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Best Podcast Apps

Podcasting

I have always listened to the latest Joel Osteen service episodes from YouTube as I do my house chores. It got me thinking, what other content could I listen to as I went about with my everyday tasks, and oh my goodness! My curiosity led me to so many podcasts that I can no longer live without.

For example,  I listen to Jay Shetty,  The Daily, Planet Money from NPR, and TED Talks Daily to fuel my days. My distraction with podcasts came with the realization that I could follow my episodes through apps from either Android devices or IOS devices. Amazingly, there are podcast apps that work with both Android and IOS devices, called Cross-Platform podcast apps.

You must use the right podcast app for your device to have a smooth listening and/or experience. We, therefore, review the best cross-platform podcast apps, Android podcast apps, and IOS apps to help you choose the best podcast app for your podcast.

Cross-Platform Podcast Apps

Cross-Platform podcast apps are podcast applications that are available on Android and iOS mobile devices. Other Cross-Platform podcast applications are available on Mac, Windows, and Chromecast desktops.

  • RadioPublic

Radio Republic is one of the best podcast apps that I have used. The app is available on Android and iOS devices, and it’s totally free. What is more interesting about the Radio Republic is that it does not require you to have an account nor logging in. You just need to start listening to that episode that you are craving. You quickly search your podcast on the search button or use the many podcasts featured on the app to discover new content That’s not all, people. Radio Podcast allows you to stream or download episodes to listen while offline, add private RSS feeds, import and export via OPML, and more!

Full Disclosure; I am sold, totally sold to RadioPublic.

Keep reading to see what other cross-platform podcast apps are available.

  • Pocket Casts

Similar to RadioPublic, Pocket Casts is available for free on both Android and iOS devices. The app has an eye-catching design, playback controls, easy-content discovery tools, volume boost, chapter navigation, and their sync option that allows you to pick up where you left on another device. I feel that Pocket Cast is the best Cross-Platform Podcast app for people who love discovering new podcasts, primarily because of its hand-curated podcast recommendation.

Pocket Cast also has Pocket Cast Plus, which is a paid-for podcast app that is most suitable for content creators. In addition to the basic Pocket Cast app features, Pocket Cast Plus provides you with Desktop apps, Cloud storage, and themes and icons, all at unbelievably affordable prices. You can choose to pay $0.99/month or $9.99/year.

  • Castbox

 Castbox is available on Android, iOS, and Web devices. Castbox is among the best podcast applications that are suitable for discovering new content. The hook? You just need to use the app’s unique recommendation engine to identify podcasts of your interest.  Castbox is a favorite podcast app of mine because it is compatible with Amazon Alexa, Apple Watch, CarPlay, Google Home, and Android Auto.

Castbox is available on free and premium plans. The free plan allows you up to 100 episodes. If you detest ads as I do, the Castbox free plan is not for you. You can upgrade to the Castbox premium plan and listen to your podcast ad-free. You only need to pay $ 0.99. Month for the premium experience. The premium plan also gives you unlimited subscriptions, a personalized home page, priority support, and early access to new Castbox features.

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Podbean

Podbean is available on both Android and iOS devices. Podbean is a podcast hosting and listening software, which makes it suitable for both podcasters and listeners. Podbean is a personal favorite because it provides you with many different audiobooks and other content, making it your all-in-one audio stop. Podbean podcast app enables you to discover new content quickly owing to its ‘search by category and get suggested topics’ feature.

Podbean podcast app offers you a smooth listening experience owing to its intelligent speeds that eliminate silences from an episode without distortion, volume boosters, support sleep time, Bluetooth, Chromecast, and android auto features. Above all, the podbean podcast app is free to use.

  • Stitcher

Stitcher is available on iOS and Android devices, which you download at no cost. Stitcher is also available on PCs, smart speakers, in cars, and Alexa. Many podcast consumers trust the Stitcher podcast app because it has been around for a long time. Moreover, Stitcher is unique because it allows you to search for episodes instead of an entire podcast.

