Downcast App Reviews

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Used to be good, lots of bugs. I bought this app a few years ago because I was tired of ads but now there a lot of issues. Any time I receive a call on Bluetooth either from my headphones or my car and return to my podcast it doesn’t auto play I have to restart. downcast says it’s processing things a lot before it plays but basically I need to force quit to get it going again. Turn by turn navigation effects the audio playback just the same as a phone call does. downcast can only show the first few podcasts on Apple CarPlay. On Google Home the app will often start playing the podcast from the phone after 20 minutes while keeping it playing on Google Home. And playlists make little logical sense. I’m gonna have to shop around for a new audio app because I listen to podcasts often when I’m driving and I can’t be fiddling around like this. I was hoping they’d fix these bugs after years but they haven’t. Disappointing.

Cadillac of podcast apps. I’ve been using this app for years. I listen to a lot of podcasts and Downcast has the the features the others lack. I’ve tried them all through the years and always find myself coming back. Skipping forward/back is an easy swipe across the screen. When your driving that is a major plus. You can even program how much you want to skip forward/back with multiple durations. Another great feature is when watching video podcasts. Landscape mode can be enabled even if your screen is locked in portrait mode! Apple car play integration. Export feature to keep your podcast list safe and setting an interval time when to update your podcasts. Apple Watch integration. So many features to list. Those are just a few I use all the time.

Best podcast app hands down. A year ago I had trouble with my Downcast podcasts not downloading for hours or days, so I looked into other apps. For a while I tried Overcast, and for 6 months I tried Pocket Casts. While the Pocket Casts syncing between iOS devices is nifty, Downcast is just better. Why? Because I want to easily listen to different things depending on my mood. Pocket Casts has just one playback queue ("Now Playing"). Like Downcast, you can specify which new podcast episodes are automatically put there. But each one of Downcast's playlists functions as a separate, subject-specific queue. If I'm in the mood to listen to current events, I can choose my news playlist. If I want to listen to something lighter, I can listen to my humor playlist. In Pocket Casts, my Now Playing queue is usually full of news podcasts. If I'm in the mood to listen to something else, I have to go into an individual podcast, select an episode and add it to the Now Playing queue. And I have to repeat this for each episode I want to listen to. This is time consuming, and next to impossible when I'm using my hands for something else. The way that Downcast allows me to have different subject/mood-specific playlists/queues is why I love it, and will no longer use anything else!

So great!. I gave up on apple’s built-in podcast app after being forced to update to ios11; imagine my surprise to discover that, with DOWNCAST, the ff/rw buttons on my smart watch, now skip 10 seconds instead of jumping all the way to the end or beginning of the track! Only a very slight exaggeration to describe this discovery as LIFECHANGING! Ad time on your podcast? BLIP gone! Oh crap what did that character just whisper on my audiobook (that’s right, import whole audiobooks with this app)? BLIP {repeats exactly what you missed} Best podcast app, bar none. THANK YOU (The “title card” (?) was stuck on one podcast I played a week ago, in the pop-up / widget / Control Center window?!? Restarted my phone, that fixed it)

Options!!!. I had only ever used the Apple podcast app, and was pretty satisfied with it, until a friend showed me Downcast, and frankly, it's a game changer. There are so many options, and the intricacy of how podcasts are managed through the app, it's absolutely stunning. At this point, podcasts are almost completely replacing radio for me now, and having the option to have tailored downloads, or streaming episodes, timers, which subscriptions to keep after play and which ones to delete, makes managing a fairly vast subscription list, very easy. I also very much appreciate the interface design. Highly recommended.

Buggy. - The option to change the manual skip doesn't work correctly. It managed to change back skip to 15, but forward simply will not change. - When returning to my car Bluetooth (or leaving it) the app performs very inconsistently. It will not resume playing automatically (unless it feels like it). Other times it won't even resume playing from the iPhone control menu (unless it feels like it), in which case I have to open the app itself and the player is never first on the screen for some reason. I also get more random pauses than with other apps - Visually kind of hard to grasp even after a week. Customization is lacking for a paid app.

Missing 1.75x speed, but otherwise excellent. I have waited approximately six years for incorporation of 1.75 times normal plane speed. I have contacted the developer at least two times about it. The first time that I did, I was told that the next version would have increments of 0.1 for the play speed. I said that was too much, but said that 1.75 was drastically needed. Still, nothing has been done. Otherwise, I have loved the application and have used it since 2012. I especially like that you can have it the access password restricted podcasts. I subscribe to two podcasts which require a paid subscription. Those cannot be accessed for people that do not have a membership. Therefore, access scene password restricted podcasts is really a wonderful capability.

Good, But Buggy. I had this a few years now and for awhile there it looked like abondonware. Lately it seems like the developer has been updating to bring it back to life. But it feels like an app that needs to be rewritten from the ground up because it’s pokey as all get out, syncing is slow as molasses, the search function doesn’t really work, and God help you if you want to AirPlay to external speakers because that is more unreliable than you can possibly imagine. Sometimes if you pause the player will stop everytime your screen auto-locks. On the plus side, it’s a better app than the stripped down one that bundles with iOS, it’s nice to be able to export your podcast list for backup, and if you’re willing to create custom playlists it can save you heartache looking for something to listen to when your podcast list inevitably gets long in the tooth. I’d like to be as enthusiastic about Downcast as I was when I bought it, but the developer *really* needs to roll up their sleeves and open the hood on this thing before it can win a race anymore.

Excellent App Missing Play Next Queue. I’ve used this feature-rich app for a long time. It’s remarkably well laid out, highly customizable, and has everything I need *except* for a way to queue up episodes to play next. If you’re familiar with the app, you may be aware of a cumbersome workaround that get’s close to a Play Next queue (“locking” episodes and creating a playlist that shows locked episodes), but it’s a tedious process, and having to remember to later unlock episodes is a pain. I highly recommend this podcast app and look forward to labeling it a total package when this feature is implemented. Until then, I keep my eyes open for something that checks all the boxes.

A very important piece of software.. Downcast is my most used application. It keeps thousands of episodes organized for me in a pool of subscriptions that hits 100GB on my mobile at times. It also syncs with my laptop, my server, and with some massaging, my stable of various media players. Can I jump around and control an app processing a catalog that large on a mobile device seamlessly and quickly with the watch app? Yes. Is it for power users? Yeah. Is it for casual NPR listeners? Hell yeah. Is it for people that don't care? Obviously not. But I usually don't care for those people. Downcast is not just a podcatcher. It is a research tool, lifestyle app, and a seamless portal into the enormous and fertile world of decentralized multimedia. Sound Hyperbolic? My first ever review sounds preachy? Then find me a single app that comes close to this. Be careful though: you can lose your soul while searching.

Downcast used to work great. Overall I have always liked Downcast. It was one of the first Podcast apps that I downloaded to try and it quickly became my favorite. However, recently the newer versions are having problems both on my iPhone and iPod. Virtually every time I pause a podcast (say while running into a store) the app crashes. I have sent several support requests to the developer without any good resolution so far. I receive an automatic email reply that has some links to the Beta Test Program, but these links do not work. It also seems that the last twitter post by Downcast was back in November 2016. If you read the feed for this last tweet, it seems that Downcast is no longer a supported product. I really hope that I am wrong on this but it does not look good. Caveat Emptor.

Best for Playing Podcasts Without Fuss and Bother. Want podcast which simply downloads entire podcast, sorts either ascending/descending, plays the cast in that order without having to mess with playlists or obscure settings. Have tried many other podcast apps. Some have amazing audio settings to eliminate dead-air and selectively boost volume for clarity (OverCast). DC has none of this But DC does not require that one add casts to some global playlist. A playlist which limited in the number of individual episodes that can be played. Pocket Casts sets this limit at 100 Have many podcasts each of which is over that number. Have several over 200. One (Skeptoid—check it out) with over 800 So keep coming back to Downcast with its clunky but clear interface, primitive audio and most importantly with straightforward and reliable podcast playing Would love to give 5-Stars, but lack of dead-air elimination does not allow. Downcast is, hands-down, the overall best podcast app

Great for commuting. My needs are simple: I listen to a few podcasts, some having multiple segments per day, and queue them up to listen in my car. I’ve been annoyed with Apple’s poor built-in Podcast app for a while, but the latest iOS upgrade finally made Apple’s app completely unusable and unsafe while driving—no more “mark as played”, no continuous play, and no way to easily group unplayed segments. Downcast restored that functionality and offers much more. Listening during my commute is a pleasure again. I should have switched years ago.

Love this app for several years (but battery killing me). I could not give this app anything less than 5 stars for all of the amazing use I got out of it. This app is simple, reliable and has been improved over the years. My only issue has been with the battery drain. Perhaps this is a necessity to get the data to know whether there are new podcasts available to download. But it feels like this just takes my iPhone down considerably. That said, this is the only complaint and I've used just about all of the major apps including Apple's Podcast app, Instacast, Overcast and others. But I am strongly considering Overcast because of the battery issue. Please address this if you can.

Great app!. I have been using this app for downloading and listening to podcasts for years and I love all the ways you can customize each show or all the shows. The ONLY thing I would like to see is a playback speed between the current 1.5X and 2X....for me 2X is a bit too fast...a 1.75 I feel would be perfect. I contribute financially to this app because I find it to well worth it....I like that contributing is optional, I just hope people that enjoy the app will help the developer....it is worth it. Keep up the great work and please consider adding some more playback speeds!!

