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Whether you’re listening to podcasts during your morning commute, a long run, or while cooking in the kitchen, they cover a wide range of topics that can captivate your curiosity and interest.
Some of the best podcast apps for iOS not only play your podcasts but also help you organize and categorize your playlists. They can also enable you to manage your subscriptions and enhance the playback experience, making sure you don’t miss a single word.
Overcast from Overcast Radio, LLC is designed for the curious listener who wants to discover more podcasts. In addition to helping you manage playlists for the podcasts you already love, Overcast will help you discover new ones.
While searching for your next listen may take some time, once you find it, Overcast also includes Smart Speed to cut through silent spots. Voice Boost also gives a consistent sound quality so that you can hear quieter voices.
Price: Free; Premium is a $14.99 per year subscription.
Castro
Castro by Supertop puts all of your podcasts into an inbox so you can triage what you want to hear now or later (or maybe not at all).
In addition to trim silence, Castro also includes chapter support and a way to customize settings for each individual podcast.
Price: Free; Premium is $24.99 per year.
Maple Media
If you’re driven by social media, you’ll definitely want to try the Breaker podcast player app, which lets you follow your friends and see what they’re listening to.
Sometimes people you don’t know may follow you and offer recommendations, but Breaker lets you add comments to episodes, share your listening history, and offers the ability to send messages and make suggestions to your in-app social network.
Price: Free; Subscriptions up to $14.99 annually.
iCatcher
iCatcher by Joeisaner has plenty of features to allow you to build custom playlists, suiting both casual and power listeners. With automatic refreshes, you’ll always have the latest episode available.
This app also has the ability to support video and files, and syncs subscriptions and playback positions between devices through iCloud.
Price: $4.99
Downcast
Downcast by Jamawkinaw Enterprises LLC is a no-frills old-school podcast player that provides powerful organization and customizing tools.
In addition to supporting both audio and video podcasts, Downcast lets you decide which episodes to stream, and which to download, and includes play-back customization features such as starting the episode mid-stream to avoid ads.
Price: $2.99
Pocket Casts
What We Like
Simple interface with a desktop version.
Make custom filters to organize your podcasts.
Listen without subscribing to podcasts.
With its unique tiled design, Pocket Casts is designed for the podcast listener who wants to maximize their time. Designed by ShiftyJelly PTY LTD, Pocket Casts includes a trim silence feature that cuts out silent breaks in the episode so that you can get through your playlist faster.
Variable speeds let you adjust the playback speed from .5 to 3x. Volume boost eliminates the background noise while enhancing the sound of voices. Most features come with the free version, but subscriptions (which can get pricey) unlock more: bookmarking, Apple Watch support, and more storage.
Price: Free; Subscriptions up to $99.99 a year.
Castbox
With a clean, intuitive interface, Castbox, by Guru Network Limited, offers an efficient way to organize your podcasts. An in-audio search function uses keywords and phrases within audio files to help you discover more podcasts based on your likes.
This app is free to use, but you’ll need a Premium subscription to remove ads, gain unlimited podcast subscription access, and more playback control.
Price: Free; Castbox Premium is $0.99 per month.
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