cross-posted from: https://lemdro.id/post/66697
cross-posted from: https://lemdro.id/post/66697
Well, crap. This feels like the first sign that the app is going to die when it doesn't get enough money out of this price hike.
What's a good open alternative?
AntennaPod is open source and pretty good if you're on Android. Podcast Addict isn't open source (I don't think) and it's not as pretty but it'll be the most powerful podcast app you ever use.
Interestingly, it turns out Pocket Casts is also open source (thanks cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone). I'm not sure the added features from Plus are available from other apps at the moment?
Pocketcasts is definitely a better overall app experience, however, that still didn't stop me from switching to AntennaPod well over a year ago. It's a solid app and one of the best FOSS app projects around.
No regrets. I just wish I could manually sort podcasts on the subscription page.
I mean Pocket Casts is already open source. If they end support for it, you can just fork it.
https://blog.pocketcasts.com/2022/10/19/pocket-casts-mobile-apps-are-now-open-source/
Man, I wonder why nobody has forked this already? It seems like a really easy way to get a new podcast app up and running. PocketCasts is widely loved, it's just the business practices and lack of features that have put people off.
One of the reasons I switched podcast apps, it was switching hands so much didn't know where it was going to end up.
Yeah, this seems like a steep increase. I can't imagine they're expecting many folks to actually pay this amount.
This is kinda odd timing.
I just started using AntennaPod on Monday since I want to switch to FOSS apps as much as possible and also deleted my PocketCasts account completely.
It sucks that there is no such account in my Google Podcasts app, but uninstalled that too. AntennaPod, FTW!
I was surprised to learn that the Pocket Casts apps are open-source (Android GitHub, iOS GitHub).
AntennaPod
As a (now former) Pocketcasts user, I thank you for letting me know about AntennaPod!
You are welcome. Just remember that it haa 95% of the features as PocketCasts, but it is Open Source..
Honestly just wish AntennaPod had a way to easily sync between desktop and mobile. I love the look of it on my tablet but sometimes I like listening while I'm working on my laptop.
Fun fact about Antennapod, if you want to sort new podcast episodes by prioroty, rename the podcast with a number based on your priority for that podcast and then sort the que by podcast title. Now episodes of your favorite podcast will always be up at the top and ready even if a *newer episode of anothet pod is released. Reasons you may do this besides just having a favorite podcast over others is if you listen to timely podcast that you always want to listen to before others that can wait.
Holy shit that price is just insane. No one is going to be willing to pay that when Spotify is cheaper by a lot...
Do people really use Spotify for podcasts? I don't find it a great experience. Pocket Casts seems to be solid as a free app along with other alternatives (including open-source).
Just here to say fuck Dax Shepherd for being a Spotify exclusive podcaster.
It’s the only reason my family plan hasn’t been migrated, really. I don’t want to deal with that fall out.
Seriously. I have the Spotify app installed just to listen to his occasional podcast. It’s inspired me to start writing a self hosted app that will archive all your podcasts locally so next time a podcaster decides to sell out I won’t lost their back catalog. And then I also have a place to stream their newer stuff that I figure out a way to pirate.
The podcast market is in an extremely precarious state due to giant corporations like I heart media and spotify trying to insert themselves into the market, implement Chokepoints with exclusive content, and finally extinguish open alternatives.
I use Spotify for podcasts, though if the rumors of them increasing their sub is true, I'll be swapping to open source alternative's.
Spotify is 10 a month for a normal subscription, so Pocket Casts is roughly a third of that for one year. I don't like Spotify for podcasts at all but it is a big part of the service nowadays. Still awfully expensive for Pocket Casts when you consider that it is just for podcasts and no music - unlike Spotify.
You don't need to pay for the subscription to use PocketCasts for podcasts. There is a free version that does everything you would need it to.
I personally have lifetime plus due to having bought the app early on. I still use it regularly but don't use the fancy web interface.
Remember when they went back on their promise that the $10 would be permanent premium? Then went on a rant about how they shouldn't honor those purchases. I stopped using them right then and there, even if I was grandfathered in.
Yep. I did appreciate when they reversed course though. App seems to have been sold a few times since then.
Ya I bought the lifetime subscription years ago when they still offered it so I'm basically grandfathered into that thankfully. Idk if I could justify a recurring subscription for a podcast app.
