HEAR THE FLIP-SIDE WITH THESE GREAT ALTERNATIVES.

OVERCAST Free with ads; $12.99 per year ad-free overcast.fm

This free alternative to iTunes is only available on iOS, which is particularly disappointing considering how well designed it’s recommendation and discovery sections are. Overcast lets you link your Twitter account for a tailored list of your followers’ favourite podcasts. With the full spectrum of available podcasts, this is definitely a contender for top-pod app, but the $13 per year price tag for the ad-free premium tier is a little more expensive than the one-off $4–$9 you’ll pay for the Pocket Cast versions and it lacks advanced playback features.

SPOTIFY Free with ads; Premium from $12 per month www.spotify.com

Spotify’s Podcast section came to Android subscribers early in 2016, and though it’s had some time to smooth over any imperfections, if it wasn’t attached to an excellent audio streaming service, it wouldn’t be a particularly appealing podcast option. That said, the fact that you don’t have to switch between apps to change from a podcast to music is a handy feature. Spotify’s Podcasts are organised into 10 categories tucked away in the Discover section of the smartphone apps and, though it isn’t the most comprehensive library we’ve seen, it has plenty of the most popular titles.

PODCAST AND RADIO ADDICT Free with ads; $4.29 to remove ads podcastaddict.uservoice.com

Since Google Play’s podcast section still isn’t available in Australia, we thought it was only fair to add another Android option into the mix. Podcast and Radio Addict is logically set out and has a comprehensive selection of podcasts that can be easily found by popularity, affiliate station or novelty. You will have to put up with banner ads (unless you ‘donate’ $4.29), though the playback features are decent, letting you speed up the recording, boost the volume or set an auto switch-off timer if you’re listening before bed.