Pocket Casts should be your default podcast app

The reality of writing about technology is that you regularly move your life from one device to another. Choosing apps and services to make this transition is easy, but I've often struggled with podcasts. I might switch to an Android phone, but I need a podcast player that works on my tablet, whether its from Samsung or Apple.

Google Podcasts was my go-to podcast player on Android, iOS, and the web. However, the app has been retired. The two popular replacements are Spotify and the less-than-ideal podcast support in YouTube Music. My chosen alternative is Pocket Casts. A free, feature-rich podcast app that has perfected syncing between devices and offers more control over how podcasts sound than most first-party options. Here's my case for why you should switch.

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Pocket Casts covers all of your listening basics

The app has multiple ways to organize, filter, and sort episodes

I first tried Pocket Casts when I purchased my first Android phone, a Google Pixel 3. I had been an iPhone user but wanted to try something different. Pocket Casts offers Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, and web apps. It also uses a straightforward way to import the subscription list I've been building since high school and carefully curated playlists I might otherwise have to rebuild.

What Pocket Casts offers isn't radically different from other podcast apps. Still, it includes everything where other apps might be more picky. Plus, you can view all of your podcasts at once, organizing and reorganizing them around episode release dates or your whims.

There's a dedicated tab for applying filters if you want to see new releases or episodes you started but haven't finished. You don't need to tap into a Now Playing window to adjust your queue. The Up Next tab gives you a dedicated space to arrange and rearrange to your heart's content.

Pocket Casts is also free of advertising. The only place you'll find it is in the Discover tab, where you'll go to find something new to listen to. While other apps push algorithmic recommendations or additional subscriptions, Pocket Casts has a light touch. It also makes your listening history and stats easy to access.

The app's long list of features adds up to an experience that's as in-depth, customizable, hands-off, or easy as you want. When other apps want to get in the way of you listening to the shows you'd like, that flexibility makes a difference.

You can use Pocket Casts to improve how your podcasts sound

Playback Effects can alter a poorly recorded episode

Having all those basic features should put die-hard podcast listeners at ease. However, two Playback Effects tools convinced me to stick with Pocket Casts. The first, Trim Silence, intelligently removes large silences in podcast audio. The second, Volume Boost, adjusts the mix of podcast audio so that the dialogue is louder.

Both have worked well at cleaning up the occasional messy mixes of shows I listen to, with minimal warping or distortion. Many apps either don't offer these features or put them behind a subscription. Having both tools at no additional cost goes a long way to making Pocket Casts worth switching to or sticking with, even if you only plan to use the app on one device.

You can trust Pocket Casts to keep your listening in sync

Start listening on one device and pick up on another

The most important reason to opt for Pocket Casts over other options is how well it does universal sync. If you pause in the middle of a podcast on your iPhone 16, you can pick up where you left off on your Google Pixel 9, as if you never changed devices. The same goes for your laptop or web browser. Pocket Casts isn't perfect at keeping everything in sync, but it's more consistent than first-party options like Apple's Podcasts app. It also helps that the number of places you can use it is staggering.

Pocket Casts is available across iOS, Android, Android Auto, and CarPlay. If you're willing to pay $3.99 monthly for Pocket Casts Plus, you can get Pocket Casts for wearable operating systems, desktop operating systems, and the web. That makes moving between work and personal devices simple without losing progress. If you move between iOS and Android, it is an entirely new ecosystem.

Pocket Casts makes listening to podcasts as easy as possible

Open, flexible, and reliable apps always win

It's easy to stick with a given platform's default podcast app. However, if you need something more flexible, there's no reason not to try Pocket Casts. The app gives you premium features at no additional cost, works almost anywhere, and does it without showing ads in the core interfaces you'll use every day. If all of this still isn't enough to convince you, YouTube Music isn't the best option, but it is relatively simple to import your podcasts to it.