Back to fabulous. Back to 5 stars! I had downgraded this one for some time due to problems with incompletely downloaded podcasts causing interruption in continuous-play of playlists, but this is now fixed, and it's back to wonderfully useful. I easily manage subscriptions to dozens of podcasts (now between 60 and 70), keep several different playlists going at once for different listening situations, and this app just works. The 2 minutes fast forward is great when a podcast has multiple segments and one of them is uninteresting to me. Love this app. Great for hands-off time on the road, in the garden, or other situations where hands get messy or too busy to keep tapping on buttons or on screen, and is back to doing a great job of making sure only downloaded files are put on playlists (if so instructed), so playback is never interrupted because of a wi-fi problem.

The best for podcast junkies. I listen to lots of podcasts (25 of them!) and create lots of playlists, many of which I keep for years. I’m also an experienced podcast producer. I find that the Downcast feature-set allows me to keep track of it all with very little fuss. After initial configuration it runs great on autopilot, and can be trusted with your archived podcast episodes. I also prefer the sound of the audio in this app because it generally has less bass and more treble. That’s the right mix for most folks with hearing loss and hearing aids such as me. I have been using Downcast for at least 8 years.

Use it above other apps. But I still have feature request that seems to go no where: episode queuing. I subscribe to WAY more podcasts than I can actually listen to, and I seldom listen to every episode of any podcast. I go through my new episodes every time I update looking for new episodes and decide which ones I might be actually interested in hearing. I would like to be able to instruct the app to play any episode NEXT while I’m listening, thus building a queue of various episodes to play from different podcasts based on what I am most interested in hearing. Currently, I have no way to note or designate what I want to listen to next in the app - the best I can do is note what podcast and episode to play next in Notes or jot it down. The lack of such a simple convenience mystifies me. It seems like such a simple thing to be able to string together a queue of episodes to play in desired sequence without having to stop and hunt for a new episode to play after the one I’m listening to ends. I like to listen when I’m doing other things, often with my hands, and it is annoying to interrupt my flow repeatedly to search for and start the next episode I want to hear. Please give me this feature!

The Dom Perignon of Podcasting Apps. Downcast works like a dream. Every feature you might want or need is threaded into the design. And you can modulate how intricate you'd like the app to be. You can manually create detailed playlists and download schedules or you can just line up subscriptions and leave it automated. My favorite unique feature has to be the Find Podcasts search bar, which is crazy useful especially when some podcasts are up to hundreds of episodes now. The bookmark feature while the podcast is playing is killer as well, letting you skip to different chapters when the podcast is formatted thay way. It's the perfect podcasting app, I'd recommend it to every podcast lover.

Love this app. I have used this app faithfully for over 4 years now. I don’t even remember when I started to use it. But it’s been seem less and awesomeness. I don’t recall any glitches or imperfections. They always update and it just works. Very reliable. I have over 100 different podcasts on my list (I’m a driver) I listen usually at 2x speed but I can change. I can automatically download or do it manually it even has an awesome Apple Watch app that works great. I can control the app or listen through my watch ( I think- I always have my phone so I’m. It sure). But it displays the album art on phone and watch! This is one of those apps that I use so often and it works so well I never thought about leaving a review. But I highly recommend this time tested partner of mine

Buggy, but the power-users only choice. I'm obsessed with podcasts. I'm usually subscribed to 40+, and I must spend at least 20 hours every week listening to them. When you have so many podcasts, you probably want a lot of control over how you listen to them, store them, and organize them. Generally, Downcast is the best in all of these areas, especially the latter two. Unfortunately, the power also comes with a fair share of bugginess and general weirdness: downloads corrupt / mess up more than any other app, I've experienced syncing arrows, and there are semi-frequent crashes. Despite all this, I still use it, because no other podcast app provides the same feature set. That said: presently, iOS 10 support is pretty much nonexistent. It's so buggy that I have had to switch to Overcast, which is killing me. The GUI seems to be laggy and getting downloads to work is a serious issue.

App is so great I could cry!. After the latest Podcasts app update ruined it for me, I purchased Downcast. It is so terrific I am kicking myself for waiting so long. This does everything I wanted the Podcasts app to do and more things I never even thought of. It is so customizable that it must certainly be able to accommodate everyone's needs. THANK YOU FOR CREATING THIS APP!!! Update: I still love the app, but it has become very touchy. It is not stable when switching applications. It frequently hangs and dies and must be restarted. Back to five stars. My previous complaint has been fixed for a long time now.

No Steers Toward Paid Podcasts. The thing I like best about Downcast is it does not steer me toward 'for pay' Podcasts. I tried the included app when I first bought my device several years ago. I have been using Downcat instead since then. I like the setting options that allow me to download different numbers of podcasts automatically so they are just waiting. Also the option to mark a podcast as 'listened to' is nice if I decide the subject doesn't entice. Suggestions to the developers would be: A)option to set up a playlist by individual podcast rather than the current option which only allows you to select all of the lined up podcasts of a particular source and B)a better search function. Sometimes I do a search for a particular podcast I know is available but the Downcast search comes up empty. I then have to copy and paste the exact URL. All in all it is a workhorse app for me. I use it all the time. I recommend it without hesitation.

Yup, buggy. Like other reviewers, I have long loved this app but it is now acting weirdly. Specifically, problems with the download function. Downloading from two separate, related podcast today demonstrates the problem. On the screen listing available episodes, on one podcast, touching the episode caused it to download, as usual. But with the second podcast, it would only play, and not download. Since I use Downcast almost exclusively to play already-downloaded episodes, this is a major, major problem. Next to each episode description, there is a series of icons showing possible actions, but these are totally useless because they are tiny. You would need a toothpick to click on one. I have contacted support about this twice, and received no answer.

Best Podcast Player, Period. I've been using Downcast since I carried an iPhone 4. I'm now on an iPhone 14 and I've never found anything better. Downcast gives you the power to control exactly how podcasts play and what a playlist contains, and it does it LOCALLY ( i.e., no streaming) so you can continue to listen when you're hiking or biking in rural areas with no cell coverage. AND it does everything without the annoyance of "subscriptions". Yes, you need to learn how the options work, and you may need to read a Help page, but in return you get a player you can use across all your devices: phone, tablet, iPod, watch, and laptop. I have a "Daily" playlist I use most mornings, and a "News Only" one that lets my wife listen to the news without being bored by all the tech stuff I listen to; we both appreciate that. Keep up the good work, y'all!

WHAT!? (Updated). No obvious way to access the homepage to discover and add new podcasts, which wouldn’t be an obstacle for me if the search function worked (it doesn’t, at all). So now I’m caged into only one podcast with no clear option to add more. I’d regret this even if it were a freebie. So it’s back to Podbean, at least it worked and the price is right (free). UPDATE: I am amending my original review from one star to four on the basis of not being able to access the homepage was my own oversight after finally locating it with the “+” button, but still subtracting one star because the search function is still a bugger. My apologies to the good Downcast people. 🙃

So good! I keep it on my home screen. I’ve listened to literally hundreds of hours of podcasts using Downcast and have only good things to say about this app. The offline download option is perfect since I do a lot of listening while on the road in rural areas where cell service and internet connections are spotty at best. Downcast has good fast forward and rewind options as well as the ability to speed up the pace of playback. The podcast management options mean I don’t miss episodes of the series I follow. I can’t believe it has taken me so many years to sit down and review Downcast, but this app really deserves all five stars. It blows Apple’s podcast app out of the water and I like it even more than Stitcher.

The best power user podcast app for iOS, but frustratingly buggy.. I listen to podcasts at least 3-4 hours per day on a light day. The features in this app are the best available. It does however have an issue where is crashes very regularly and more so as time goes on. iOS 10 seems to have made this issue worse. Using an iPhone 6 and been using the app for a year. Started crashing relatively early on, but now it happens half a dozen times in a day.... And despite this huge hang up I'd rather use Downcast than any others simply because of the power behind it. Also the companion Mac app is a major plus! Everything since to the degree you choose. Pretty great!! If you are looking for something solid and reliable but with fewer bells and whistles then go for Overcast instead. It's easy to use and still fairly customizable.

Can’t beat it. I’ve been reading some of the reviews on here saying that the app is buggy and drains your battery. I’ve found that not to be the case in my personal usage. Sure the app will crash every now and again (same as any other app) but your progress through a podcast is always saved so overall it’s a non issue. Organization is great and as mentioned in other reviews there are many great options to customize how and when podcasts are downloaded/streamed or feeds refreshed. I’m subscribed to over 30 podcasts and can set different options for all of them or they obey a “global setting”. Worth every penny. Love this app.

