Podcasts have taken over the world. And everyone has the best podcast app on their phones!
But now you want one too and don’t know where to start.
The reason is simple: this episodic series of audio files provides unrivalled opportunity for us to learn a myriad number of things, from science and religion, to health and philosophy. Podcasts provide information and education in a format that is conducive to learning.
What’s more? Through their very nature, they are more convenient than watching videos and reading books. While you can listen to a podcast and perform other tasks, such as jogging, the same cannot be said of reading a book or watching a programme. These are some reasons why they have grown so popular.
So what podcasts do you typically listen to? How many are your favourite? And which apps are you using?
We know that by default Andoid users prefer Google Podcasts, iOS users go straight to Apple Podcasts, and several just prefer Spotify! But there are several more Podcast Apps out there which you should look at to discover what you’re missing.
The answer is: with a podcast application.
The Best Podcast Apps
We recommend any popular app like Audible, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and more. But in this article, we will provide you with some of the best podcast applications globally.
Whether you use an iOS, or any other smart speaker, you will find an app you can use to play the podcasts you like and follow.
There are many services that give access to a wide range of podcasts, including free and paid ones. To help you get started, we’ve gone ahead and picked a few of the best podcast apps you can use to listen to right now.
Let’s get started!
PocketCasts
PocketCasts is a top podcast application and the favourite of many podcast lovers the world over. The app is chock-full of features that renders listening to podcasts a favourable experience every time. It features audio and video content. In addition to this, PocketCasts has cross-platform syncing and a robust discovery system that introduces you to top podcasts you will enjoy. To do this, it uses your preferred categories as well as your listening history.
On the control front, the application has playback speed, time mode, time skips, and many more. To cater to the large and diverse people who use the application, it is available on iPhones, Androids, Alexa, Sonos, and many others.
The application has a free version and a subscription fee as well that gives additional features.
The Podcast Player
The Podcast Player is another top application that comes highly recommended for podcast lovers. However, it is only available for iPhone users as it only runs on the iOS. The Podcast Player offers a free, ads-free experience and provides you control of your listening experience by providing myriad features. For example, it allows listeners to easily create and organise a custom queue of podcasts they want to listen to. Also, it saves your listening history and gives you to access previously completed episodes.
What’s more? It will recommend new shows that are likely to interest you based on your preference and listening habit. Also, its clean, intuitive layout will help you have a marvellous UX. Finally, it is free.
By the way, this application is only available to people whose devices run iOS 11.0 or later.
Podcast Addict
Podcast Addict is an Android-only application for catching up on your favourite talks – and discovering new ones. The application is feature-rich. They include automatic deletion, variable speed playback, shuffle mode, loop mode, sleep timer, volume boost, mono playback, and automatic updating of episodes and downloads, among others. The application hosts talk shows from media organizations like NPR, Gimlet, Serial, BBC, and Ted Talks.
Podcast Addict has a vast catalogue with over two million podcasts split into more than 50 million episodes. Furthermore, the application supports audiobooks, SoundCloud, YouTube, RSS News feeds, and others. Besides, it doesn’t matter whether you downloaded a file or you are streaming it, Podcast Addict supports all.
Finally, you can search for a podcast with any of three search engines: Podcast Addict, Apple Podcast, or The Podcast Index.
Laughable
Laughable is a podcast application that is centred around comedy talk shows. The app has an overwhelming number of comedians that call it home. In fact, it has the largest database of comedians in the world. However, while comedians are responsible for a vast majority of the app’s content, there are content producers from other professions. For example, the service hosts content by actors, athletes, journalists, politicians, and other personalities.
Laughable has several user-friendly features. They include sleep timer, offline listening, and adjustable playback speed, among others.
Unlike most of the applications on this list, Laughable requires you to buy a subscription to use it. If you would like to experience the application and see if it’s worth your money, there is a 20-day free trial you can take advantage of.
By the way, the application requires at least iOS 13.6 and Android 5.0 to work. If your device runs an operating system that is earlier than these two, then forget about using Laughable.
Himalaya
Himalaya is a podcast application that focuses on education. It hosts content from creators like Malcolm Gladwell, Ariana Huffington, Seth Godin, Tim Ferriss, and Elon Musk. If your goal is personal and professional growth, it is the app for you. The application is available on iOS and Android devices. Its catalogue is modest with about 270,000 podcasts split into over 24 million episodes. Himalaya also serves as home for podcast creators, and it has over 500,000 of them.
The application is not free; it charges its subscription payment from your iTunes account if you use an iPhone and Google Pay if you use an Android. If you want to test it about before subscribing, it offers a 7 days free trial you can take advantage of.
Although, it is a paid application, it allows you to download free resources. Also, you can unlock exclusive content for prices that are lower than usual.
Finally, if you are switching over from another podcast application, you can import your subscriptions. This will ensure your playlist is preserved, and you can continue listening to your favourite podcasts from where you stopped.
Castbox
Castbox is home to over 95 million audio content. Its podcasts span several interests including news, entertainment, sports, technology, and sleep. It has a robust search engine that will enable you to easily find a particular podcast. Also, it has a powerful algorithm that will recommend new and interesting shows to you based on your listening habit.
If you are switching over from another podcast application, you do not have to lose your history. Castbox allows you to import your favourite podcast with OPML. You can import from Google Podcast, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Spotify, Apple Podcast, and many more. Also, you can sync your subscriptions across different devices and download content for offline listening.
Finally, the application is cross-platform. You can use it on your iPhone, Android, Carplay, Android Auto, Google Home, and Alexa.
The platform is free; however, there is a premium version that offers extra features that will further improve your experience.
Podbean
Podbean is one of the most popular podcast services in the world. It has over 580,000 podcasters who have uploaded over 10,900,000 episodes and experienced over 8.7 billion downloads.
What’s more? The service offers both free and paid options for creators. Naturally, the paid option offers more features than the free option.
Podbean has a wide distribution reach: its podcasts are available on Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, and its app – the Podbean Podcast app, which users can download on both iOS and Android devices.
Castro
Castro is an iPhone-only podcast service that offers users the opportunity to engage with each podcast show on an individual basis. Basically, Castro gives users complete control over their listening experience. As a result, they can get the best experience from the numerous and high-quality podcast shows out there.
With Castro, you can queue podcast episodes, set the playback speed, enhance the sound quality, trim silence to save listening time, and share episodes you enjoy with your loved ones, among others.
The product has a free version. However, the paid version opens users up to a wide range of features that will enhance their experience and make it more fulfilling.
Stitcher
Stitcher is a podcast service that offers some of the shows on the planet. The service has three original content networks: Earwolf, Witness Docs, and Stitcher Originals that have offer over 50 shows. Earwolf creates top comedy shows, Witness Docs create documentary shows, and Stitcher Originals other podcast content types. Each of these networks are highly rated and offer some of the best shows in the industry.
Like most of the other podcast services on this list, Stitcher has both free and paid versions. The paid premium version offers a better listening experience than the free version – listeners can access exclusive, ad-free content; access free shipping from Podswag, as well as exclusive ticket giveaways, among others.
It is available on both iOS and Android devices.
So those were our recommendations!
Each of these applications offer a unique, yet premium experience. Before you decide on which one to use, try to get a feel for each of them. We promise you won’t be disappointed.
If there is a podcast application we didn’t include, but you think belongs on this list, let us know in the comments below.