Pocket Casts hides almost everything behind icons. The same exact info & features are present in both apps, just presented differently.
These are screenshots of player windows for both Pocket Casts and Downcast. Unlike Pocket Casts? Downcast does its filtering right in playlists.ĭowncast must be my new default podcast player, right? Not so fast. Like Pocket Casts, Downcast is extremely customizable when it comes to automatically filtering out (or in) podcast episodes. Like Pocket Casts, Downcast currently costs $2.99. Like Pocket Casts, Downcast has a little red icon with two curved lines. Let’s take a look at how it compares to Pocket Casts. It might not happen often since the average podcast is about an hour long, but it happens enough that I figured it’s time to give another app a chance. The last thing I want to do while behind the wheel of a car is mess with my iPhone. This might not seem like a big deal, but I hate it when I’m driving and the podcast I’m listening to ends, only to be followed by dead silence. (Note: The app does offer a couple other ways to “build a queue,” but none of them are ideal solutions.) It would be better if filters and playlists were the same thing. To get that, you have to manually add episodes to a separate playlist. when one podcast ends, the next one on the list automatically begins). The app’s filters are a great way to view your preferred podcasts, but they lack “continuous play” (i.e. Pocket Casts does have one annoying quirk, though. For example, I like having a listview of only podcast episodes that have been both downloaded (i.e. ( You can read my original review here.) The main advantage Pocket Casts has over Apple’s own podcast app? Greater ability to organize podcasts.
There are still a couple of small things missing, like Overcast's awesome ability to download a single episode without subscribing to an entire show, but Pocket Casts has just about everything you could want.I’ve been using Pocket Casts as my main podcast-listening app since the beginning of the year. For everyone else, it's just a super-simple grid of show icons. It has all the fiddly bits podcastheads will love, like chapter markers, show notes, a running queue for uninterrupted listening, and support for 3D Touch. Version 6.0 borrows a few great features from other podcast apps, like automatic silence-trimming and voice-boosting. Pocket Casts keeps lists of episodes you've already started, ones you've downloaded but not listened to (which is handy for clearing space on your phone), and more. It's now really easy to find new podcasts to listen to, sort through the ones you already have, and more. The new version for iOS, Pocket Casts 6.0, brings the app-which was great for a long time, and has kind of languished the last couple of years-into full-fledged modernity.
But a brand-new update to Pocket Casts makes it hands-down the best iPhone podcasts app, not to mention the best overall service for people who want to podcast from all manner of different devices. There are lots of better somethings, no matter what platform you use.
If you're exploring the weird, wide, wonderful world of Internet audio, you need something better. Yeah, it's nice that it comes pre-loaded on your iPhone-but so does Apple Maps, and if you use that you'll probably end up driving into a river. It's time to stop using Apple's Podcasts app.