Could be better at playing podcasts. This app is everything I’d want in a player - it has all the features I want. Sadly, however, it’s very bad at playing podcasts. It is one of *the* buggiest pieces of software I’ve run across. It consistently starts playing episodes of other podcasts, instead of the one I just chose. Or, sometimes it plays different episodes of the same podcast. It doesn’t remember what podcast I was in when I leave the app, so I have to scroll through a dozen to find what I’m looking for. Sometimes playback gets a “glitch” where it starts repeating the same 15 seconds until I force-quit. It handles changing networks, like switching from Wi-Fi to cellular because I walked out to my car, particularly ungracefully, by throwing a modal dialog box about playback errors. These errors will persist, *even* after the connection is restored, until I force-quit the app. It’s like it caches a error state somewhere then forgets to re-check connectivity. The UI makes it very difficult to scrub to the beginning or end of an episode because the start and end points and right up against the edges of the screen. But mostly, this app is incredibly maddening because it simply is bad doing the job of playing back an MP3 file from a remote server. They should really try to get that part right.

iCloud sync has never worked. This is a great podcast app, I have been using it for at least 3-4 years. The only problem I have had ever since the first time I downloaded it has been iCloud sync. At first when there were problems with it, I just blamed them on Apple and didn’t think there was a problem with this app. But lately, iCloud sync has become extremely good, all the other apps that I use that support it, are able to sync perfectly. But for whatever reason, Downcast still has terrible problems when it comes to iCloud sync. Today after a long time, I figured I should enable iCloud sync so that I could sync the podcasts I have on my iPhone to my iPad, but the app won’t even let me enable the sync. When I enable it, go back to the previous screen, and then come back, the switch is disabled, and the status still says ‘Last synced: never’. Please fix iCloud sync! If all other apps can do it right, why cant Downcast? If you are unable to figure out how to properly implement iCloud sync, could you at least add an option to use some other cloud sync service like Dropbox? Even though I have used this app for a long time, and I love it, I am still giving it only one star because the iCloud sync portion of this app has been broken for years and they haven’t bothered fixing it.

Kendra Schaber. I have used this app off and on for the last two years or so. I sometimes run into bugs with Downcast. The latest of which is that I’m having it update some of my podcast feeds but not update the actual podcast itself during the times when I would refresh all feeds. I think it’s a bug with the latest update because I have not incountered it before this update. I find it annoying because I have even delieted one feed, resubscribed to that same feed, have it work good once but not refresh itself except to update the publishing date. I rated Downcast a 4 star rating because of my luck with strange bugs with this app.

Essential. ...for managing podcasts. Works flawlessly for me. A great value. If you are manually downloading any podcasts on a regular basis, stop wasting your time and automate the process with this app. Also perfect for listening to audio books from the podcast section of iTunes if you set them up as a playlist. Many features and customizations. I have been using almost daily for quite a few years on numerous subscribed podcasts, and I am very happy with it. I have shopped the alternatives a few times, but have found no reason to switch. Thanks!

Great for organization & customization. Poor sound quality.. Downcast is the best for customizing and organizing your feeds. It's always easy to know when you have new episodes waiting. Power user features like deciding which episodes to stream and which to download, starting episode later in to skip ads, and especially the ability to save an episode's audio file to the cloud make this my current choice for podcasts. It can be a little buggy at times, but my only two complaints are difficult to read screens (small text makes quick glances while driving difficult) and poor sound quality, especially at high-speed. I just spent several months using Overcast and fell in love with its sound quality and easy to read screens. Unfortunately that app's organization is horrible. For example, you have to delete an episode in order for it to be considered "played". Because I listen to & save episodes from several Podcasts, this made it impossible to tell when a new episode was available without looking at each and every podcast episode list. This annoyance alone is what finally forced me to give up on Overcast and return to Downcast. I wish I could have Overcast's sound quality merged with Downcast's organization & customization tools. I would gladly pay top price for that.

It’s not as great as it used to be. Amazing organizational options and fantastic customizability for each podcast download and playback settings. I absolutely love that... unfortunately the app has become almost unusable! Constantly crashes on start-up, I can’t cast to chrome-cast like anymore because the casting will disconnect randomly and the podcast will play simultaneously on the phone and the Chrome Cast OR it will just stop and the app will crash and I will have to restart. Sometimes it takes minutes to get past the loading screen, app won’t remember episode playback status so It’ll play them again from the beginning, the application will also crash as I skip forward to another episode. When I plug in my headphones and press play it’ll take over a minute for the app to continue and when it does it immediately stops playback after a couple of seconds and I’ll have to return to the app to resume playback. I keep waiting for updates that might fix the issues or better it, but each update is making it worse. I’ll have to look for something else in the meantime but I really hope they get the issues fixed. I do love this app otherwise

The only podcast app you need!. I’ve been using Downcast for years and it is everything I need it to be. The UI, while maybe not as “pretty” as some others, is highly intuitive, practical, and allows for a high degree of flexibility in how episodes are downloaded, organized and played back. I love having variable playback speeds and being able to customize media skip intervals, so you can quickly get past any ads/commercials within a podcast with a single gesture. There are no pop up ads, and in my experience it’s super light on battery usage. Overall a powerhouse of an app and in my opinion should be a no-brainer for the dedicated podcast listener.

One of my favorite apps. I use downcast for listening to podcasts and audiobooks. It is probably the app I use the most since I have an earbud in all day while I'm working and driving. Using iFunBox to upload content from any source into Downcast gives me total control over what I want to listen to and when. SoundCloud and others would lose my place in a podcast if I was away on calls or using other apps but if I download from them and then upload into Downcast I never lose my place and it's organized the way I want. I'm very grateful for this app!

Heavy podcast listener? this is for you. I work in an office with no internet access. So needless to say I need to have a podcast manager to handle downloading and organizing my many podcasts for a full day of work. This is the one for me. It seamlessly updates all the podcasts before I get up, ready to go. This is FULLY customizable. Globally or per podcast! I love that! Some podcast ramble for roughly the same amount of time on their podcast. So I will set that podcast to jump in a set amount every time. You can also trim the ending as well. I also use this in my vehicle with Apple CarPlay. Works well. This definitely will be my only podcast app! Very nice!!

Hasn’t been downloading all eps lately (July 12, 2020). Before the pandemic of 2020 started, I loved this app. I downloaded it because the latest version of the iPhone podcast app was extremely confusing to use. I suddenly had to hunt down where to find the new episodes with that app. The iPhone app was no longer intuitive, so I gladly paid for the Downcast app which was intuitive. A few weeks after the COVID-19 pandemic began, I noticed that the Downcast app was missing new episodes from a few of my podcasts. I opened up the iPhone podcast app, and there were the new episodes! I don’t know what happened, but I’m sure it has to do with low employee staffing during this pandemic like we’re seeing in many industries. I hope they can fix the issue soon. That’s why I included the date in the title of this review. My rating for Downcast pre-pandemic: 5/5 stars During the pandemic: 2.5/5 stars

Best Podcast App That Fits Most of My Needs. Update to my update: I downgraded to 4 stars because of Downcast’s clunky interface. I tried Overcast again and found the newest version to be a better fit for my workflow with its dark interface and better control over podcast priorities. Downcast was taking too long to check my 60 to 70 feeds and it took too many clicks to go between the now playing screen and my playlist. Update: A few weeks ago I gave this app a low rating because it couldn’t read my iTunes playlists. After struggling with the hot mess that Apple made of the stock app and trying nearly every other third party podcast app, I find the Downcast meets most of my needs. Downcast in conjunction with the Mac app pretty much means I don't have to mess with iTunes anymore and after proper setup I can have my daily playlist automatically sorted and ready for me with minimal manual adjustment. I finally can wrap my head around the concept of direct downloads completely untethered to my Mac which means I can update my playlist away from home if needed. A few of my favorite features: O The ability to stay on while plugged in O Gestures to control pausing,and skipping O a volume slider on the player interface O podcast priority levels

Long time User. I’ve had this app for… think 2010. When I first got an IPhone. At the time I was ok with the free podcast Apple provided but my brother recommended I buy Downcast. Over the years I found more fun podcast on downcast then I did on the free podcast. Welcome to Nightvale, tons of Dungons and dragons campaigns from so many people. I even stumbled across someone posting the old Superman radio adventures. (The world needs to bring back radio dramas!) It’s been very nice for long drives where I’m tired of music and discussion/rant programs. Just nice movies for my ears as I drive.

Best feature set for power users, but..... I've been using this app on and off for 2~3 years. Usually interchanged with Overcast. Overcast's polish has always been much better than anyone's else's but its feature set is weaker than Downcast. For a while feature set (queue for download vs queue for stream, chromecast) and better management interface has won over overcast's polish. Now however, particularly with the batter drain issue; which they claim to have fixed but clearly haven't, is making this app unusable. I can't play podcasts for too long without power connected to the phone, and if I need to be away from an outlet I better not use this app and it better not be on in the background or eat my battery alive. I'm on an iPhone 6 with a new battery, not that that was the issue in the first place because you could feel how hot the phone was getting even though it was locked and playing downcast in the background. I'm switching to overcast because I can't have this keep happening. Fix the issue downcast, or I'm staying with overcast.

