Do you find yourself distracted, just because a new video (regardless of the length or content) pops up out of nowhere every now and then? Feel the need to destress your eyes and become a better listener? And, that too while getting your daily dose of entertainment and information. A podcast app for Android could be the choice you want to make. Here is a list of some of the best podcast apps for Android.
Why Listen To Podcasts
In this day and age, where you can find videos on any topic under the sun, why would you instead listen to the good old radio like podcasts and “Just listen”? Let’s quickly look at the reasons as to why you should start listening to podcasts –
- First thing first, you become a better listener.
- You can multitask – cook, do your office chores, and much more while listening to an insightful podcast
- They are soothing – This could be a subjective opinion. But on a personal front, you feel a sense of calm when listening to podcasts.
- Podcasts on a variety of topics are conducted by industry experts. You know who you are getting “Words of wisdom” from.
- A 2016 UC Berkeley study concluded that podcasts excite multiple sections of your brain.
- Podcasts, somewhere preserve the lost art of conversation and verbal storytelling
How Did We Choose The Best Podcast Apps for Android For You
First and foremost, we ourselves listen to podcasts on Android a lot. So, based on our own liking and the features we look for, we curated a list of the best apps on which you can listen to podcasts. For us, there are few things that matter when it comes to finding a podcast catcher app and we enlisted some of those factors below –
- How simple, attractive, and streamlined is the podcaster catcher app
- The number of categories that the podcasts app offers
- Features – since we have picked only the best podcast apps for you. You will find more or less the same features across
- Android devices that the podcast app supports
Best Free and Paid Podcast Apps For Android
Looking for the best podcast player app for Android, this is it!
1. Pocket Casts
For many reasons, Pocket Casts can be hailed as one of the best podcast apps for Android. It’s free, is bereft of any bells and whistles to complicate your life, and is easy to use. It’s been around since the early days of Android and provides some exceptional features when it comes to listening to podcasts, some of which are mentioned below –
Features To Look For –
- Podcasts across a wide category list such as arts, comedy, education, health and fitness, fiction, history, etc.
- Trim silence that helps you get straight to the point.
- Boost volume to enhance voice for better clarity
- Filter podcasts by episode status, release date, duration, and other filters
- Playback speed up to 3X.
- Sleep timer
- Wear OS integration
- Skip and forward buttons
Pricing: Free version available. Pocket Casts plus the premium variant offers subscriptions starting at $0.99/ month.
2. Google Podcasts
If you are looking for a free podcast app on Android where you can listen to good podcasts, you may not have to go anywhere else. Most Android smartphones have the Google Podcasts app installed. This streamlined podcast player lets you explore a wide range of podcasts ranging from business and finance, history, fiction and so on and so forth.
However, we wished that the categories were more clearly listed as in the case of many other podcast apps for Android. But, otherwise, it’s completely free and is one of the most reliable podcast catcher apps.
Features To Look For –
- Click on “Subscribe” on a podcast and add it to your list.
- Get more information about the podcast or the author by tapping on the globe icon.
- Filter by the newest and the oldest podcast on the channel
- Add episodes to your queue
- Increase playback speed up to 3X
- Fast forward 30 seconds and rewind 10 seconds
- Easy sharing
Pricing: Free
3. Spotify
While it is heaven for music lovers, podcast fanatics too won’t get disappointed. In fact, when you click on that search button, one of the first categories you’ll see is “Podcasts”. Tap on that further and you’ll see a world of podcasts in front of you. In fact, what we loved is the fact that if there is a content creator you like, chances are you’ll find their podcast here. Comedy, sports, stories, regional podcasts, the list is just endless (and well organized too).
Features To Look For –
- Over 4 million podcasts neatly categorized across several genres and categories.
- Link Alexa device to Spotify.
- Increase playback speed by 3.5 X and fast forward and rewind by 15 seconds.
- Share podcasts across a variety of platforms easily.
- Podcasts are available in a variety of languages.
- Auto-download episodes for offline listening.
- Find more podcasts like the one you are currently listening to.
Pricing: Free version available. Pricing starts at $9.99 per month.
4. Castbox
Castbox offers a lot of food for your soul, of course by the way of podcasts. To be somewhat precise, it offers approximately 95 million volumes of podcasts, live audio, audiobooks, and much more.
It has also bagged the award for being Google Play Best App (and several other apps). So, you can rest assured that what you are investing on (if you choose to) is one of the reliable podcaster catcher apps.
Features To Look For –
- Select categories by the country you are living in.
- Personalized recommendations based on your history.
- Podcasts available in 70 different languages.
- Support for smart speakers, Chromecast, Google Home, Alexa, etc.
- Android Auto support.
