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We asked, you told us: Your favorite podcast app is hard to nail down
Podcasts! Most people have tried a podcast or two, listened to a couple a week, or maybe even per day. Heck, by now, maybe you’ve even hosted your own podcast. Maybe you’re excited for Serial Season 3, or maybe you enjoy the quality production of the Android Authority podcast or SoundGuys podcast. So, tell us, with your Android phone, how do you listen and subscribe to that podcast?
Let me tell a quick story about why your podcast app of choice matters so much. The new SoundGuys podcast came out just a month or three ago, and it was an exciting time for us all. It was a new production, a new style of informing people about all the things that are happening in audio and tech, and we were excited because we all enjoy listening to the air wiggle in nice ways. It’s a fun meme, but seriously, the SoundGuys team work hard on explaining – the latest episode looking at whether or not Bluetooth is dangerous is complicated technology and arguments broken down and explained.
I didn't even know how to listen in - I wasn't a Podcast insider
But for me …I actually didn’t quite know how to listen in. The team released the new podcast on iTunes and Pocket Casts. I don’t use iTunes at all, where podcast ratings and reviews arguably matter most, while Pocket Casts just wasn’t an app I’d purchased. This challenged my very existence: have I been on the outside of the true world of podcasts? Have I just been waiting for everyone else to support quality work, and then jumping in once other people have made it popular?
I’ve since accepted that it’s my fault, and that supporting Pocket Casts is a good idea. It’s originally from the humble Shifty Jelly team in Adelaide, Australia, and was recently acquired by four big radio stations including NPR. Other people in the comments on our site noted that “power users” use PodcastAddict or BeyondPod. And with Google Podcasts now out, among a host of others we regularly update in the ‘10 best podcast apps for Android‘ post, Android users are well served.
But what’s best, what works for you? We asked, and here’s how around 20,000 of you voted:
What’s your favorite podcast app?
Results
The results are quite varied, and there’s a bit so unpack them. First of all, the Twitter and YouTube polls were pretty even. Google Podcasts won both of them, which would be encouraging for Google given it’s such a new app. And hey, that’s what Google do: see which apps you’re using, then create their own and give it out for free to sells you ads. Google Play Music got a few votes as well.
Coming over to the web though, and the results are vastly different. Pocket Casts won easily, with “I Don’t Listen” in second, while Google Podcasts was in third followed by the write-in option in “Other”.
Probably the most interesting result was how many “Other” votes we got, which is definitely unusual. Podcasts apps are definitely something people don’t mind swapping back and forth between. Getting into those numbers and I’d have to say most of them were write-in votes for Podcast Addict. Second was CastBox, while Player.fm, Podcast Republic, and Spotify all had a few votes.
One notable and perhaps obvious feature is that the most popular ones that were voted for were free and supported by ads, with an optional purchase (or donation) to remove ads – although Pocket Casts is a paid app for around $3-$4 or so.
That’s it for today! Usually, we like to include your comments and figure out the thinking going on out there, but this week was much more of a “shoutout to my favorite app” sort of poll. Thanks for all your votes and comments, and don’t forget to try out our original podcasts as well while you’re in the swing of things.
Oh, and don’t forget to subscribe to the Android Authority and SoundGuys Podcasts!