Has every feature except recommendations. I started using Downcast YEARS ago when it was the only (or at least, the first) podcast app I could find that allowed episodes to be downloaded for offline listening. I LOVE it. The app has so many features and is so customizable, with frequent upgrades and improvements. The developers have always been very responsive when I’ve had issues. It’s been my go-to for years. But I finally realized that it’s missing something I really need/want: podcast recommendations/the ability to discover new podcasts within the app. My listening over the last several years has consisted mostly of “podcast versions of already-broadcast NPR shows, NPR podcasts, and other podcasts I’ve discovered by happenstance”. True, I’ve found a few gems via the “Top Podcasts” lists and by searching on particular subjects, but it’s clunky and not very intuitive. So I’ve started trying out some other highly-recommended podcast players specifically because they DO have a recommendations feature and make it easy to discover podcasts similar to the ones I already listen to. None come anywhere close to Downcast when it comes to the ability to fine-tune subscription, download and playlist settings, but they’ve also turned me onto several podcasts and podcasters I’d never have known about otherwise. Any chance of an improved “discovery” feature, or is that not within the scope of what the developers want Downcast to do?

Perfect on iOS only. Have beenUsing downcast for years and it is my favorite podcast app on the iPhone. It is especially beneficial for navigation through the different episodes while driving in my car. But, I just deleted Downcast from both of my Mac’s.It has always been very buggy and many times including recently it will delete a complete podcast and all episode’s when it syncs with the iOS version. I have to re-subscribe and download everything available and delete the previously viewed episodes. It’s not a problem with the specific podcast because I do not have any of that kind of issue with apples podcast player. Great for iOS and I will continue using, never again on macOS.

Buggy, unsupported, and can’t import. I used to love this app Did everything I needed in a podcast app. For the last six months to a year, it has been randomly crashing. That’s not too big of a deal, because it’s quick to reload. I have been distressed by the lack of updates from the developer and no place to turn for tech support. The developer’s website has only a few articles on it. But now, the last straw has dropped. The app can no longer import podcasts. I have a lot of archived podcasts on my computer that I want to listen to. I used to be able to upload those to iCloud, download them to the phone via Files, and then import them to Downcast. Cumbersome, but that’s apparently the result of how Apple sandboxes files on iOS for security purposes. Downcast now refuses to accept those files. The app is now 50% unusable to me. Time to find something that works.

Time buttons too small and forgets settings. I do love the app however after this last update the time buttons to skip forward /backward became even smaller. I drive while listening and it makes it even harder to skip while driving. Would be nice if there was a "driving" mode display with large buttons. I also had some issues with the next podcast not being heard when it was finished with the previous episode and showing that its playing. I had to disconnect usb to my car radio then reconnect and hit play again. Secondly I had to delete and reinstall and it lost all my setup podcast list! At minimum you should be saving the list of subscribed podcasts either in the keychain or in some user subscription that the server can re download

Great app and good for podcast integration just wish it had a couple features from me. Instead of downloading the episodes I wish I could just stream them all that way I could keep space on my phone for apps and it wouldn’t take up oh I don’t know 12 to 15 GB in podcasts of course I am a podcast fanatic and subscribe to over 100 yeah I know but some of them are only out once a month and some haven’t been updated in years so I need to pair it back a little bit but what I don’t like is that downcast download several episodes at a time of different podcasts not just the most recent

Robust, granular feature set. Incomparable.. Tried overcast for a couple days and came running back to Downcast. There's no comparison. The level of customization and organization possible in Downcast is exhaustive. The gesture based controls are invaluable. The sleep timer can be set for any number of minutes instead of just preset increments. The fact that it's available for a low-cost, one-time purchase versus the subscription model of other apps is also fantastic. That said, I've been using this app for years and just noticed the "tipping" feature in the settings. Happy to send a few extra bucks to the developer for a product that I've been using every single day for about 5 years.

Great app - 1 suggestion. So far, this app is very nice. It’s well worth the price and I’ll probably use the tipping option in the future. I only have one suggestion to add. Certainly not worth taking out a star, so I maintain my 5 stars. There is a global setting for new episodes to be marked for download. This should have an override option per playlist. I have 3 playlists with all episodes of fiction drama podcasts starting from the beginning and working to the end. I don’t want to download new entries to those. I only want automatic downloads to my main Queue, which has a variety of podcasts in one playlist. I don’t see any way to override the automatic download setting for this one playlist.

Powerful features.. buggy usage. I switch between this app and Overcast because neither do it all. Overcast is in general easier to navigate, less buggy, and has more reliable playback. It also seems to get new podcasts faster than Downcast. Overcast also easily allows you to use the mic remote button to skip around. Downcast has a "remote media skip" setting but I can't get it to work. There is one powerful feature that really sets Downcast apart from competitors - the ability to search through old podcasts. So if I am interested in a specific topic from my favorite podcast, I can use search terms to find it. It lets you search titles and/or descriptions. This feature alone makes Downcast worth having.

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Solid reliable app. A few bugs but the team are always patching them as soon as they can! This app does everything you need it too and has a ton of options to customise how you download and listen to podcasts.

Latest update causing crash. Absolutely love this app but since the most recent update I can’t open the app. It crashes in 2-3 seconds. Can we get a new update soon??

Best Podcast App I’ve Found. Thanks!

Good features. Please add a 0.75 playback speed

My favourite podcast player…. I'm a podcast tragic! I subscribe to 29 podcasts (when do I ever get the time to listen to them?). I've tried all the main podcast players but for my needs Downcast is the BEST! It's easy to setup, has a nice UI and all the features I need. I only have a single playlist but you can have multiple playlists if you need. The easy way Downcast syncs via iCloud is the feature I like most. I have the app on my iPad, iPhone and Mac (and an old iPod touch for a few weeks). Downcast has no problems keeping all four devices synced. I highly recommend this app! Stay safe, Peter

Best podcast app. Love it. The swipe to shuffle is awesome. Great interface. Very easy to use.

Great. This app has been fantastic for podcasts. Has been almost flawless and great to operate with.

My favorite. In my opinion the best podcast app. My favorite features are that for every podcast I can individually set things like speed and the start/end time (to skip over repetitive intros and ads).

Just works. Ditched apple podcast years ago. Tried Downcast. Never had a reason to try anything else.

My favourite non Apple app. I have been using this app for years and love it It’s so customisable Some tech podcasters I listen to keep recommending Overcast so I downloaded it and tried for a while but went back to Downcast The only thing I could think of is som e indication in the player that you tap on the episode to start playing, line a play button, fo new users

Podcasting made easy. I’ve used Downcast for years now. It has a simple, easy to use interface and gets continual upgrades that add useful features. I make regular contributions to ensure the apps ongoing viability.

Tried and true. Been using it for years, Tiz the best

Utility galore. Definitely not the flashiest of podcast players, but it has a ridiculous amount of features. This is one of the few podcast apps that have full support for local media - it can handle files and order them however you want.

Works and is easy.. An app for podcasts should be easy, right? Well apart from Downcast no. This is only podcast app I used that is simple, always works, isn’t stuffed with useless features that you don’t need. You find a podcast you like...you subscribe...it updates... No silly marketing stuff, forums, funky graphics, you might like this try this. Just works well.

Mark as played gesture great. Lack of watch app. It so great.. FYI two finger drag down on player screen marks as played. A great time saver. I love the interface but have switched to Overcast so I can store podcasts on my Apple Watch and listen without a phone. As soon as Downcast gets the same feature I’ll be back

King of pods. Very happy with this app. This is what the apple app should be.

Downcast. Downcast is a great program. Over the last six months the developer has been hard to contact but apart from that it works well. Also has good VoiceOver support.

Not great with CarPlay. Love the app, and have been using it for years, but new car with Apple CarPlay and that is how I am mainly using it now. Has been buggy on CarPlay, which is the worst as you can restart or reboot it when driving. Have gone back to the Apple Podcast app instead. Shame.

Broken. The app has been completely broken for two weeks now, cannot download any new podcast episodes!

Go to app. Does everything a podcast app should. Love it.

Something has changed?. I used Downcast for years, and was determined to never use that purple Apple app again, but something changed a couple of versions ago, and Downcast will no longer download new eps on cellular, no matter what settings I tweak. So it’s back to the purple thing - ugh! Please fix it!

Consistently great. Really wonderful podcast app. Continues to be smooth and stable over the years that I’ve been using it.

Ok but. App uses 50% of my battery life and can take 10 hours to download an episode. Or is it me?

Last update is excellent!. I’ve been using Downcast for MANY years and it’s always been great but with a few foibles that have annoyed. This latest update (2.9.21) fixes a bunch of small annoyances plus adds some cool stuff. I’ve never reviewed before but wanted to give some kudos for making my favourite podcast player cooler!

Great response from developer. I identified an issue then it was addressed the same day. What great service. Maybe a coincidence, but either way great end result for me. Apart from that issue, I love this app

Broken and laggy. I have persisted with this app for some time hoping an update would fix all the broken and laggy functions of the pod catcher. After three updates I am out. Unusable.

Video playback not working. Keep getting a blank screen with audio

My favourite podcast app. I have been using this app for years and it’s been the best app I have paid for. I know it’s tough out there when competing with other podcasts apps and I didn’t expect an update for ios13 but still delivering an shiny new update with dark mode compatibility. Very nice work guys.

I’ve used it for years , I love it. Is there an update for widgets ? It would be great to have a widget on my Home Screen just to play wherever I left off. Rather than having to open app and press play. I’m lazy , I know 😊

Best podcast app. This is absolutely perfect :D. I've tried many podcast apps including overcast and I personally think this is the best one with the greatest amount of features for comfortable listening. With the customisable options you can listen to podcasts how you want to. It's amazing and well worth it.

