Popular Podcast Apps for iOS and Android Users
You know your audience, you came up with a bangin’ title, you’ve got the right equipment, and you’re faithfully telling your story on a consistent basis. If all that’s true, then your podcast is off to a great start. Next up? Finding the right places to put your podcast.
With divisions between iOS and Android users growing every day, it’s important to know what apps people are using on each device. So, if you’re asking what app you should use for your podcast, look no further. Here’s a quick guide to the podcast platforms that dominate in iOS and Android realms.
Apple Podcasts
The most popular podcast app on smartphones got that way for a reason. Apple Podcasts comes with every iOS device and is super intuitive for native Apple users. The app boasts that it streams more than 550,000 shows and 18.5 million episodes. You can skip straight to the “most interesting” episodes of a show you’re interested in, or discover what’s popular by looking through the Top Charts. It’s free. It’s easy to use, but unfortunately, it’s an Apple exclusive.
If you’re going to start your own podcast, you can’t just cater to the Apple crowd. Gartner data shows Android and iOS combined hold 99.1% of the smartphone market, but it’s Android that’s in the lead when it comes to users. Estimates show Android leading Apple by about 10% in users. So it’s good to be familiar with the most popular podcast platforms for either operating system.
That brings us to…
BeyondPod
Find this free app on Google play and instantly get access to millions of podcasts. Like Apple Podcasts, this app is free and loaded with a lot of great features, the best of which may be their Smart Playlist technology. The Smart Playlist tech creates playlists it thinks you’ll like based on what you’ve listened to before. It’s a great discovery system for a free app. BeyondPod has a quote from cnet on their site boasting it as a podcast app that’s better than Apple Podcasts, and with new features coming out regularly (there’s even a “car” mode that makes buttons and fonts larger for safer playback control while driving) it’s certainly an app that can’t be ignored.
Pocket Casts
We’re wrapping things up with an app for any smartphone user, if you’re willing to pay a small fee, anyway. Available on Google Play and the App Store, Pocket Casts is one of the foremost podcast apps, especially catching on among Android users. The advantages? You can play podcasts without subscribing, search for episodes rather than shows, create an “Up Next” list to keep your favorite podcasts flowing and a solid podcast discovery system.
Perhaps even more useful is your ability to control podcast settings. Using the Pocket Casts’ “Effects” feature, you can change playback speed, Trim Silence, and Volume Boost.
All these advantages do come with a price. The app is $5.99 to download, but once you’re in, you have more than 300,000 unique podcasts at your fingertips.
Place Your Podcast Strategically
You may not want or need to put your new podcast on every app, but knowing which apps are available to all kinds of smartphone users puts you at an advantage for strategically placing your podcast. We can help introduce you to popular podcast apps and help you get yours running on your favorite platforms. Tell us your podcast idea and goals today to take steps toward sharing your stories with the world.
