Best App for Playing Downloaded Audiobooks
When it comes to listening to podcasts on iOS, there are and so many slap-up options. The Apple Podcasts app comes built into every iOS device with syncing. It'southward undoubtedly a peachy app, but is it the best? On iOS, users take countless 3rd-political party options. My goal for this commodity is to interruption down some of the major podcast apps and assistance you lot determine which is best for what you lot want out of an app. What's the best podcast app for iPhone?
Table of contents
- Is Apple tree Podcasts the best podcast app for iPhone?
- Spotify
- Billow
- Overcast
- Castro
- Pocket Casts
- Player FM
- Wrap-up on best podcast app for iPhone
- 9to5 Podcast Network
Is Apple tree Podcasts the all-time podcast app for iPhone?
Apple Podcasts is the dominant player in the podcast app market place. Usage wise, it'southward the most pop podcast app on smartphones.
Information technology's got a lot of practiced things going for it. It's built right into every iOS device. It has a native app for tvOS and macOS besides. On Apple Watch, it'southward one of the best ways to listen to podcasts when away from your iPhone equally it supports streaming over LTE. I retrieve it does a great job of recommending new shows as well. I wish it would include a "social" aspect like to Apple Music, though.
The overall design fits correct into iOS. It's very similar to Apple Music. On the bottom menu, it includes Listen At present, Library, Browse, and Search. Listen Now shows yous the unfinished podcast episodes from shows you subscribe to or 1-off episodes you take added.
Library will testify you a list of all the shows y'all have added to your subscription list. Browse will permit y'all to browse the Apple tree Podcasts directory past featured, peak charts, and by category. Search will allow yous to search for specific shows.
Syncing works well on Apple Podcasts. New episodes that are on my iPhone will show information technology within 2-3 seconds of launching the Apple tree Idiot box app. Information technology includes the ability to playback audio at i.5x or 2x. I exercise run into bugs at times when using 2x playback and skipping chapters, though.
1 of the most unsung features of the Apple Podcast app is to create "Stations." This feature is under the Library section. If you lot tap on the Edit push button, you lot'll see the New Station option. This characteristic will allow you to group podcasts together that you can trigger via Siri. If you mind to a couple of morning shows similar The Daily and Up First, yous can group them in a "Morning News" station.
I'd love to see Apple invest in adding functionality like the power to follow friends, share snippets of a show, more than options effectually playback (vocalization boost, smart speed, etc.), countersign-protected feeds, and just overall stability. As Spotify continues to abound its market share, Apple tree is hopefully going to invest in not simply exclusive content but likewise its app, besides.
You should use Apple Podcasts if you want the default Apple tree feel on macOS, iOS, tvOS, and watchOS. It lacks some advanced functionality that other apps offer, merely it holds its own. Is it the best podcast app for iPhone? If you desire the default Apple experience, it's a pretty solid option.
Spotify
Spotify probable has the second largest marketplace share of all the podcast apps on iOS. If you are a user of its music service, I could run across why you'd want to use it for podcasts as well. While information technology lacks features of some of the other applications, it's 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 exist seen if you'll demand to at least have it downloaded in order to enjoy some of your favorite shows.
Is Spotify the best podcast app for iPhone? You lot should use Spotify for podcasts if you are a premium subscriber already and you want everything to exist within of one application. Otherwise, there's no reason to use information technology. One key thing information technology lacks is the ability to add your own RSS feed. If a show isn't in the directory, you cannot add information technology. This includes premium shows from places like Relay FM or Dithering.
Breaker
Breaker is ane of the more innovative podcast apps I've used, and a lot of apps could learn something about integrating social functionality into their existing apps. As I mentioned before with Apple Podcasts, we're missing a social aspect to podcast listening. With Billow, you lot tin follow friends to run into what they're listening to, new shows they subscribe to, and shows they "favorite." Yous tin also comment on shows yous listen to and your friends tin see it. It'll show you episodes that are getting a lot of traction as well.
If you are a podcaster, you can even "merits" your show so people who mind to your show can "follow you lot" and engage further. I think this is a neat mode to build out the customs further. Breaker besides includes the ability for podcast hosts to generate acquirement from their podcasts inside of Breaker. I'd love to see Apple build a mode to support creators inside of Apple Podcasts, equally I'd like to be able to support the shows I beloved.
Billow's overall design is lovely. I love how everything is laid out. Information technology feels like a mod reimagining of what a podcast app should expect like. From a playback perspective, it includes speeds up to 3x with the option to "skip silences" to speed up shows.
I can't think of a single thing I don't like almost Billow. Of all the apps I've tried, information technology is the most unique. If you are bored of all the current podcast apps, you lot should definitely check out Breaker. Information technology's a free download on the App Shop.
Overcast
Overcast has been around since 2013 and has a pregnant post-obit. In the tech-podcast community, I'd fence it's the near popular outside of Apple Podcasts. Overcast's design strikes a dainty remainder betwixt following modernistic iOS blueprint standards, just remaining unique. The default color scheme is light and unobtrusive. The primary navigation includes a listing 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. Earlier Overcast, a few smaller apps had implemented it, but I prefer how information technology sounds with Clouded. Smart Speed is described as a way to "pick up extra speed without distortion." Smart Speed "dynamically shortens silences in talk shows. Conversations nonetheless audio then natural that yous'll forget it's on — until y'all run across how much actress time y'all've saved." For those who want to save some time listening to certain podcasts, still who don't want the distortion that comes with ane.5x or 2x speeds, Smart Speed is a happy medium. All of your shows will be shorter, simply you likely won't be able to tell whatsoever difference in listening quality.