The only one!. Bought this app in May 2012 and have used it daily until today, when I've finally decided to delete it. For months it has been randomly crashing, none of the updates have helped. This morning it has crashed about a dozen times, after a little as 15 seconds or so. Appalling.

Listener. Great well featured podcast app but has developed an annoyance. Stops after a couple of minutes play via airbuds. Does this a few times and then works perfectly Please fix

Best Podcast App. I Have used this app for years, my brother recommended it when I got my first iPhone and I cannot say a bad word about it. It makes finding and listening to podcasts an effortless task, thanks for the great app.

Great app - one extra feature please. I’ve been using downcast for many years, I love the layout and it’s reliability. Put the developers please include a function to sort the Global list by date. So we can most recently downloaded podcast first.

Fantastic App. I have been using this app now for a couple of years and it works flawlessly on both my iPhone and iPad. It is refreshingly to find an app that works as advertised.

iPhone staple. My only current gripe is the ‘back’ button in the top left is too small and difficult to hit.

Podcasts sorted. Menu issues unfortunately have ruined a once great app. Probably the premier podcast app of its time, I think the developer has checked out, not responding to questions. I'm out too after at least 3 years.

Excellent podcast app. Been using this for years. Great app.

Downcast. This is the best most straightforward podcast app.

Still the best.. If your into podcasts, buy it.

Best Podcast App. I have tried so many Podcast aps trying to find one that did what I want it to. Finally!! I can set the speed for each podcast. The podcasts actually download automatically. The go into my playlist in the correct order. It actually starts again where o last stopped listening. I’ve only had the app crash once. So happy!

Sound quality has gone weird. Have been using for years and loved downcast, but lately the sound has been distorted in headphones. Have tried listening to the same podcast file through downcast, apple podcast app and overcast and downcast is the only one with poor sound quality. Shame this has happened but thanks though for making the process of switching to overcast so easy with the export option.

Best app for podcast organisation, but no support. App has best tools for podcast organisation of all apps tested, but still lacks core things like sync of favourited episodes etc. App is 4 stars, but support is non-existent (neither via email nor via twitter - I tried multiple times!), so that takes a star.

Great pod player but can be buggy. Overall a great pod player but can sometimes be buggy.

Great but poor CarPlay functionality. The app itself is great but the CarPlay functionality is very poor. The Apple podcast app has much better CarPlay functionality.

Needs a 'Mark as Played' button. Sliding the play slider over to the very right hand side of the phone is near impossible whilst driving and yet with my settings files are only deleted when they're fully played (not partially played). It needs a 'Mark as Played' BUTTON. And a big one at that!

This app still crashes. I’ve just downloaded this app and I’ve just finished Copying like all of my podcasts onto this app about a podcast when it app crashed and now I can’t seem to open up again

Solid, reliable and easy to use. This has been my go-to podcast app for many years and it’s because of the excellent interface, reliability and great features. Highly recommended.

Just Brilliant!. Excellent featured and functionality.

Great podcast app. I've tried a few but this is the app I keep coming back to. Easy UI, does the job well.

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Recommended. It works and works well. Good search, great file handling.

Crashes and no reply from support. Been using for years. But the last few months it’s been crashing multiple times a day. Emailed support, no reply. It’s been a few days. Deleted it and had to pay for another app.

Used to be awesome.... Downcast used to be awesome until about 6 month ago when it became unstable, crashing 3 to 4 times in the first 10 minutes of play and then multiple times through the night. Totally unreliable since then. I've complained to Downcast support and I haven't heard back from them. Shame on you Downcast!!

Used to swear by it..... What happened to my downcast!? It’s soooooo slow! Used to be miles ahead of the apple podcast app but now I need to wait forever for my podcasts to start.... so what do I do? I just use the apple app:/ Get back in the game guys!!!

No Manual playlist support. I’m disappointed because of the lie. You say you support playlists, which is a LIE! You don't! You propose some ridiculous work around until the next “major version 3”. Ok that would have been fine if that promise was not made 2 years ago!!! I’ll contact Apple to have my money back! This is scam level!

A superior podcast app. I have used this app for years, downloading from 200+ podcasts daily and maintaining a library of 5000 episodes. It is has never failed me. 30 second skip is easy (double click on the headphones), or controls show on the Lock Screen. Playlists are customizable and intuitive to create, and manage (auto delete or keep). Best of all you can export the audio files from phone to Mac via Airdrop for later listening. Playback speed can be adjusted faster and slower for time pressed listening or language learning. Use a built-in podcast search or add streams manually. The range of options leave me in control of how I use podcasts.

The best. This is the best podcast app ever. The video interface is better than any video player. So many options to customize. Apple should buy this and make it the Apple Podcast native app

Really Good. I got this app years ago. It gets updated and works... works really well 👍

The best. I love downcast

Works great for iPhone but need a better Watch app. It’s a great app with a lot of features and settings that can be synced over cloud. However with the recent update on WatchOS 5, Apple’s Podcast app now lets you sync music to the watch. A feature I’ve always wanted from Downcast. I’m hopeful it will come one day. Thanks for all the great work on this app!

The Best Podcast App. September 30 update: - Watch volume control from the app is so awesome! I was definitely excited to see this. July 15, 2020 update: Latest release fixes a lot of previous issues! - downloads are working again - podcast icons display properly - larger text - so far, no crashes Still the best podcast app! Original review I try new podcast apps when they’re released but none ever compare to Downcast. It’s just so well organized and allows for such granular configuration of your feeds and playlists! I recommend it to everyone I know who likes podcasts.

Please update to iOS 10 or fix the app! It became a huge battery drainer!. Please, please, I beg you, update your app to to iOS 10 or do something to fix it! Downcast used to be my favorite podcast app and I still love it for the functions, UX and customizability but after I updated my iPhone 6s plus to iOS 10 it became pretty much unusable because it just sucks my battery dry in 3.5-4 hours with normal use and also uses up almost all of 2GB of my phone's memory which is not normal. And while playing my phone all the time stays burning hot, I probably couldn't hold it without the case on. That's how hot it is. I checked many times, it's absolutely Downcast's doing. Other apps, including native Podcasts app don't do anything even close like this. Thank you.

Best podcast player. And much underrated when sites review podcast apps. I have been a user of Downcast for, it must be 7-8 years and though I have tried others (Castro, Overcast, Apple’s Podcast app, for example), I come quickly back. Downcast may not be as visually appealing and work as other ones do; but if you want a powerful podcast player that allows both readily known podcasts as well as manually entered URL ones to be handled, in a clear, well thought out way, DC is it. I am also glad that Downcast is reasonably priced and hasn’t gone the subscription model.

Best podcast app. Highly recommend it.. Canceled satellite radio and only listen to podcasts with this app.

Still the one for me. A solid, feature-rich app that has served me well for many years through many iOS versions. I’d like to be able to delete episodes from the player screen, and navigate to the episodes list from the player screen but these are minor wants.

Fixed for iOS 13. Latest update seems to have fixed the crashing that came with iOS 13!!! Would be nice to be able to dynamically reorder episodes in a playlist but otherwise I’ve been using it for years without issue.

Recent updates made app super glitchy. Was a great app, but now the podcasts skip and stop uncontrollably without even touching any buttons. Please fix!

My favourite podcast app!. I switched over to downcast in 2014 from the iOS default app and haven’t looked back since! The app is reliable and stable; media management works great (including no episodes deleted or subscriptions dropped like the default iOS podcast app does), listening experience is great with multiple options for speed, multiple skip or rewind options, streaming, etc: CarPlay works great, and Downcast even has granular listening and media management settings that you can either set globally or per podcast feed. For almost ten years now the app allows me to quickly set up my listening preferences, and for ten years the app has never let me down. Downcast is great!!!

Great podcast app. I love this app for listening to my podcasts. It’s very powerful and customizable. You can create multiple dynamic playlists, with lots of different ways to sort the podcasts. I particularly like that the playback speeds are customizable for each podcast, as is the number of episodes you keep for each podcast. I’ve been using it for 7+ years and it has always worked super well!

Outstanding.... ...app! Can’t praise highly enough!

Terrible. Lots of customizations but not intuitive and a terrible user interface! Trying to add a single episode to a playlist is unnecessarily complicated and verging on impossible. Just give me an add to playlist option

Been using for years. Love it - couple of improvements.. iPhone. Scrubbing bar red and small. Difficult to see. Ux can be improved by analyzing workflow and placing buttons more logically. Have problems with continuous play. Sometimes if activated in a playlist, regular podcasts also play continuously. Don’t want that. Be good if continuous play can be activated solely in a podcast group and not flow into other groups.

Best podcast app. Great app and even better support.

Great. Exactly what I want in a podcast app.

Great App. I’ve been using this app for years and it is wonderful! The best feature is being able to swipe to skip forward and back. No need to find the small buttons.

Great podcast app!. I have used Downcast for all my podcasts for many years and don’t even remember the reason for choosing it over other apps. While it doesn’t have the most flashy interface, it has many very useful features and is easy to use. I especially like the rewind and fast forward a set time buttons, which can be used to go back 30s to play something over again, or fast forward through some less interesting parts. Podcast management is also great, from searching for episodes (listened episodes are paler on the list) and the download cue while on cellular data to listening to the podcast and the options with what to do while listening and after. I haven’t tried other podcast apps and have never felt the need to so I can’t compare, but not much could make this app better and I highly recommend it!

