Any suggestions on good multi-platform alternatives? I’m using Apple Podcasts and it’s garbage.

    • HQC@beehaw.org
      5·
      2 years ago

      Made the switch from Podcast Addict recently and I’m pretty happy. It’s much more stable (especially with casting) and I like the queue system, but I do wish I had a bit more flexibility in applying download/update rules to whole categories instead of only one show at a time.

      • BenderFender@beehaw.org
        1·
        2 years ago

        Yeah the downloading on the app is the only less than ideal part. I find the rules are not as well structured as other podcast apps. Otherwise the app works great though

    • minorsecond@lemm.ee
      25·
      2 years ago

      I am too, but this makes me worry about how long that will last. Once they start needing money bad enough, they’ll be eyeing us.

      • Kizaing@lemmy.kizaing.caEnglish
        7·
        2 years ago

        Yeah :( I’d probably go the selfhosted route if I can find a good bit of software to use for it, or just use RSS if that happens

        • Reil@beehaw.orgEnglish
          4·
          2 years ago

          I guess I gotta start looking at self-hosted aggregator solutions. I hope one of them has per-podcast playback speed settings/autoskip capabilities. I use the heck out of those.

          • Kizaing@lemmy.kizaing.caEnglish
            3·
            2 years ago

            Yeah I was looking at a few options. A few people recommended Audiobookshelf. I tried out airsonic-advanced and it has decent podcast support but the software itself feels a bit outdated, but it works

            • astromd@beehaw.orgEnglish
              1·
              2 years ago

              The iOS app is still in beta, but it works well enough. It’s not as advanced as the other options available, but it has the basic features, and is nice that it’s self-hosted, so I can store the mp3 files on my own system.

        • SweetBilliam@midwest.socialEnglish
          1·
          2 years ago

          I wish plex would bring back plugin support. If my podcasts and audiobooks could live there easily I’d open their app a lot more. Maybe watch some of those old TV and movies they’re so excited about.

          • Kizaing@lemmy.kizaing.caEnglish
            1·
            2 years ago

            Yeah I’m really sad plex dropped podcast support, it used to work pretty well and it was nice to have everything in one spot

  • ConstantMotion@lemmy.one
    21·
    2 years ago

    I’ve been using pocket casts for a while now, but never got the plus. The free version seems to have everything I need. What’s the most useful plus feature?

    • macstainless@discuss.tchncs.de
      4·
      2 years ago

      Seconding Overcast. It has a lot of feature comforts, a great Watch app, and has been continuously updated. Marco Arment is the dev and the effort he puts into the app truly shows.

    • astromd@beehaw.orgEnglish
      1·
      2 years ago

      I cannot stand the re-design of Overcast. It looks so cartoonish, and the app feels very dated to me. I switched to Pocket Casts, because their CarPlay app was much more stable, but now I may have to look at options again.

  • darkfiremp3@beehaw.org
    16·
    2 years ago

    Years ago I bought the app for android, iPhone, and web because for work I needed it on different devices. When they changed the pricing model I got a email saying because of my support and having paid them that many times, I was given lifetime premium for free. They were owned by a different company back then, but I really appreciated the move and have it to this day.

  • code@lemmy.mayes.io
    15·
    2 years ago

    If you are already a subscriber it stays at 14.99. Its a glitch. You’re grandfathered to existing cost

    But. If you are a new subscriber then yea you’re screwed.

  • Mars@beehaw.org
    11·
    2 years ago

    I bought the iOS app. They I switched to Android and bought it again. Then I got back into iOS, and bought it in my new apple account. Then they said they needed money and that they had a web app and a desktop app (electron) so I bought that again.

    I recommended Pocket Casts to friends, family, randos on the internet, people on the street, and everyone that would listen to me.

    And then they launched plus, made the phone apps free (100% ok with that, I had my moneys worth) and tried to weasel out of the lifetime of webapp they sold me. They tried to give me 3 years of plus.

    We really cried and nagged them on Reddit an Twitter. Most of us could not care less about the cloud storage. We just wanted the webapp we paid for, without a time limit. And in the end they gave up and just grandfathered us all.

