The Best Podcast Apps on iPhone

hello and welcome to the upgrade the podcast from the team at Lifehacker if you're a podcast listener odds are you listen to your favorite shows on Apple podcasts a 2015 study found that almost 80% of podcast listening on iPhones happen on Apple's default app the podcast host Lipson also recently shared data that revealed that more than 60% of shows hosted on its platform or listened to on you guessed it the Apple podcast I get it it's free it's pre-installed it's easy but if you're ready to graduate to bigger and better apps and take your podcast listening to the next level this video is for you there are countless podcast apps on the App Store but a lot of them just aren't worth your time so I chose eight of the best to test out I ranked each app on three criteria visual aesthetic the features they offer and how easy it was to find new shows in the app so what's the best podcast app on iOS well I found that only one app excelled in all three categories pocket cast pocket test has all the important features variable-speed professor listening voice boost to level out that audio and trim silence to remove long silences you can also create custom playlists and save your favorite episodes the interface is beautiful and clean and intuitive and the discover page has featured shows curated lists and top charts to help you find new podcasts pocket casts will set you back up to 6 bucks but it really is the complete package it's the app I'd recommend for avid podcast listeners but that's not to say all the other apps on my list are bad overcast is the closest you'll get to the complete package for free and as all the same features as pocket casts but it's the stetic isn't as clean and podcast discovery is a mess you won't stumble across that next great podcast in these few categories and they don't seem to update that often most podcast apps fundamentally words the same way you subscribe to new shows new episodes are downloaded you listen to some you ignore others and you stress out as your podcast backlog piles up Kessler's unique approach tries to solve that episodes from your subscriptions arrive in an inbox and you can choose to add them to a queue to listen or archive them and forget about them castro doesn't have custom playlists and the discover page is somehow worse than over guests but the interface is gorgeous the animations are beautiful and features like voice boost and silence trimming are present and accounted for given that you pay the yearly subscription those three apps ranked highest on my list and you can't go wrong with any of them but the rest of the apps on my list range from just okay to downright awful Spotify and tune in aren't podcast focused apps but if you already use their services it's convenient to also have access to your favorite podcasts they do a passable job of letting you subscribe to and stream your favorite shows and their discover pages are pretty good but you won't get features like voice boost and custom playlists and finally the last two apps on my list you should probably just avoid breakers sells itself as the social podcast app but the interface is cluttered the discover page is horrendous and very little socialization actually takes place even on the most popular shows stitchers aesthetic is atrocious and while its Discoverer page is decent the app is constantly shoving the stitcher premium service in your face so whether you listen to the occasional podcast or your queue as dozens of episodes deep you owe it to yourself to upgrade from the Apple podcast app and you can't go wrong with beautiful and feature packed apps like pocket casts overcast and Castro I plan to geek out a lot about apps here on app directory so be sure to subscribe so you don't miss any future episodes let me know what podcast app you use in the comments and hit me with any ideas for what I should cover next thanks.