Volume via Apple Watch (Series 8) is erratic. Adjusting volume using my Apple Watch Series 8, while listening to Downcast is just awful. Pretty much useless.

Downcast and I are best friends.. We spend hours together. My favourite is that you can set global options like 1.25 speed, and save 2 unplayed episodes, but override that per podcast, so you can listen to your music podcasts at normal speed, or grab all podcasts for the title you are binging on, and reset it later. Love it.

Consistently the best podcast app. This has consistently been my podcast go-to app on the iPhone and iPad since it came out. It has great functionality and seems to keep ahead of the various iOS upgrades. Great app.

Should have been Apple's podcast app. I just love it- it's the only podcasting app I use (and have used for many many mths).

Crashes. Time to look for a replacement. I have used downcast for years but now it is unusable. It crashes constantly.

Oh oh. This used to work well, but recently my battery drained in a few hours. This stopped happening as soon as I deleted Downcast.

Always My Favourite. I try new apps every once in awhile to see if I’m missing anything, but I always come back to Downcast. I love my handmade playlists, some for different genres, some for show frequency, and I love being able to keep one list by length of episode, and another by date. I’ve also started using the feature to adjust playback speed for specific shows, and I love it. The only thing missing is being able to cast to by Google Speaker at higher speed.

Excellent app - worth the investment. This is a very, very good podcatcher - far superior to iOS’s built-in one, which I found constantly downloaded podcasts that I had already listened to and deleted. Downcast does everything right. It is clearly being updated regularly and I have found the service to be extremely responsive. Late 2018 addendum: unfortunately getting a lot of crashes over the past couple of months. Yesterday it crashes 3 or 4 times in as many minutes. Hopefully this will be fixed soon.

Great for me (had been using iPod nano). I used to download podcasts on iTunes and transfer them to an iPod nano. Thought it would always be like that, because Apple’s podcast app isn’t intuitive. Downcast is a godsend, love it for downloading podcasts. I have about half my storage free on my 256GB iPhone, so it’s easy to keep all my podcasts downloaded and up to date. They aren’t out of date like they were on iPod, a lot of my favourite podcasts are current events (business, news). The immediacy is great. Can also control playback with the Apple Watch app, but in case the developer reads this, I would love to be able to control volume from the Apple Watch app too, and not have to switch to the Watch app “Now Playing”. 5 stars!

Auto unsubscribes for no reason. This is my fav podcast app. But for some reason various podcasts (Planet Money, NPR Politics) automatically unsubscribe randomly for me, Even if I am in the middle of listening to it! It will delete and unsubscribe from it. I can’t be the only person this is happening to. There needs to be a fix or update put out addressing this, or I will be forced to find another Podcast app.

Good!. Downcast is by far my favourite podcast app. Lots of handy features and it usually runs smoothly. The only negative I’ve seen is the battery drainage. I have to constantly charge my iPod when I’m listening and it can become inconvenient.

Crashes today please fix!. The update says it prevents a possible crash but the update broke my app. Please fix this is my favorite podcast app! I will try reinstalling.

Best Podcast ever. This is the only podcast app you need.

Perfect. Feature rich. It’s as if someone who really listens to podcasts put all the tools and needs into one program. Many podcasts have an ad tacked on at the end, but at a high volume. You can auto trim he playback start and stop per podcast. No more being woken up at the end of a podcast by someone shouting at you to get something delivered via their new app.

Keeps Crashing!!. Have been using this app for years. Loved it, relied on it, had zero complaints. For the past week or so a podcast that is playing will stop every few minutes. It’s so incredibly annoying! I have checked often to see if there is an update to no avail. Please fix this!!!

Dont use on ios 12. Been using downcast for 3-4 years and have loved it, but it’s completely unstable since the ios 12 update

Love the playlist priority. The Priority setting allow each new episodes to be sorted by preferred podcast so that news show are always on top of your playlist. Great feature!

My go to Podcast App. I have been using Downcast for years. Works great. Currently running in an iPhone 7 Plus with latest version of iOS 11. No issues at all. No crashes or burps. If you looking for a great podcast app give Downcast a chance. I have tried several other podcast apps and keeping coming back. All the features I ever needed. Very good user interface. No subscription fees. (I notice there are a lot of negative reviews based on issues with iOS 10. It may be time to move past these reviews that are 1 or 2 years out of date)

Better way to listen. Much easier to use than Apples standard podcast app. I can listen to many episodes of one podcast in a row, sorting them by recent or oldest; or I can create a playlist with all my podcasts and listen to a mix sorted by date. I love the 30 sec go forward/back - always accessible quickly. Works well on Car Play. The search function isn’t as good as Podcast’s as it doesn’t seem to search in episode details, just in podcast titles. So if I’m looking for interviews with a certain guest on any podcast, I have ended up searching elsewhere. But great for actually listening.

It’s good folks. I like how you can side load eps to it and the simplicity of using it. Great app.

Thank you. I just want to thank you. This is the only podcast app I use. It is a feature complete, to me, it is perfect. I cannot see, but when I use this app, it feels like coming home. it is a tremendous comfort to me and it brings me many, many hours of joy. It helps me to reach out to others, so that I may experience the things they do. Thank you so much for making this app. It is a real blessing to me. Thank you. Thank you so much for another update...

Great app that is packed with useful features. This is an excellent application for podcast management. You can synchronize your playlists between your Mac and your iPhone and it supports a lot of useful features the more you poke around the more things useful you will find. It is definitely good for intermediate to advanced users. Plus I really like the support a back catalogue: you can import your files from your computer that are no longer hosted on podcast servers if you have previously downloaded them.

The best, but with serious flaws. What Apple's Podcast app should have been; too bad that if your network connection resets so do your downloads - start all over again!

Detestable Recommendations. I paid for a premium version, which to me means no ads, only to have my podcasts continuously interrupted by by “recommendations.”

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Great, but needs some key features. This app (downcast) is excellent, it organized podcasts very well; even when you have hundreds of episodes from varying podcasts. The app is very customizable; making it more adaptable for many uses, even playing videos. There are however, some features that many podcast management apps have that (downcast) doesn't. For example: Volume equalization, making the sounds consistent within say; an episode. Another example: Smart speed or similar names; Automatically shortening pauses from the podcast, this generally shortens pauses during a podcast; it would be a nice addition Aside from these minor complaints about missing features, this app has many features lacking in other apps, including Chromecast comparability; and better playlists. However, this is still a great app and I would highly recommend!

Long time user. Couldn’t stand the Apple podcast player, so did a search & found this one. It Works great for me, I use in gym and while driving to keep up with news I’d otherwise miss. I Currently have 20-30 podcasts with many episodes. It is Very configurable on shows to keep, sorting order, etc. The playback controls are nice and it integrates nicely with Apple CarPlay & iWatch too. Solid job, cudos to the developers! Never had an issue and is updated regularly.

Best podcast app! Easy to use uncomplicated interface, what more can you ask for?. I have been searching in the App Store for a really good podcast app, and I’m so glad that I ran across this one. It is the best, and the only one I will use from now on. The interface is straightforward, and the app is easy to use. It is well organized, I really like this app, because it is so easy to use. There are many settings so it can be enjoyed by both novice users and advanced users. What a wonderful app!

If you use on multiple devices, prepare to lose everything. On the surface using iCloud to sync between devices is a big plus. In practice this is implemented horribly by Downcast. Instead of syncing based on the most recent changes, Downcast will happily sync whatever you opened last as the “master” copy. So if you have the app on the Mac and iPhone, and have been using the iPhone version exclusively for a while, as soon as you fire up the Mac app it will “sync” your phone with whatever old information was on the Mac - deleting any new podcasts or episodes along the way and forcing you to search for and add those deleted podcasts and episodes. It’s a good app for one and only one device. Stay away if you want/need syncing between devices.

Fantastic Podcast App. I’m a heavy podcast listener and I have settled on Downcast for a long time. It has all the tools I need to intelligently manage my massive (50+) of podcasts and organize them for easy playing. My one complaint would be that it does not seem to have a lot of tools that would help with management in cars. Many of the bottoms are tiny and require precise taps, it lacks integration with Siri and Shortcuts. Adding these features would make it truly the perfect app.

Great for spotty cell service. I travel a lot working at sea with intermittent and weak cellular connections, and Downcast has always been the absolute best at downloading over slow, weak or interrupted connections. It amazes me how reliable it is compared to other apps that appear to be better funded or more popular. Its the only app I can get to pause a download and pick up later with a partial download saved, often I will get an episode downloaded after several interruptions.

I can only suggest two things. I love Downcast because it’s a free platform that accepts podcasts from all sources. Many of the ones I subscribe to aren’t available on the major podcast apps. The settings allow for great customizations globally and individually over-rideable. I wish I could assemble a playlist with play next and add to cue so I can set it up to play continuously while driving etc. And it would be great if you could glance at the podcast menu and see an indication that something new has been downloaded, like a red dot with a number on it. Otherwise I love Downcast.

