Castro is a beautiful, full-featured podcast player that makes it easy to track and manage lots of podcasts at the same time. Only listen to the episodes you want and easily skip the rest, queue up hours of podcasts at a time and enjoy a seamless listening experience with carplay compatibility, chapter support, trim silence and much, much more!
HOW IT WORKS
1. New episodes land in the NEW tab. Read their descriptions, add episodes you like to your QUEUE, and clear the rest.
2. Press play to listen to episodes from your QUEUE in order. Queued episodes are downloaded automatically.
3. Re-order your QUEUE to plan your next few hours of listening at any time. Browse your LIBRARY to review the back catalogue, quickly access starred shows, and see your listening history.
Subscribing to a podcast is no longer a commitment to listen to every episode. You don’t have to manage a huge list of subscriptions or choose a few shows and miss the rest.
WHY OUR USERS LOVE CASTRO
• Drag and drop podcasts to plan your listening with Castro’s unique queue
• An elegant dark mode and thoughtfully designed sleep timer offer the best in night time podcast listening.
• CarPlay support makes it easy to pick up where you left off while driving.
• Apple Watch app to control playback and select another episode from your queue.
• Episode notifications include a summary of the episode to help you decide if it interests you. Play, queue or clear the episode directly from the notification without opening the app.
CASTRO PLUS
Castro Plus is an optional paid subscription available for $24.99/year (includes a one-week trial). Plus unlocks a range of advanced features:
• Trim Silence — With this option on, the app will analyze audio as it plays to detect silent parts and accelerate those parts. Get through more episodes faster.
• Enhance Voices improves the listening experience for many podcasts and makes it easier to hear in loud environments. Under the hood, Enhance Voices applies a dynamic compressor to increase volume just where it’s needed.
• Sideloading: Import audio files directly, just by dropping them in iCloud Drive
• Mono-Mix — Mixes a stereo podcast to mono, which makes it easier to hear podcasts that pan some guests on left/right channels.
• Chapter Support: Artwork, Skipping & Pre-selection.
• Custom settings per-podcast: Episode Limit, Trim Silence, Enhance Voices, Mono Mix, Skip Intros, Playback Speed.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
“Castro 3 is an incredible app.”
— The Sweet Setup
“Castro 3 is everything Castro already was, but better.”
— MacStories
Castro 3 Is a Great Modern Podcast App”
— Beautiful Pixels
“Unlike other podcatchers, Castro's primary virtue is its simplicity and ease of use. The app combines sleek visual design with crystal clear audio.”
— Tom’s Guide
CASTRO PLUS SUBSCRIPTION TERMS
Castro Plus costs $24.99 per year. Prices are in US dollars and may vary in countries other than the US.
Castro Plus is charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. It will renew on the day before the current subscription period ends. You can cancel auto-renewal any time from the Castro settings screen.
You can switch between the two subscription periods after you pick one, but your trial period will end immediately if you do, so it's best to wait till your free week is over before changing.
Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable.
Privacy Policy & Terms of Use: https://castro.fm/privacy-policy
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Summary of user reviews
Positive highlights
🌟
This app hasIntuitive and user-friendly interface
🗂️
This app hasExcellent podcast management with inbox and queue system
🔍
This app hasAbility to selectively choose episodes to listen to
🔊
This app hasEnhanced audio features like voice boost and silence trimming
🔄
This app hasSeamless playback across devices
🔍
This app hasHelpful podcast discovery and recommendations
🔒
This app hasReliable and stable performance
💻
This app hasConsistent updates and improvements by the developer
Negative highlights
🔌
This app hasOccasional connectivity and syncing issues
🔍
This app hasLimited podcast search and discovery features
💰
This app hasSubscription model may be expensive for some users
🔇
This app hasLack of support for certain features like chapter markers
🔍
This app hasConfusing navigation and UI in some areas
🔋
This app hasHigh data usage and storage requirements
What's New in Podcast Player App
2024.12
December 24, 2024
- Holiday icon and an alternate in red
- Skip outros
- Storage page for checking your disk space usage
- Account Profiles to prepare for device sync
- Sideloading fixes
- Made some alternate icons free for the holidays
- Bug fixes and more
Castro is back and better than ever! Over a year ago, I started exploring alternatives when the app seemed to hit a few bumps, but I have to give credit where it’s due: the Castro team has truly turned things around. Slowly but surely, they’ve refined what I already considered the best podcast player ever designed. After a year of flawless performance, I can confidently say this app is not just back on top—it’s better than ever.
The design is nothing short of genius, perfectly tailored for hardcore podcast enthusiasts. Every feature feels like it was built with real podcast junkies in mind. Once you experience Castro, no other app comes close to satisfying your needs. Hats off to the team for rocking it and delivering a seamless, top-tier experience. Five stars well deserved!