- Offline listening
- Sync across devices
Price – You get a 3-day free trial where you can use all the features. After the free trial is over you can opt for a monthly, quarterly, or yearly subscription that starts from $0.99/ month.
5. Podcast Player App – Podbean
It is one of the most popular and highest-rated podcast apps that you will find on the Google Play Store having over 5 million installs. To further talk about its credibility, it has also been nominated as one of the “Top podcast player apps” and for many other awards. On using it personally, we instantly liked how the interface neatly sorts podcasts into “Hot Episodes”, “Top Podcasts”, “Live” and so many other categories so that you can pick the right podcast to listen to.
Features To Look For –
- Download podcasts to listen offline.
- Trim silence without any distortion.
- Fast forward or rewind by 30 seconds.
- Lock screen controls.
- You can add a feed URL.
- Volume boost to normalize the volume.
- Customizable playlists.
- Support for Android Auto, Bluetooth, Alexa, and Chromecast.
Pricing: Free version available. Premium variants start at $9/ month billed annually.
6. Podcast Addict
This is yet another of the highest-rated and one of the most popular podcast apps on the Google Play Store. One of the aspects that we liked is automation. For example, you can set a specific time when you want a podcast to be downloaded. Imagine how good it would be when your motivational podcast will be ready right before you sit to have your morning coffee.
Features To Look For –
- Select from a variety of languages in which you want to listen to podcasts.
- Volume boost, mono playback and skip silence.
- Cloud backup
- Support for Android Auto
- Customize storage folder
- Support for multiple playlists.
- You can set a specific time when you want to download, update, playlist or delete.
- RSS feed supported.
Pricing: Free version available. Premium variant sells at $0.99/ month.
7. Stitcher
This one is yet another popular podcast player on Google Play Store. It’s free and hosts over 260000 podcasts ranging from true crime, comedy, you name it. With the new player update it is easier to see your queue, skip current episodes, access sleep timer and do loads of other things. Now, while you may find the features more or less the same as many other good podcast player apps, Stitcher’s USP is its exclusive and original content.
Features To Look For –
- Customizable seek forwards and backward settings, and playback speed.
- Sleep timer that helps you stop the podcast after your desired duration.
- Filter by downloaded, played, liked, oldest, newest, shortest and longest.
- Support for Android Auto and Amazon Alexa.
- Dark mode available.
- Choose the location where you want to keep your downloads.
Pricing – Free version available. You can sign up for the premium version for $4.99 monthly or $2.92/ month billed annually.
8. Player FM
Looking for a Podcast app that houses top podcasts like TED Talks, Stories, Oprah podcasts, and the likes, Player FM is an option to consider. Not just English, you can find top podcasts in your language. A unique feature that we liked about Player FM is that it lets you compress downloaded podcasts. This way you can save tons of space on your Android device.
Features To Look For –
- Organize your podcasts into genres using “Podcast Groups”.
- Cloud sync so that you can access podcasts on multiple devices.
- Sleep timer that makes podcast sleep when you do.
- Download podcasts offline.
- Turbo Fetch helps you get updates at the earliest (premium feature)
- Compress audio while playing it (premium feature)
- Timestamped bookmark facility (premium feature)
Pricing: Starts at $3.99 per month
9. Doggcatcher
Next on our list of the best and oldest podcast manager apps is Doggcatcher. While a paid option, this podcatcher app has been reviewed as one of the best by many experts. It comes with a massive category of podcasts to keep you hooked. Since this app is paid and you have to pay $2.99 upfront, there are no ads and no in-app purchases to bug you.
Features To Look For –
- Various categories with which you can filter podcasts.
- Personalized recommendations.
- Schedule downloading, deleting, and updating of podcasts.
- Chromecast and Android Auto support.
- Home screen widget to easily access podcasts.
- Variable speed playback.
- Highly configurable playlists.
Pricing: $2.99 up front
10. Anchor
Why just confine yourself to listening to only podcasts? Up until now, we discussed podcast apps for Android where you can listen to your favorite podcasts, but this podcast manager app even lets you create podcasts as well. So, if you have been searching for an app that can help you begin your podcast journey, Anchor could just be your doorway to success. And, what’s even better? It comes straight from the house of Spotify.
Features To Look For –
- Free unlimited hosting.
- You can import audio from other devices as well.
- Add tracks from Spotify.
- Split and trim audio.
- Insightful analytics to see how your podcasts are performing.
- Easily distribute your masterpiece to all major listening apps.
Pricing: Free
Which One’s Your Favorite?
The aim of this post isn’t just to let you find the best places to listen to podcasts but, help you inculcate the habit of listening to podcasts as well. Do let us know which one’s your favorite in the comments section below. For more such content, keep reading WeTheGeek.