Everything you wanted to know about podcasts

Podcasts are gaining incredible popularity on the internet right now. Various Internet services are increasingly turning their attention to them. Podcasts are now considered a must-have for any self-respecting media outlet.

What kind of content is this? How to consume it? Can podcasts replace YouTube? Is it possible to download them? Let’s figure it out.

What podcasts are?

So, podcasting is the process of creating and distributing audio and video files in the style of TV or radio broadcasts. The obligatory attributes of podcasts are the consistency of the publication of the episodes and the presence of a certain topic.

The very word “podcasting” comes from the word Broadcasting and from the name of the Apple iPod. Nowadays, podcasts are often referred to as audio content, as the word “video” is increasingly used when speaking of video content. Hereinafter, the word “podcasts” will naturally mean audio content.

How to listen to podcasts

The most convenient way to listen to podcasts is through special applications – podcast clients. They are also called podcast managers. With the help of them, you can subscribe to audio shows that interest you in the same way as you subscribe to channels on YouTube. The podcast manager can send notifications about new episodes of podcasts you subscribe to, automatically download new episodes for offline listening, sort episodes by list, and more.

Apple Podcasts

If you are a user of devices on iOS, then, for sure, you have already noticed the application with a purple icon – “Podcasts”.

This is probably the most popular podcast listening app. It became so popular primarily due to the fact that it is preinstalled on Apple equipment by default, but not because the user really needs it.

So, Apple Podcasts is probably the most intuitive app for listening to podcasts. It has a minimum of settings, and the interface is as simple as possible.

However, it is a typical podcast listening application that is not much different from the rest. Rewinding the recording, the ability to change the rewinding time, download podcasts to the device for offline listening, speed up and slow down the playback of the recording, notifications of new releases, etc.

We should also mention the synchronization of playbacks between devices. Regardless of what Apple breaks in its OS updates, devices work in a single ecosystem just fine, and the podcasts app is no exception. It works without any problems. Let’s have a look at some other solutions for listening to the podcasts available.

Pocket Casts

Pocket Casts is a very stylish and handy app available on iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, and even as a simple player in the browser. The application is not free, but it is not too expensive.

Many people know that podcasts can be enjoyed free of charge. So, what to pay for?

1. Firstly, you pay for the absence of any kind of advertising in the application (pay attention that in Apple Podcasts there is no advertising at all, although in some other podcast players, especially on the Android platform, it is found).
2. Secondly, you pay for the design. Design is an important thing for many people, and in paid apps, it is usually great.
3. Third, you pay for functionality. It is possible to create your own playlists, there is the ability to increase speech volume by lowering the volume of background sounds, there is support for video podcasts, it is possible to calculate the time spent listening to podcasts and saved on rewinding, etc.

Perhaps it is one of the smartest podcast apps out there right now. However, the creators continue to develop an app. New functions, design solutions are very often added to the application, work is underway on algorithms that select podcasts especially for you.

All this splendor can be tested during the trial period, which equals fourteen days. After this, you can decide whether to buy it or not.

YouTube

Surprisingly, some podcasts are published on YouTube in addition to the standard distribution channels. On YouTube, you can also subscribe to podcasts and listen to them either directly on the site or in the mobile app.

Some podcasts are accompanied by video (quite informative, as in This Week in Tech, or less informative, as in Hello Internet. Others are simpler and do not bother with the visual part too much – for example, Cortex).

With the help of a YouTube to MP3 downloader, it is easy to convert video podcasts into an MP3 format to enjoy those at any time in any place. If you need to download podcasts from YouTube, ODownloader is the best solution.