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.
Any suggestions?
Get Fdroid on Android and use Antenna Pod. Idk about podcasts on PC.
Spotube, as it is open source, respects privacy, and is multi-platform. If you run owncloud, you can also install an app to have your listening history synced across devices:
I just use Google podcasts. It’s simple, it works, hail corporate.
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 :)
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.
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!
Agreed, AntennaPod is the most feature complete podcast app I’ve ever used.
I’ve been using Pocket Casts on Android and it works well. I think that I started using it 2 years ago and I haven’t encountered any issues. I use the free version and it hasn’t asked me to pay and hasn’t shown me ads. I’m a light user when it comes to podcasts though.
They have a web player for PC, but I haven’t tried it.
I think you pay if you want to use the desktop app. I paid. Works pretty everywhere. 😊👍
@skellener @VoxAdActa @fdisk not if you use web
Yes. Using the web is not using the desktop app, hence it is free. I preferred the app and supporting the developer, so I paid.
I’ll second this. It’s less than $20 USD per year so I think it’s worth it. Also, I’m on iOS and have used it on there, Android and Windows.
I was an early adopter and paid like $20 once, so worth it
I’ve been using Pocket Casts for like 10 years at this point, great app
Another vote for Pocket casts, been a user since 2011. Best release notes of any app as well.
This is the one for me. I just checked and I’ve been using the premium version since May 2016 and it cost me £2.50. Only issue I’ve had in that time is the web player was failing to buffer episodes for streaming, but that has since resolved for me.
That was most likely caused by a limitation or rather security feature of the browser regarding cross-domain resources. They offer a desktop Electron-based app that works around this.
I’ll add my vote to Pocket Casts. Been my goto podcast app for… Forever. The app is all around solid on every plattform, and you can easily upload your own sound files and they will sync between devices.
I’ve used Pocket Cast for a long time now. I bought it probably about 10 years ago. It recently went open source.
@fdisk @VoxAdActa love for Pocketcasts
I also use PocketCasts. Paid 4 bucks for it back in 2013. Highly recommend it.
Plus it is multiplatform. Windows, Linux, Mac, Android, iOS, web - and syncs between them.
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.
I am very happy with podcast addict on android. Powerful, not the cleanest ui though.
I also use Podcast Addict, I recommend it.
Me too, lots of functionality and options to customise it to your needs.
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
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
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.
I had been using Podcast Addict for a couple of years after switching from BeyondPod which I used for many years.
But now I’m using the open source, community-built AntennaPod. There are a few quirks I had to get used to, but that is true of every app and especially something I use so frequently throughout the day. Performance has been great, especially with audio casting which has always been buggy and inconsistent for me with other apps.
came here to give the same suggestion
Second this, I love Antenna Pod. Similarly, I too started with Podcast Addict and switched a year ago. Antenna Pod got a facelift quite recently and it looks and feels better than ever. You get all the stuff you want from a podcast app, plus you can customise it a little and its open source without ads. It really doesn’t get much better than that.
came here to give the same suggestion
On Android I use Podcast Addict and on PC I use Podgrab running from Docker. I haven’t found a.way to sync them
I know it’s kind of niche, but I absolutely love many of the features of Podcast Republic.
Being able to have multiple queues and have them automatically chain together by priority is an irreplaceable feature for me.
Podcast Republic. It’s great.
Google Podcasts app works well enough for me
And it’s accessible from both your computer and your mobile devices.
Another Podcast Addict user here. But I don’t think they pay the Podcasters anything if that’s your concern. If you’re listening to Joe Rogan, don’t pay him a penny. Pirate the shit out of his podcasts. But maybe you should consider giving to Patreon if you don’t already. They take a cut but at least you know its going to the podcaster.
Also you really should know that Tidal isn’t paying anyone any better, no platform is. They’re all beholden to rights holders, and that is mostly record labels and their parent companies. No platform pays per stream, that’s a myth. Spotify just distributes all the money left after their 30%. Blame the labels for making audio so unprofitable and for the average listener for treating music and podcasts as disposable,
Before you think I’m defending spotify, I’m not. They tried to make an unprofitable product profitable and they did it by selling out to record labels. Spotify could have made them irrelevant but chose not to.
I use AntennaPod, love it but I haven’t got it to work on Android Auto yet. That’s the only gripe I have with it.