Still my go-to pod catcher. I try others including the built in app and keep coming back to downcast. I love that I actually understand exactly what the app is doing at any given time, downloading, updating..whatever. In other not to be named apps, I feel like I hit subscribe and I’m not sure what it’s doing. Downcast merely does what it’s told, grabs the latest and then moves on, and gives great feedback. Love the standard full screen app feel and not the ‘windowed’ look that other apps have, like a certain built in music app. Clean, simple and easy. Great app. Please keep it that way.

Crashes every single day. I used to love this app but if you don’t already have it stay away. It worked great until about a year or so ago. Now it crashes half the time I use it (always about a minute after playing it). Once it crashes the only fix is to stay on the podcast screen until 2 or 3 minutes go by, i.e, you can’t let your lock screen engage. Don’t ask me why this works. The only reason I still use it is because I have hundreds of saved podcasts on it and was hoping they would fix it. It seems like a pretty basic thing to fix. For the record I have aniPhone 10s with the latest iOS. But I’ve given up. Time to find one that doesn’t crash.

Best podcast app for iOS, but it could use a sound quality upgrade. This is by far the best podcast app for iOS. Not to mention the excellent Voiceover support.I’ve tried other apps like Overcast, but always come back to Downcast. Overcast does have better sound quality, but Downcast offers way more customization. The only thing really missing at this point, is some sort of voice boost/sound enhancement that a lot of other podcast apps offer. Still though, an excellent app.

IOS10 made it unusable for me.. I have loved the app for years and been very happy with it until iOS10. There have been many bugs and no support or updates at all. Currently my biggest problem are constant crashes while running through Bluetooth in my car. Sadly, I'm going to have to switch to a new podcasting app since I can't keep restarting the program manually and searching through to find the podcast I was listening to while driving in heavy traffic. I resisted as long as I could but since the last thing heard from Downcast was "hopefully the next iOS update will take care of it", back when iOS10 was still in beta, its obvious it's not getting fixed. Goodbye Downcast, I'll miss you.

Ultimate control and practically perfect. Intuitive, easy, and the best customization options around. I’ve used Downcast every day for years. The synching, audio quality, and performance are great. I’ve not had any problems with crashing. My only requests: 1) night mode, especially on the iPad where the player is only 20% of the screen. If you’re in the dark, the other 80% is a bit much. 2) make the time jump text and targets larger.

The Best. This is the best podcast app by far! Well worth the paid version. I have tried all the top ones and this one is the best. This app gives you control over how you listen. The best part is I can make different groups (crime, stories, news, etc) and then organize different subscribed podcasts with in the group based on priority. It will also automatically put new podcasts episodes into these groups when new ones come out.

Great When It Works. The feature set on this app is incredible and unmatched. That said, I can hardly ever use it with my premium podcasts anymore. Most of my downloads error out saying “invalid episode media type.” Cancelling a download and restarting makes it worse. Sometimes restarting my phone fixes this. They will randomly decide to download and work sometimes. Other times not. It has gotten consistently worse. I’ve waited for almost a year for a fix to this small but infuriating problem to no avail. Switching to another app until this is fixed.

Add ability to only add specific episodes to a playlist and it would be perfect. I’ve used this app for years and it remains a functional app with good organizational features and a pleasant interface. The occasional bugs with new updates have historically been resolved satisfactorily. My only irritation is with the playlists feature. There is no way to add only specific episodes of a podcast to a playlist: which episodes are included can only be specified by podcast and then a list of features (e.g. unplayed, downloaded, only new etc.).

Good podcast app with one GLARING omission.. I began using Downcast after my previous podcast app was sunsettted by its parent company. Downcast has solid features, works well but had one glaring omission, no option to set a sleep timer to run until there’s if the episode. Instead you have to scroll back to check the podcasts length, then go back to set the timer to that length. Nearly every podcast app I’ve ever used has this feature, it’s baffling that it’s missing here.

Best of many. Pretty decent app in general. Puts control back in the user's hand. It has many options which are useful. The only complaint I have is the lack of an option to delete downloaded episodes. You have to open each podcast one by one and look for downloaded episodes and delete them one by one which deems to be very time consuming and tedious. At times it is even almost impossible to find downloaded episodes. I have sent an email about this but never got a reply. If there was an easy way to choose and delete downloaded content I would give it a 5!

Nearly unusable. I have been using this app for longer than I can remember—many years. It’s been mostly a great ride, but the last year or so has been a frustrating exercise in patience. Anytime I switch to Downcast from another app I wait anywhere from several seconds to resorting to quitting the app and restarting just to get it to respond. I would give up my most used app (by time) and go with something else if there were as useful an app out there. If these issues could get resolved, I would happily stay forever. In the meantime, me and my 90+ podcasts are stuck using this frustrating hunk waiting for anything that works.

Still the best, after all these years. I’ve been using this app since it was created, and I’ve yet to find one better. The simplicity of the app, along with customization options, have made this my favorite way to listen to podcasts. I’ve tried different apps, but they all had drawbacks and required concessions that added too much frustration. Downcast seems to be overlooked on all the top ten lists, and I don’t understand why, it nicely fulfills all my needs without unnecessary distractions. Love this app!

One of my favorite apps. I use downcast for listening to podcasts and audiobooks. It is probably the app I use the most since I have an earbud in all day while I'm working and driving. Using iFunBox to upload content from any source into Downcast gives me total control over what I want to listen to and when. SoundCloud and others would lose my place in a podcast if I was away on calls or using other apps but if I download from them and then upload into Downcast I never lose my place and it's organized the way I want. I'm very grateful for this app!

Surprised it's not more highly rated. This app offers more customization than any I have tried, including several with higher ratings. And I have tried a LOT of them. Casts may have a better syncing method, in that it does not rely on iCloud, but if (like me) you only listen on your phone, and if (like me) you aren't that crazy about letting every app know everything about you, and if (like me) you mostly want per-podcast customization of episodes to keep, play order, etc., I recommend this one.

I rely on this app.. Hey people, just here to say this app is totally worth it. I like the interface. It does what it's supposed to, and the maintenance is pretty quick. There was a frustrating time a few months ago, when an update completely broke it, but it was fixed within 48 hours, so you can tell they are on their toes. Update; dropped to two stars, as it got borked, and it’s been more than three months. At first I thought my headphones were going bad due to static making the audio unlistenable. Several brands of earphones later, nope, it’s the app . Other podcast apps work just fine. No static when played from phone itself, but it’s unusable with any kind of other speaker device

A Superstar In Trouble. This used to be, for me at least, the gold standard for podcast apps. There was nothing extraneous, nothing annoying, just a straghtforward and easy-to-use app that made listening to and searching for podcasts as easy as it could possibly be. Now, after the latest iPhone update I suppose, when I open the app there will likely only be a fraction of the podcasts showing, followed on the screen by a bunch of white/gray space. I have to restart my phone a couple of times a day to get the app to show up properly so I can use it. And that won't last long. Very disappointing.

Hands down, best Podcast App. Update: couple of years since I wrote this review. Just wanted to say, still enjoying it. Occasional sync issues, but overall I’m happy with Downcast and still use it. Here are three reasons (of a much longer list) I love this App and recommend it to any Podcast listener: 1. The sync through iCloud is very clean. It is very simple to put down one device and pick up the other, with out losing your place. 2. Set the "Fast Forward Button" option. Instead of skipping to the next piece of media it can be used to skip ahead 30 seconds. Great for commercials but ALSO great for when you accidentally hit "rewind" instead of pause! 3. Easy to navigate directory. I rebuilt my Podcast library in minutes... And found a couple of new ones. Overall, there is no question in my mind to Downcast's value. Stop wasting time and tap "Install."

The best, hands down. This is far and away the best podcast app out there. I've got all the top podcast apps, paid and free, and I use them all on a regular basis. I keep about 5-10 subscriptions in each app to help keep them all organized. And over time I keep moving my favorite shows into my #1 player, Downcast. It is superior in every way. It has all the options I need and lets me do things how I like. And it is fast and smooth to start up and in seeking ffw/rew. The fastest and smoothest of them all.

Necessary app but terrible service. I bought this app years ago and have yet to hear back from Downcast support in any helpful way. Their responses are often terse and 0% helpful in resolving any of my issues. They also don't listen to feedback from users. Super disappointing. I do wish that there was the option to have bookmarks with notes- being able to pause a podcast and leave a note for myself to come back and listen to a podcast at a later point. This app is integral to my podcast consumption, even though there are limited options for speeding up the media (only half speeds, no quarters).

Crashes after update. This was my preferred podcast application as I did not like the original Apple podcast application. I’ve used this app for over five years since I began listening to podcasts and it has served me well each and every day of those five work years. Except for this most recent update I have had no problems but after this update my app will not work for more than 30 seconds to a minute and then crash completely. I have emailed the developers and have received no response I simply want the app to be fixed and do not wish to use any other product. Please see to this issue.

Best features. I’d tried a few other apps over the years but could never find an app that matches Downcast’s features. You get standard things like searching and subscribing, but the list creation process is incredibly flexible. Want you news first every day automatically? Just set the priority and Downcast takes care of it. Love this app. Saw others complaining about a battery draining issue; I’ve never had that problem on my iPhone 8.