Phonation Boost is a feature that aims to normalize the volume and make shows easier to listen to when in noisy situations, such equally a car or airplane. For shows with less-than-platonic editing, Vocalization Boost tin make shows easier to heed to, and it was upgraded to version 2 in early on 2020.
Voice Heave 2 is a mastering-quality audio-processing pipeline that applies broadcast-standard loudness normalization, light compression and EQ, and a true-summit lookahead limiter to your podcasts, in real fourth dimension, without sacrificing quality or battery life. And information technology runs at less than 1% CPU usage on an iPhone SE.
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. It's the easiest to use in my experience. I can speedily see testify notes, change chapters, or adjust the audio settings. Some of the other not bad features are clip sharing (sharing a snippet for a testify) and AirPlay 2 support, which is helpful for HomePod and Sonos usage.
Clouded is a free download, and information technology volition take ads (sold by the developer) in the Now Playing and Directory screens. The ads are generally for other shows, and I've constitute them useful. If you lot subscribe to the yearly subscription ($ten), you tin can disable ads. You likewise get a file uploads choice if you subscribe. If y'all find yourself downloading lectures from YouTube (and converting to MP3) or listening to DRM-free audiobooks, you'll honey this feature. Y'all go to savour all of Overcast'south playback features with whatever audio you upload as well.
Overcast can be downloaded on the App Shop for costless.
Castro
Castro takes a unique approach to subscription direction. You subscribe to shows, just and so it uses a queue system to manage the shows. As new episodes come in, you tin choose to queue a show or archive information technology. This feature is helpful if yous listen to shows that have daily episodes. If you have favorite shows, yous can set them to automobile queue, so you never miss them. I love Castro's innovative approach to library management. If you are someone who struggles with keeping up with new episodes, Castro will be a groovy fit. Similar a lot of the other apps, information technology includes the ability to use different playback speeds and trim silences (Castro Plus required).
Some other one of Castro'due south features is the ability to import MP3 files via iCloud Drive. This feature allows you to side-load DRM-costless audiobooks or lectures. 1 of the other apps I looked at (Overcast) supports a similar function, but it is limited to 2GB in full file size (Castro Plus required).
Castro is a complimentary download, but it requires a subscription ($18.99 per twelvemonth) to unlock boosted features similar trim silence, enhance voices, night mode, custom app icons, and more. Castro's overall design is unique and well washed. If you lot are the type that subscribes to a lot of podcasts simply only grabs a handful a week, Castro's functionality is perfect for you lot.
Castro can exist downloaded on the App Store.
Pocket Casts
Pocket Casts has been around the iPhone podcast app scene for about equally long as any app has been. 1 of the features it pioneered was storing your feeds on a server so refreshing is fast and has minimal furnishings 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 forth with the fonts. Like a lot of the other apps, it contains multiple playback speeds, a trim silence choice, and a voice boost option. In my years of using the app, Pocket Casts' playlist system is probably the near robust and laid out the best.
Outside of Apple tree Podcasts, Pocket Casts probably has the all-time directory layout. While virtually of the third-party apps simply pull from the Apple tree Podcasts directory API, how they lay it out is upward to them. Pocket Casts' directory looks great, and it makes it like shooting fish in a barrel to find new shows.
If you are looking for an iPhone app with a native macOS app, Pocket Casts is your best solution. I've found its macOS app to be more than straightforward to utilize than the Apple Podcasts app for desktop options. Other apps tin now be run on macOS thanks to Apple Silicon, but none of them tin match the native macOS feel of Pocket Casts.
Pocket Casts is a costless download on the App Store, and Pocket Casts Plus adds free desktop apps, deject storage for audio, new icons, and more. Pocket Cast Plus is $.99/calendar month or $ix.99/year.
Player FM
Player FM is ane of the newest apps I've been testing. It has a great design with a slick user interface. Information technology's a free download simply offers a premium subscription to unlock some useful features. Similar to Pocket Casts, information technology offers cross-platform functionality, so you can play your shows from iOS, Android, the web, or even on Chromecast.
In testing the app, i of the aspects I thought was very well washed was how you can create categories (playlists) to organize your podcasts. If you bounciness 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 yous're the type of person who is ever request for recommendations, Role player FM is a keen place to starting time.
Wrap-upwards on best podcast app for iPhone
Overall, in that location are lots of groovy options for podcast apps. If you want a default Apple feel, employ Apple Podcasts. If you want social features, Billow is the best app for yous. If you want the best overall sound experience, Overcast is hands down the best. If you subscribe to a lot of shows, Castro tin can help you manage your at present playing list. If you lot desire an Android app or an excellent macOS app experience, check out Pocket Casts.
So what'southward the best podcasts app for iPhone? I retrieve Overcast and Pocket Casts are my favorites, just I bounciness effectually between them all to go on learning near 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's triage system can help you keep up with a lot of shows at in one case. There are options for all types of users. If y'all aren't happy with Apple Podcasts, cheque out the alternatives. What are your favorites? Let me know in the comments beneath.
9to5 Podcast Network
Don't forget about the great lineup of podcasts on the 9to5 Network.
- 9to5Mac Happy Hour
- Scout Time
- Apple @ Piece of work
- 9to5Mac Daily
- StackTrace
- 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
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