Stitcher podcast app is also available on a premium plan and annual premium plans, which provides you with ad-free listening experience, offers you original stitcher contents, bonus episodes, comedy albums, and many more. The Premium plan costs $4.99/month, and Premium, annual costs $2.92/month, billed yearly.

Note, some shows record their ads that Stitcher cannot exclude, even on Premium and Premium Plus plans.

  • Laughable

Laughable is accessible on Android and iOS devices. Laughable is a top cross-platform podcast app because it makes it extremely easy to find podcasts that interest you. Laughable provides you with the content of all topics, including comedy, sports, thespian, writers, music, business, among others.  I personally love that Laughable enables ‘Offline Listening’ because the feature allows you to beat expensive data plans and lousy network receptions. Finally,  Laughable is very easy to use because of its adjustable playback speed, sleep timer, and real-time alerts regarding your favorite content and their guest appearances.

Laughable allows you to listen to your favorite shows through two plans, the Free Tier and Laughable Insider (the paid tier).

The Free plan is available for 20 days only, after your first login. During the grace period, you can listen to unlimited episodes, and you can access all your data, including subscriptions and listening history. Laughable Insider will cost you about $2.33/month.

Lack of a forever-free plan is one of the disadvantages of Laughable. However, if you wish to access over 56 million episodes, Laughable is the Cross-platform podcast app for you.

  • TuneIn Radio

TuneIn Radio is an audio streaming service of live news, radio. Sports, music, and podcasts to over 60 million users per month. The TuneIn app is a favorite with many podcast consumers because it is available anytime, anywhere, with any device. TuneIn app is available on iOS, Android, web, in Car, and TV and Gaming.

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TuneIn App also works seamlessly with voice assistants such as Alexa, Google, and Cortana, which makes your favorite shows available on your demand. Listen to TuneIn Podcasts with Amazon Alexa in Echo, Echo Plus, Echo Dot, Echo Show, Echo Spot, Sonos One, among others. You can also listen to TuneIn podcasts with Google Assistant on Google Home, Google Home Mini, Home Max, JBL Link, among others. Also, you can use Microsoft Cortana with the TuneIn app on Cortana devices such as the Harman Kardon Invoke.

TuneIn Radio is free and allows you to access 100, 000 real radio stations and 5.7 million podcasts. You can also subscribe to TuneIn Radio Pro, which warrants a one-time fee. TuneIn Radio Pro is for you who detest banner ads and pre-roll ads, which are common in TuneIn Radio. TuneIn Radio Pro also allows you to record.

You can also use the TuneIn Premium, which provides you with live NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL games, over 600 commercial-free music stations in addition to the basic TuneIn app features. TuneIn Premium costs $9.99/month after a seven-day free trial.

The bottom line; TuneIn Radio is suitable for anyone.

Spotify

Our final cross-platform podcast app is Spotify. Spotify works on your Android devices, iOS devices, web, and TV. While Spotify is best known for an extensive collection of music, it also has a decent number of podcasts. Advantages of listening podcasts on Spotify include its simple UI, provides device support for major smart speakers and car models and provides easy podcast discovery owing to its algorithm that suggests new podcasts based on your listening history.

Spotify app allows you to listen to podcasts on two tiers, the free plan, and the Premium plan. The Premium tier costs $9.99/month, eliminating the listening limitations of episodes and in-app ads. The Premium plan, however, does not remove ads included in episodes.

iOS Podcast Apps

The most popular iOS podcast listening app is the Apple Podcasts. Trust me, that is the tip of the iceberg. There are so many excellent listening podcast apps for iOS and Android in 2020, which we have highlighted below for you.

  • Overcast

Overcast is a free, simple, and an award-winning iOS-only podcast app. Overcast is our top iOS podcast listening app because of its features such as;

  • Smart Speed, which reduces silences in talk shows
    • Voice Boost, which enables you to boost and normalize volume for your every show for enhanced clarity regardless of your environment.
    • Open and standard world of podcasts with public RSS feeds, which enables you to add your podcasts to Apple Podcasts simply.
    • Overcast enables episode playbacks and downloads, sends notifications of new episodes, allows offline plays, and streaming.
    • It is free but supported by small visual ads to promote podcasts. However, you can eliminate the annoying ads by paying $10/year.

