.com
By Bradley Chambers
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