    But I never recomendad pocket casts again. Never again went out of my way to talk about the app to anyone.

    • Kleinbonum@feddit.de
      21·
      2 years ago

      Pocket Casts is available as Android and Windows app; Apple Podcasts isn’t.

      Pocket Casts syncs between MacOS, iOS, Android, Windows and web device that allows you to open the web player; Apple Podcasts doesn’t.

      It’s not garbage per se, it just doesn’t fit the same use case.

        • Ethereal87@beehaw.org
          7·
          2 years ago

          Honestly, my biggest use case is listening on the phone and listening on my PC while at work. The two sync together extremely well and it’s pretty seamless. No idea if Apple Podcasts can do that (or plays that nicely on a Mac) but that’s my biggest use case for their sync capabilities.

        • Kleinbonum@feddit.de
          4·
          2 years ago

          If you’re only listening to Podcasts on a single device, then there’s literally a ton of great podcast apps available.

          The issue is really using several devices, with podcast downloads and listening status syncing across all devices. Spotify might be the closest, second-best option, but I find that really messy because it’s not optimized for podcasts, and because I don’t want to have podcasts mixed in with my music.

          • pi_fang@beehaw.org
            1·
            2 years ago

            And I just looked up Noam Chomsky on Spotify podcasts and he wasn’t there. He is on Apple Podcast.

    • minorsecond@lemm.ee
      60·
      2 years ago

      Spotify is also trying to kill traditional RSS podcasts by buying them up and making them exclusive to Spotify.

    • CoffeeBot@lemmy.ca
      13·
      2 years ago

      Some podcasts have chapters, chapter art, show notes, etc. “Accidental Tech Podcast” is a good example. Spotify sucks for podcasts and they’re trying to kill podcasting so they can take it over.

    • Deemo@lemmy.fmhy.ml
      6·
      2 years ago

      While I like spotify for music there are three things that bug me about it:

      • Anker.fm ads. Just a rant I hate anker.fm auto injection ads. If you try sleeping to a pod cast it wil go from normal volume TO SHOUTING ABOUT STATEFARM OR DUNKIN. While this issue also occurs on third party podcasting apps spotify dynamically injects a banner ad into podcast art and hyperlinks the ad. I might be overeacting (I hate these kind of deeplink ads). To be clear I don’t mind host read ads like linus sponsor shoutouts but dynamic ad injection is awfull.

      • No chapter support

  • SamsonSeinfelder@feddit.de
    7·
    2 years ago

    I use pocket casts since years. Never felt like needing the plus. Just checked the benefits and I think I am still good. Before a flight I download dozens of podcast to my phone via WiFi and use the list of downloaded podcasts to keep track of them.

    I see no need for the following features for me:

    • Folders Organize your podcasts in folders, and keep them synced across devices.

    • Desktop Apps Take your podcasts to more places with our Windows, macOS and Web apps.

    • Cloud Storage Speed up your lectures. Burn through other content. Be your own Podcast DJ.

    • Watch Playback Ditch the phone and go for a run – without missing a beat. Apple Watch stands alone

    • Themes & Icons Fly your true colors. Exclusive icons and themes for the plus club only.

    • elfpie@beehaw.org
      2·
      2 years ago

      For their benefit, I didn’t even realize there was a premium version until now.

  • jevans ⁂@lemmy.ml
    5·
    2 years ago

    I’m migrating from Pocketcasts and Audible to a self-hosted Audiobookshelf instance. It’s got all the audiobook features I would want, but the podcast features are not quite there yet. The two big ones that I miss from Pocketcasts are an automated “up next” playlist and auto-downloading new episodes to the phone. That being said, there is active development and new features and bugfixes come out regularly. I wouldn’t be surprised if it had feature-parity with Pocketcasts within the year. I know self-hosting isn’t for everyone, but if you’re interested in playing around with something like that, audiobookshelf is a good place to start.

  • 4bh1j47@beehaw.org
    3·
    2 years ago

    I started using podcast republic recently. They also have a web version but I use Android. Seems decent so far.