The only downside to choosing Overcast is that you do not have a free trial period.

Castro 3 is an iOS-only podcast player that is available for free on the Apple Store. Castro 3 is our top two iOS podcast players because it makes it easy for you to stay updated on a large number of podcasts subscriptions, accessible for you to find podcasts, and to enjoy them. Castro 3 is a fantastic podcast player because of its features, which include;

  • Custom playback speeds of between 0.8-3x., which allows you to listen to shoes at your preferred Speed.
  • Enhance Voices and Mono Mix, which enable you to improves the production values of low-quality shows
  • Enhanced Podcast notifications, which keeps you updated on your show subscriptions
  • The Castro Carplay App allows you to listen to your favorites shows as you drive around.
  • Sideloading, which lets you add any audio from the web to your list with two taps only.
  •  Castro player and the Castro for iMessage enables you to share podcast episodes with friends.
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Conveniently, Castro 3 has a premium plan dubbed “Castro Plus” that costs $18.99/year. Castro Plus  provides you with all Castro 3 features such as;

  • Advanced playback features such as Sideloading, Night Mode, Custom App Icons, and many others.
  • Trim silence
  • Enhanced Voices
  • Advanced Chapter Support
  • Mix to Mono
  • Chapter and Episode Artwork
  • Pre-Podcast Settings, and
  • Custom App Icons.

I highly recommend Castro Plus, which you can familiarize yourself with a seven-day free trial.

ListenApp is free on iOS. If your hate for ads matches mine, then ListenApp is your go-to iOS podcast listening app as it is ad-free. Other advantages of using ListenApp are;

  • You can create and manage a custom queue easily
  • You can access episodes that you listened to previously
  • You can save data by downloading episodes and watching them offline
  • You receive notifications when new episodes are uploaded
  • You see recommended shows based on your interests and trending issues

Downcast is a competitive podcast app for iOS, Mac, Apple Watch, and CarPlay. You can download Downcast from the Apple Store and the Mac App Store. Downcast is available on iOS for $2.99 and $4.99 on macOS, which are a one-time fee.

Downcast is among the best iOS podcast app because;

  • It is easy to subscribe to podcasts
    • Downcast rich settings enable you to start your favorite shows automatically, or end them early, which saves you lengthy intros or closing ads
    • You get notifications when your favorite show is uploaded.

The downcast podcast app is appropriate for you if you are an Apple-only user and do not require a web app.

PodCruncher is available on the Apple Store for $2.99, and it supports devices such as the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPads.

Podcrucher allows you to play and manage audio and video podcasts without having to sync with your computer. You can also discover and manage audio and subscribe to new podcasts, stream episodes over 3G/WiFi, and download and watch episodes offline.

iCatcher is available for download on the Apple app store. iCatcher is compatible with iPhone, iPad touch, and Apple Watcher with iOS 12.1 and higher. Catcher is a dominant podcast player that lets you subscribe to your favorite shows, download the latest episodes, and listen to your shows on the go.

iCatcher podcast player gives you a smooth listening experience owing to its unmatched playback control features such as its playback speed of 1x, 1.25x, 1.5x, 1.75x, 2x, and 0.5x, continuous playback and edit Up Next on the fly. Other playback control features are gestures for control, adjustable skip intervals for fwd/back buttons, and airplay support, Bluetooth audio, and controls.

Brace yourselves, podcast addicts, you will love iCatcher Podcast Player.

  • Castaway 2
    • Apple Podcasts
  • Android Podcast Apps
    • Google Podcasts
    • Podcast Republic
    • Podcast Addict
    • BeyondPod
    • Doggcatcher
    • Player FM
    • Podkicker
    • AntennaPod