Best Podcast Apps: Castro, Downcast, Pocket Casts And More
Technology is one of the most popular categories for podcasts and tech fans will no doubt want to have the best podcast app to listen to them with.
There a number of options on the App Store, suiting a variety of needs and preferences. Here are some of the best podcast apps available on iOS.
Apple Podcasts
If you’re a casual podcast listener, then Apple’s own Podcasts app may be absolutely perfect for you. Subscribe, listen to and/or watch your favorite shows, create playlists and discover new content through its direct integration with the iTunes Store.
iCloud keeps your subscriptions, stations and play positions in sync across all your iOS devices, computers and Apple TV.
Free – Download now for iPhone and iPad
Castro
Castro is a beautifully designed audio podcast client for iOS 7. The app’s interface is simple, uncluttered and gesture-based, enabling you to get to your content faster.
Automatically download new episodes when available, find your latest unplayed episodes quickly and make use of the intuitive playback controls that are optimized for podcast listening. Castro is all about simplicity and what the app might lack in additional features, it makes up for in ease-of-use and sheer prettiness.
$2.99/£1.99 – Download now for iPhone
Downcast
Downcast is a feature-rich video and audio podcast player. Search and subscribe to podcasts of any size, manually subscribe via URL, set smart playlists, and download podcasts automatically and in the background.
Downcast can play back episodes at 5 different speed settings, with chapter support, headphone control support and AirPlay support all built-in. You can also view episode show notes with embedded links and images. Downcast is a podcast client for podcast power users.
$2.99/£1.99 – Download now for iPhone and iPad
Instacast 4
Version 4 of Instacast is feature-packed. Featuring detailed subscription management, smart lists, bookmarks, dynamic Up Next playlist, multitasking and background functionality, offline playback and a beautifully designed media player, Instacast is the complete package for podcast clients. Something that sets Instacast apart is its desktop client for the Mac and it synchronization of content across devices.
$3.99/£2.49 – Download now for iPhone and iPad
Pocket Casts
Pocket Casts is a powerful and beautiful podcast manager. As you might expect, Pocket Casts gives you control over your subscriptions and playback but it excels in the power of its management ability.
You can create your own smart playlists, sync and back up your podcasts, auto download episodes, set a sleep timer, auto-cleanup subscriptions and read and interact with episode show notes.
All of this functionality is packed into an app that is well designed and a joy to use. One really neat feature is that the playback controls and interface change to compliment the artwork of the podcast being played – a nice touch.
$3.99/£2.49 – Download now for iPhone and iPad
Your favorites?
We know you guys and girls are great at finding some gems in the App Store. Do you have a favorite podcast client that you would see added to this list? Let us know in the comments
