Podcasts are more popular than ever thanks to cultural sensations like Serial, but how are you supposed to listen to them? Apple’s own Podcasts app got off to a rough start and isn’t the best choice. But for years now, outside developers have been filling the gap and producing stellar podcast apps with a ton of useful features. Which one you pick can say just as much about you as the shows you’re subscribed to.

Castro is one of the best podcast clients on iOS, so I’m thankful that today’s announcement doesn’t spell its end. On the contrary, it sounds like there’s reason to be hopeful about the app’s future in Tiny’s hands.

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Castro is the first podcast player that is designed to help you track a broad range of shows and pick out the episodes that appeal to you. To do this, we introduce a concept that is new to podcast apps. Find your favorite native podcast app for MacOS / Mac OS X. With the Castro podcast app for iOS, you can side load audio files like audiobooks via iCloud, so that you can use all the great features in Castro, like the trim silence feature.

At a bare minimum, these apps should help you find new podcasts that match your tastes, and remove all the hassle from subscribing, downloading new episodes, and making playlists for your commute or wherever it is you do your listening. But the best of the bunch go far beyond these basics and add other perks that can save you time, improve audio quality, and more. There are dozens of podcasts apps to choose on iOS, and whittling down the list can be difficult. But when it comes down to it, there’s only one best pick.

The Winner

Our review of Overcast Radio, LLC Overcast (iOS)

If you’ve got an iPhone, the best podcast app is Overcast. It’s got a clean, straightforward, and tasteful design that’s easy to use and never gets in the way of what’s most important: the listening experience. Even better, it has some really nice features which substantially improve that experience.

Smart Speed gets rid of silent moments and dead air wherever they exist in your podcasts, and this can significantly cut down the overall playing time. It saves you precious minutes and eventually hours; when you check Overcast’s settings menu to see exactly how much time; you’ll definitely be surprised. Another feature, Voice Boost, normalizes the volume on both ends of a conversation so no one is too loud or too quiet. Podcasts aren’t always created equal when it comes to production values, so this can be a big help in sparing your ears. If you’re the type who prefers listening to your shows sped up, Overcast’s audio engine delivers the most natural-sounding results we’ve heard. Whereas some other players can make it all too obvious that you’re manipulating speed, Overcast manages to play shows faster without sacrificing quality.

Best radio app for desktop mac. Power users can build playlists with custom smart filters, configure preferences on a show-by-show basis, or set a sleep timer if you’re listening to a podcast before dozing off at night. And when it comes to discovering new shows, Overcast will pull in recommendations from Twitter, and it also groups new podcasts and established hits into helpful “starter kits” that you can subscribe to with a single tap. Mutv app for mac computer.

The only real limitation of Overcast is that you can’t stream podcasts on the fly; the entire episode must be downloaded before you hit the play button. This can be frustrating at times, but also guarantees you won’t be bothered with unexpected pauses or buffering. The app is available on iPhone and iPad, and there’s also a barebones web player available for your laptop. Overcast also features one of the best Apple Watch apps we’ve seen yet. With it, you can quickly start playing a new show from your wrist, recommend an episode, and access settings for Smart Speed and Voice Boost. Paired with Apple’s Now Playing glance, it’s a pretty convenient setup.

Best Podcast App For Mac

You might be able to get by with the free version of Overcast, but we wholeheartedly recommend paying $4.99 to unlock its full feature set. It’s been consistently updated since it launched last year, and you can expect support to last long into the future. That’s not something we can say for every podcast app in the App Store.

The Others

Our review of ShiftyJelly Pocket Casts (iOS)

Pocket Casts for iOS is just as excellent as the Android version, but falls just short of topping Overcast’s powerful audio features and smart playlists. If you’ve got an Android device in the mix, Pocket Cast’s cross-platform support could make it your best choice. We just wish there were an Apple Watch app.

Our review of Supertop Castro (iOS)

Castro puts its focus on design and a gesture-based interface that calls for plenty of swiping. It’s beautiful to look at with nice use of translucency, and can notify you the moment a new episode of your favorite podcast is available. None of its features are particularly novel or make the app stand out, so if you’re using Castro, the reason is probably aesthetics.

Our review of Jamawkinaw Enterprises Downcast (iOS)

Downcast was a favorite of ours a year or two ago, but since then it’s been lapped by newer options like Overcast and Castro. It’s still got one pretty killer feature, though; you can have Downcast automatically download new episodes of podcasts based on your location. So you could set it to download shows when you arrive home from work each night — or ensure you’ve got the latest episodes before the morning commute. But Overcast’s powerful audio features still make it our top pick.

Our review of Apple Podcasts (iOS)

Apple’s own Podcasts app does most of the core things a podcast player should, but it doesn’t really excel at anything. It’s certainly gotten better since version 1.0, and the fact that Apple pushes it so heavily in the App Store will make it the default quick pick for many people. But you can (and should) choose better.

Our review of Stitcher, Inc. Stitcher Radio for Podcasts (iOS)

Another app with plenty of name recognition, Stitcher can’t really match the podcast apps from much smaller developers. It’ll handle the essentials (and is also completely free), but ranks pretty low on the overall list owing to its problematic user reviews and reported bugs.

Podcast App For Macbook

Our review of TuneIn Radio (iOS)

TuneIn’s really meant for listening to internet radio. Its purpose isn’t managing your podcasts, and unless you’ve only got one or two favorite shows, you’re way better off picking an app that’s truer to the medium.

What happens is that the IR-LEDs / night vision shuts off after a few hours regardless of how the schedule is set. I’d be willing to tolerate this, but presumably due to limitations and bugs with the app, the night vision on the camera is unusable. The app for this camera is cumbersome, glitchy, and confusing. Bvcam app for mac. I tried working with tech support, but got nowhere. So you basically can't use it to record to the SD card through the night--either continuously or after motion-activated alarms--which is why I bought the camera and downloaded the app.

Podcast App For Apple

Our review of Vemedio Instacast 5 (iOS)

Like Downcast, you could argue that Instacast’s better days are behind it and it’s been eclipsed by a new wave of competition. It’s got an Apple Watch app, but Instacast itself has generally seen mixed reviews in recent years.

Castro Podcast App For Mac