Category: Podcasts

Pocket Casts, one of the most popular podcasts apps for Android, has had a series of small updates over the past couple of weeks.  The latest update, version 6.2.3rd for those keeping score at home, brings a wide range of bug fixes to the app.  The developer, Shifty Jelly, has fixed an issue with the widget for the app on the OnePlus 2, fixed the lock screen skip buttons on Android 4.4 phones and addressed an issue with the podcast artwork flashing.  If you use Pocket Casts and have been impacted by one or more of these issues, this is the update you need to get from the Play Store.

Another issue that was addressed was double Chromecasting notifications.  They have attempted to address this issue but in the release notes, Shifty Jelly indicates that it is still possible you will get the default Android notification.  If you do, you can disable that in the settings on your phone or tablet.

Google Play Music has released their first podcast produced by Google, City Soundtracks.  The 15-odd minute casts are aimed at highlighting an artist and the city from which they originate.  While Play Music has had the ability to listen to podcasts for a while now, this is the company’s first foray into actually producing one.  And I have to say, it’s pretty good.  Right now the cast list is only three episodes, all released yesterday, featuring artists from Austin, New Orleans and Oakland.  You can check it out here.

The official description pretty much tells you everything you need to know.

City Soundtracks by Google Play Music is a traveling conversation about the people, places and moments that shape our musical lives. Each episode features an artist and a city. Host Hrishikesh Hirway invites musicians to lead listeners on a tour of the city through conversation and music.

I’ve listened to two of the three episodes and I have to say, it’s not bad.

The podcast app Pocket Casts has received a healthy update this morning, bringing with it a host of bug fixes and other stability improvements.  Pocket Casts is by far my favorite podcast app for Android with its ability to sync between my devices and generally good performance.  The update, however, aims to improve that performance and stability.  The updated build is 5.4.1.324 for those keeping score at home and is available now in the Play Store.

On Monday, Google announced that audio podcasts were coming to Google Play Music for the first time with the feature already enabled on the web and an updated app coming to Android.  To make your life easier and to find those podcasts you want to listen to on your phone, the Google search app on your phone has received a background update to help you find and play them.  The good news is that there is no update of an app required for users.  This is all on the back end and it is already working.

Last week I reviewed the great podcast app Pocket Casts, an app that I have no hesitation in recommending to anyone who is looking for a solid podcast app for the Android (or iOS or Windows Phone) devices.  This week, as these things go, the developer of Pocket Casts, Shifty Jelly, has released a significant update to that app that brings a host of new features and improvements.  Two of the big ones are time-based filters and support for Android Marshmallow data backup.  The update is version 5.3 for those keeping score at home and it is available now in the Google Play Store.

“You can now filter episodes by time. In the filter settings page there is a new option called “Released in the last” which you can set to 24 hours, 3 days, 1 week etc. We have changed the episode filters new users will have and this update will also add them to your list of filters.” according to the release notes from Shifty Jelly.  The best example of when to use this is if you have a lot of podcasts to listen to or watch and you only want to catch up on the last 2 or 3.  It makes searching and sorting much easier.

Pocket Casts – $3.99 – Download Now

Like many of you who are reading this, I spend a good portion of my day listening to podcasts.  Whether it is news, information or simply a bit of relaxing fun, podcasts are a part of my routine that I would sorely miss if it were not there.  The challenge is finding a podcast app that works across my devices yet gives me a lot of power to control when content is downloaded, when it is streamed and equally as important, when it is cleaned off my device after I’m done watching or listening.  For me, Pocket Casts from Shifty Jelly is the go-to app.

Featuring a wealth of content, Pocket Casts works on my Android phones and tablets and allows me to synchronize my content so I can keep all of them up-to-date with my latest podcasts.  I can listen or watch podcasts directly from within the app and when I am done, the app has an automatic clean up that deletes it from all of my devices so I’m not taking up storage space on content I’ve consumed.  I have been using the app for about a month now and having tried many of the podcasts apps in the Google Play Store, this is the one that quickly became and continues to be the benchmark for such apps.  At $3.99 for the Android version, it isn’t the cheapest podcast app available but I think it is one of the best and well worth the price.

Pocket Casts – $3.99 – Download Now