Best Premium Podcast App: Castro
Castro
Keeps track of dates and listening progress.
Price:Free; Premium is $24.99 per year.
Best Sounding Podcast App: Overcast
Smart filters make it easy to organize your playlists.
Castro
Loud and clear audio.
The search feature is difficult to use.
Overcast from Overcast Radio, LLC is designed for the curious listener who wants to discover more podcasts.
Price:Free; Premium is a $9.99 per year subscription.
Best Social Media Integration: Breaker
Maple Media
Get recommendations from friends.
Lots of options for sorting your favorites.
Pocket Casts
Random people sometimes follow you.
Search tool could be better.
Price:Free; Subscriptions up to $14.99 annually.
Downcast
Best Organized Podcast App: Pocket Casts
Pocket Casts
Simple interface with a desktop version.
Make custom filters to organize your podcasts.
Listen without subscribing to podcasts.
Can’t search transcripts.
Subscriptions can be pricey.
Variable speeds let you adjust the playback speed from .5 to 3x.
Volume boost eliminates the background noise while enhancing the sound of voices.
Price:Free; Subscriptions up to $99.99 a year.
Best CarPlay Compatibility: Castbox
Castbox
Compatible with CarPlay and Amazon Echo.
No way to mark episodes as played.
Can’t set the play order.
Price:Free; Castbox Premium is $0.99 per month.
Best iCloud Integration: Downcast
Downcast
Mac and iPad versions.
Sync all playlists and tweaks across iCloud.
Difficult-to-read screens because of the small text.
Downcast by Jamawkinaw Enterprises LLC is a no-frills old-school podcast player that provides powerful organization and customizing tools.
Price:$2.99
Best Playback Controls: iCatcher
iCatcher
Includes VoiceOver support.
Controls let you jump ahead or back.
Always sorts episodes from oldest to newest.
Interface can be hard to navigate.
With automatic refreshes, you’ll always have the latest episode available.