Same here. I have lifetime plus from having bought it ages ago, but I've simply just defaulted to listening to podcasts on my Nextcloud News app out of convenience. It has a play and pause button, and that's mostly all I need from my podcast app.
I subscribed to Pocket Casts when it was owned by public media entities, and it worked well. But after they sold it off, I just switched to AntennaPod and it does everything I need too.
I had bought it outright so I have the "lifetime subscription" after the uproar when the introduced this subscription model. This rate hike has me a little worried though they may go back on that and force purchasers to pony up for the subscription as well to get short term profits up (albeit at a reduced rate for like 3 months or so, as is standard with this sort of thing).
The original plan was 2 years for people who bought it, only after backlash did they give out the lifetime subscriptions.
Over 200% markup in a single pricing change, yeesh
You think they'd gradually ease people into it at least. This app is always on something
I always got confused with percentage increases and whether they were relative to the original amount (going from 100% load to 300% load) or whether they were adding on top of the original amount (adding 200% on top of 100% to make 300%).
Regardless, that's a ridiculous jump.
Used to love pocket casts but I switched to antennapod after they basically changed the whole app into something that made no sense to me.
Would never pay a subscription to listen to podcasts personally.
You inspired me to look at antennapod and within 10 minutes pocket casts was uninstalled.
Been using pocket casts since the beginning but starting to get fed up with apps wanting more and more of my money.
It's a good app especially for free. It did take me a week or so to adjust and customise it how I like things but it does the job pretty well.
The value for the price doesn't seem there to me..
Edit: existing subscribers seem to be grandfathered in at their usual price.
It was fine at $10 because you could sync with desktop.
At $40 it's stupid, plus I already switched to Google podcasts which is at least as good since they changed the ui.
I left pocket casts before they went the sub model. antennapod is my app of choice and works perfectly.
Yeah, Addict is great for what it is especially for thr price. Paying that much for basically a nothingburger seems weird?
Yes, I am not sure who this is targeted to exactly - there are so many better ways to consume podcasts and the other content they mention, for less money, or free in many cases. I had purchased Pocket Casts years ago before they went free, then sold out to PBS, was still free, and now this - seems like just dying to piece together a business model that’s is doomed to fail (again).
I left when they changed the interface to what ever abomination it is now. You used to be able to basically filter folders e.g. ttrpg actule plays, music, talk shows etc. chronologically wheather or not you've listened to it before. I should have switched to some open source alternative but I went with google again likely to get burned. Any recommendations?
Tbh you might be able to come back go pocket casts. They added a bunch of functionality back over time. Can't remember what it used to be like anymore, but it works for me.
I have a free account and do have access to the filters. You can filter by podcast, started/not started, duration, etc. It may still not work for your needs though.
I'm one of the people who doesn't listen to podcasts very much and therefore doesn't need any extended features that would require me to pay for an app.
As long as the app has a play/pause button, and rewind/fast forward buttons, then that's all I need lol
I listen to podcasts daily and have 107 days of listening time in pocketcasts over the span of years, but honestly their premium features just aren't worth the cost, even at the cheaper level. I paid in the past because it's a great app but realized I basically never used the paid features and stopped.
I think a lot of people who were also paying just to support a great app are going to second guess if theyre actually using those paid features with the price hike.
Same. I just had to do a doubletake on my account to make sure I was still a lifetime member though whew!
Any way to get the logo of the podcast to show like from Pocket Casts?
Edit: Apparently by default it only downloads over wifi, nevermind!
Who pays this much for podcast player? I'm happy I'm grandfathered in since it's launch. I love it, I paid for the full version, but recurring payments? No, thank you.
Just imported all my podcasts into AntennaPod to give it a go. I found that it also supports sync via Nextcloud which I absolutely need because I often listen on multiple devices and I want to pick up where I left.
Good to see alternatives, because that's one of the main reasons I bought the lifetime subscription back in the day. I also used the trim silence feature, but I can do without that.
I'm still sitting here with DoggCatcher. Not exactly a pretty app, feels like an app from more than 10 years ago, as it hasn't really changed since then.
But it does what I want it to, with some minor hiccups one in a blue moon. Hasn't frustrated me to the point where I feel like switching.
And while it's not pretty, it does work.
Their recent addition to support wearOS made me consider a subscription (wearOS version requires subscription). Until youtube music recently added support for podcasts, so I didn't bother although I can't say the podcast feature in youtube music is all that good so far but it will let episodes get downloaded to my watch.