Shortly after I whined about the iOS 14.5 version of the Apple Podcasts app I went on the hunt for a replacement. I had simply lost too much time fighting with the constantly changing defaults and random breakage. I tried several and as I bemoaned, several options I tried were unfit for purpose.
Things I need a podcast app to do:
- Allow me to subscribe to a RSS feed.
- Allow me to sort episodes chronologically, ascending.
- Keep track of which episodes I have listened to.
Things I do not need a podcast app to do:
- Require me to login to an account, of any kind.
- Store anything on their
clowncloud. - Create a friends list.
- Share anything, with anyone, at any time.
- "Help" me find podcasts.
I tried Overcast but it won't even let you into the app without an account so that got yeeted within seconds of the download completing. Castaway looked promising but I couldn't find a way to add a RSS feed which earned it a yeeting as well. Stitcher committed both sins and was bathed in the cleansing fire of the holy delete gesture. I finally settled on Pocket Casts, which is now owned by the Wordpress people and while the UI sucks and it has a lot of features that I don't care about it is at least fit for purpose.
So yeah, if you are looking for a podcast app you could do worse than Pocket Casts.