Download and manage your favorite shows with these dedicated apps for Android.
Subscribing to podcasts and listening to them from your smartphone is an increasingly widespread activity. Still, iPhone users would listen to ten times more than Android device users. This is undoubtedly the fault of the lack of interest that Google has shown in podcasts in recent years, while Apple natively integrates its Podcasts application on iOS. While waiting for Google to explode the number of podcast listening on Android, it is still possible to use third-party applications to find, download, manage and listen to shows from your smartphone.
Telecharger.com has selected three free applications for you to listen to podcasts on Android.
1. Podcast & Radio Addict
On first start, the Podcast & Radio Addict interface looks a bit rough. But the application hides a number of perfectly designed functions, such as the search engine. This allows you to directly enter the name of the podcast you are looking for, or to launch a query from a keyword to display similar programs.
But the most astonishing is undoubtedly its ability to rely on the iTunes search engine to find your favorite shows. By activating this function even better results, especially if you want to find all the podcasts from the same publisher. By pulling down the hamburger menu, you can explore the podcast catalog, and view podcast suggestions by pressing the + button. You will be able to consult trends, access new products, or do your market by browsing by categories.
Subscribing to a podcast is done in one click, and downloads can be managed in two ways: either from the predefined parameters of each program, to configure your preferences specific to each channel, or from the general configuration menu of the application. The selected settings then apply to all podcasts. For each program Podcast & Radio Addict allows you to indicate the maximum number of episodes to download, to download only the new ones, or to download them all (archive mode). To avoid overloading your smartphone’s memory, it will be preferable to set a download limit, but also to customize the cleaning options allowing you to automatically delete all the read or too old episodes.
On the reading side, Podcast & Radio Addict offers many customizable settings. It is possible to speed up or slow down the playback of an episode, to program a timer to stop the playback after a certain duration, to chain the playback of several episodes in a row, or to stop it at the end of each program . If the volume is too low, Podcast & Radio Addict is able to boost the sound level of each podcast, while silences can be removed. The app also includes a car mode with a simplified interface to stay focused on the road.
The icing on the cake, Podcast & Radio Addict also knows how to connect you to tens of thousands of radios broadcasting all over the world by switching to the Flux Radio module. You will then have to search for the stations of your choice and add them to the main Radio Stream screen.
The +:
+ Very many customizable parameters
+ Integration of the iTunes search engine
+ Possibility to listen to webradios
+ Ability to manually add an RSS feed to subscribe to a podcast
The – :
– Inability to search podcasts by publisher
Download Podcast & Radio Addict for Android (Free)
2. Castbox
Offering a more modern interface, Castbox suggests as soon as the application opens a list of channels to subscribe to. After a short questioning on your favorite subjects, Castbox is able to refine its program suggestions.
The app’s interface is clean and allows you to explore the podcast catalog with ease. At the top of the Discover tab is the search engine in which you can directly enter the name of the program, but also its URL. Eight programs are also highlighted in a carousel under which Castbox displays three buttons allowing access to categories, audio books, or different channels by browsing through networks, ideal for finding all the programs from the same publisher. As for the Discover tab, it allows you to access the Top and consult the recommendations in an interface similar to that of the Podcasts application on iPhone.
Once again, subscribing to a podcast is a snap. While it is possible to customize the settings specific to each channel followed, you can also go through the application settings to manage the download preferences for all your subscriptions. Regarding the playback options, Castbox offers to boost the volume of your podcasts, accelerate the reading speed, or set a timer. From the application settings, you can also choose to activate the automatic pause of an episode when an alert or a navigation instruction (when using the GPS in the car for example) sounds. Finally, Castbox offers to activate the remote control of your headphones to control playback, and offers the possibility of changing the storage location of downloaded episodes to avoid cluttering the internal memory.
The +:
+ Clear interface
+ Chromecast compatibility
+ Possibility to deport the storage on the SD card
The – :
– No access to webradios
Download Castbox for Android (Free)
3. Player FM
Before accessing podcasts, Player FM subjects you to an optional interview with a view to suggesting shows to follow. Once this step is completed, you can access the catalog of podcasts available in the application. First, you will find the most popular shows of the moment. The categories displayed at the top of the interface allow you to display new suggestions that can be skimmed by language by tapping the world map icon.
The search engine allows you to directly enter the name of a program, or failing that, keywords allowing you to find channels dealing with these themes. We regret that it is not possible to search for publishers to access all the channels of the same group.
After subscribing to your first podcast, you will need to choose the preferences associated with it: sorting episodes, notification when a new episode arrives, download limit, download order. The reading parameters can be displayed in a floating window by clicking on the three small dots present at the bottom right when the reader is minimized. They can be applied for the whole application or a series of podcasts in particular and allow you to modify the playback speed and volume (boost), skip silences, or even reduce noise. A standby mode is also provided and allows you to set up a timer to stop playing the program after a defined period of time.
Finally, Player FM offers the possibility of customizing the actions of wired and Bluetooth headphones. Be careful, however, some options, however basic, can only be activated after paying for the Premium version of the application.
The +:
+ Interface
The – :
– Navigation not always clear
– Some options accessible only to premium members
– Discover tab not functional
Download Player FM for Android (Free)
Verdict
Podcast & Radio Addict is the most complete app for downloading and managing podcasts on Android. It has an efficient search engine capable of indexing itself to that of iTunes to find a podcast even more easily. Its interface may seem crude, but is very functional, not to mention that the application includes a multitude of customizable options that will satisfy the greatest number. In addition to being an excellent podcast application, Podcast & Radio Addict knows how to connect to webradios around the world, a very good point which makes it a reference application.
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