Pocket Casts 7
Sync podcasts on everything
$3.99 From Podcast Media LLC, pocketcasts.com Made for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch Needs iOS 11.0 or later
Pocket Casts is a veteran among podcasts apps, with well-liked apps for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch as well as an ace Apple Watch complication. It’s particularly good for power users who listen to a lot of podcasts. And while it’s perfectly simple for beginners and casual listeners, it’s packed with enough features to help you tame even the most packed playlists.
This seventh version introduces a number of new functions including the ability to play a podcast without first having to subscribe to it; automatic syncing, so that when you reach the end of one podcast you don’t need to wait to download the next one in your queue; a useful search feature that includes searching for specific episodes; and a significantly improved Discovery screen to help you find things you’ll want to listen to. There are hand– picked lists of interesting topics, a ‘what’s trending’ chart so you can see what’s popular, and an algorithm that studies what you listen to and looks for similar content.
The user interface has also been streamlined to make it more attractive, with improved light and dark themes and a new Extra Dark theme for OLED iPhones — although to our eyes the interface feels awfully sparse on iPad, as if it was designed primarily for the iPhone’s smaller screen. It’s much nicer on iPhone, where it looks rather like Spotify.
There’s also new support for Siri shortcuts and AirPlay 2, the ability to archive episodes you don’t want to listen to, and excellent filtering to help you find exactly what you want.
The big rival to Pocket Casts is Overcast, which we reviewed last month: we liked Overcast’s interface better, but you may be swung by Pocket Casts not being a subscription app — your $3.99 is a one–off payment — or by Pocket Casts’ multiplatform approach: it syncs between iOS, Android, Mac, and PC, although each platform requires you to purchase the app for that platform. At the time of writing the Mac app is $5.99.
the bottom line. Useful tools for both serious and casual podcast listeners alike.