Awesome feature set, maybe a little difficult to navigate. Downcast has features that no other app I’ve found does, especially the ability to locally save files with ease. The one thing holding me back from really enjoying it however is the seemingly infinite sub menus, different gestures required to access settings, and cluttered user interface. I think this app would benefit a lot from paring down the interface (maybe giving users the ability to show/hide buttons based on their preference) and limiting settings and extended options to a simple “...” button instead of hiding them under various gestures.

Still the best of the Podcast apps. The granular control of media handling puts podcatching apps like Apple’s to shame. For instance, most podcasts I’d like to keep all un-played episodes but the continuously updated ones like NPR News, ABC’s news I only want the latest unplayed episode to be kept, no problem. Video podcasts will play audio only in the background so you can still play without distracted driving. Different speeds for each podcast feed if wanted.

Good app but buggy lately. I haveused and loved this app for years but it hasn't been working well recently. My list of podcasts doesn't always show all of them. This usually happens after I finish and delete a podcast. Then my main list only shows some of my podcasts that have new episodes and when I click on one of them it shows me the episodes from the podcast above or below it on the full list. I have to turn my phone off and on again to fix it. This is happening nearly every time I listen to any podcast episode and I'm getting tired of restarting my phone so that I can see my full list.

Great podcast app with advanced features. Compared to other big two: Overcast and Pocketcast, Downcast has better features. The playlist customization is far better in Downcast than all the other apps I have used. It's Carplay integration is good. Downcast is updated regularly by the developer and gives users access to the betas to help improve the app. The only feature request I have is silence skipping, which a few other apps currently have.

Work-horse app. I’ve used Downcast for many years. Love the interface and how the app works with a wide range of controls on headphones, earbuds, and automotive systems. I really value the ability to backup all my media on my iPhone. Those files are them backed up everyday when my phone is backed up to iCloud. I have long, carefully constructed playlists of programs and podcast series. Before Downcast, I wasn't always able to redownload them after a phone upgrade.

Best podcast app.. I have used dream cast now, or for maybe 4 or 5 years, not sure, but it’s been a long time; it was well worth whatever I paid for it. Anyway, I would recommend this app to anyone. It was recommended to me by some friends in the blind community, because downcast is fully accessible, that’s one thing I like about it, the other is, it still plays video files. Not all podcast apps do that. To the developer, I say, “ thank you,” this is still a great app

Downloading Error. After several years I’ve decided to stop using this app because of one issue. I have the app configured to download via WiFi only. Often find that a podcast episode is incomplete because my playlist completes an episode and stops because an incomplete download is next in the queue. This then breaks the continuous play loop until I reset the app several times. I’ve found a different app that doesn’t add episodes to a playlist until they’ve downloaded. So my continuous listening isn’t interrupted by an incomplete episode download.

Great!. I’ve used this for years and have loved it. I’ve tried a few popular alternatives but always come back to downcast as it has all the features I want. I just used the tip function for the first time and added a yearly reminder to tip again. The only improvement I can think of would be a list of recently listened to podcasts so that when you fall asleep while during a playlist you can go back to the podcasts you missed while sleeping.

Program degraded and quit. After several weeks of performance degrading, the Downcast podcast app would crash about 5 seconds after opening. I wrote down the names of about 20 podcasts I listen to, deleted the app, and reinstalled the app, and the 20 podcasts. I don't know if it was the app or something else, but it was a pain to reinstall everything. ---January 31, 2018 The Glenn Beck programs play for about 30 seconds, then aborts and won't play anymore. Other programs, not Glenn Beck, play ok. It's just the Glenn Beck program. It could be the Downcast app or the Glenn Beck audio file. Probably the Glenn Beck files since the other programs seem to function as expected.

Downcast is dead. There are better alternatives!. This was my favorite podcast app for so many years and at the time it was the only app that worked well for both audio and video podcasts and synced among multiple iOS devices. However the app now has become slow, crashes, and if you check out the update history you'll see this app hasn't been regularly updated anymore and appears to be abandoned. The developer does not return emails and I haven't seen any plans to continue supporting this app so I've moved on. After testing multiple apps I've settled on "iCatcher!" which is all that this app does, and more! It's stable, has more features and is regularly updated! Check it out and long live Downcast!

Finally dark mode!. I’ve been using Downcast for years and am SO glad there is finally a dark mode. It’s the cherry on top of all the other great features like folders for organizing/creating playlists, the ability to choose which podcasts to download automatically, custom start & end times for when you want to skip long intros.. the list goes on. Highly recommend this podcast app for all its customizable features!

The only podcast app I'll use. I've used other podcast apps in the past but Downcast is so far beyond anything else out there in terms of features, stability and design I will never go back. I listen to 10 podcasts regularly and have a bunch of others setup that I check out occasionally and had no trouble customizing my priorities and new episode actions. Update: just got a chromecast and was curious if they were planning to add chromecast support to downcast then I noticed that it was already supported!

Update: Fantastic Podcast App. Update: Still loving this app. Use it everyday. Still enthusiastically give it 5 stars. I've been using this app for maybe 3yrs now and I can't recall my iPad being w/o it, to be honest. I use it almost everyday and it's fabulous. I loved it from the start and the developer has continued to expand and improve it's functionality. Every once in awhile I open apple's podcast app and am reminded everytime how much better Downcast is. Enthusiastically give it 5 stars. Richard Ward

Best Podcast App I’ve found. I got this app years ago, before a lot of the customization was available. It was ‘ok’ then. This app is THE BEST now! iCloud backup on multiple levels, automatic location downloading, customizable priorities per podcast, customizable backups and refreshes, as well as per podcast choice of download or stream. You can just leave it on default settings and it works great, or you can customize it until your heart is content. This app is awesome. Download it, love it!

Unusable after iOS update. This app has become unusable since the latest iOS update. It crashes constantly. Sometimes it goes ten minutes between crashes. Sometimes it crashes multiple times in a few minute span. It’s just not a functional app right now. I’d find another until the developers fix this. This is by far the most versatile podcast app I’ve used and the developers constantly update the app. But I’ve contacted support several times about the bug and heard nothing. For the time being, I’ve had to move to a different app. I hope they fix this one, but for now, it’s not functional.

Used to be great but, now, not so much. I have been a Downcast user for several years but fear I may soon need to find another podcast player. Over the past few weeks the app has started crashing EVERY DAY (for me, around 5:20 am after playing podcasts for about 45 minutes). It then crashes every time it is restarted. The only way that I have found to "fix" it is delete the app and re-redownload it, turn sync settings on (I have all settings set to synch to iCloud do at least I don't have to redo them each time) and redownload all of the podcasts then it's fine until the next morning when I have to do it all again. This is frustrating!

Almost perfect - Watch app can use a tweak. By far my favourite podcast app. It’s user friendly enough while keeping all the customisable features. It’s especially handy when I want to segregate podcast into streaming vs download and within podcasts how many downloaded episodes I want to keep. Also it supports tracks within an episode (eg Economist audio magazine). The watch app is also well designed. Only complaint is that the crown dial really should be used for volume instead, or at least offer an option for me to do so.

Syncing with multiple devices is buggy. I sync everything, podcasts, settings, and playlists. I use Downcast on my phone and iPad and at least twice a week podcasts that I’ve already listened to and synced will return to my playlist on my phone. When I check my iPad I see a whole bunch of podcasts as “I played” which were played on my iPhone. As best I can tell my iPad is uploading and overwriting the status of my podcasts before it downloads the same status. Would really love it if this problem would be fixed but until then I'll have to uses different player.

Still the one I use most 😁. I’ve used Downcast for years and it’s been rock-solid for most of that time, still surpassing Apple Podcasts. When I saw this most recent update I was encouraged that it’s still being maintained but … now scrolling = constant redrawing, and most episodes claim “no description available” though other podcatchers display shownotes for them. Can you please take another look? Update: Newest version did the trick. Adjusting the preview size minimizes redrawing, and the episode descriptions are back. Back up to five stars with you! 😁

My new podcast app!. iTunes is clunky, cumbersome, hard to manage, and, just downright confusing. Am I saving this episode? Am I downloading this episode? I wonder what episode is going to randomly play next? I’ve been using the iTunes podcast application for several years now and finally found a suitable alternative. Downcast manages my podcasts, the archive library is easy to use, playlists are easy to set up, it is intuitive, & it is very user-friendly. Key feature: allows for 1.25 playback speed. Thank you Downcast!

Great for commuting. My needs are simple: I listen to a few podcasts, some having multiple segments per day, and queue them up to listen in my car. I’ve been annoyed with Apple’s poor built-in Podcast app for a while, but the latest iOS upgrade finally made Apple’s app completely unusable and unsafe while driving—no more “mark as played”, no continuous play, and no way to easily group unplayed segments. Downcast restored that functionality and offers much more. Listening during my commute is a pleasure again. I should have switched years ago.

My most-used app. More than once I've contacted the developer and gotten a prompt response. This, in tandem with regular updates, gives me confidence in using Downcast understanding attention is given to feedback. I use it several hours every day, am subscribed to a dozen+ podcasts, and Downcast performs just as it should. Not really much to say, many netcast players out there are pretty great. If you give the interface a day or two to get used to you'll probably know if Downcast is for you. I think it's great. 👍🏼