# Apple Podcasts — Audio and video podcasts

> Podcast discovery, listening, and management app for Apple devices. (iPhone/iPad app by Apple.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/apple-podcasts/id525463029 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Apple](https://appshunter.io/developer/284417353)
- Category: Entertainment
- Price: Free
- Rating: 4.90/5 from 2,073,140 App Store ratings · 2,933 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 12+
- Requires: iOS 10.0 · 8 MB
- Languages: Australian English, Arabic, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French (France), German (Germany) and 23 more
- Released: 2012-06-26
- Data updated: 2026-08-26
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/apple-podcasts/id525463029/reviews.md

## What is Apple Podcasts?

Discover podcasts that entertain, inform, and inspire. Get recommendations curated by Apple Podcasts editors and dive deep into what interests you most. Seamlessly sync your shows across Apple devices.

Features:

• Listen and watch podcasts, download and play offline. 
• Explore new shows with personalized recommendations. 
• Find trending shows and episodes by category with Top Charts. 
• Find the best of what’s new and popular in podcasting with curated collections from Apple editors.
• Follow and save your favorite shows to your library. 
• Use playback controls to build and manage your queue, control playback speed, and set sleep timers.
• Hear voices in episodes more clearly with Enhance Dialogue.
• Add your favorite categories to find shows that map to your unique tastes.
• Access subscriber-only content, from the biggest names to the top independents.
• Connect subscriptions to access shows from Apple Music, Apple News, and other top apps. 
• Read along with a transcript as your episode plays.
• Share a specific moment in an episode from the transcript.
• Get new episode notifications from shows you follow.
• Pick up where you left off with seamless syncing across your Apple devices.
• Listen on-the-go with CarPlay and Apple Watch.
• Use customizable widgets to listen with just one tap.

Availability and features vary by country and region, plan, or device. https://support.apple.com/HT204411

## Key features

- Listen and watch podcasts
- Download and play offline
- Personalized recommendations
- Top Charts and curated collections
- Sync across Apple devices
- Playback controls and sleep timers
- Subscriber-only content access

## What do users think of Apple Podcasts?

Overall sentiment: negative

**Pros**

- 🚀 Seamless integration with Apple ecosystem
- 🎨 Sleek and modern user interface
- 💯 Vast library of podcast content
- 🔍 Helpful podcast discovery features
- 🗓️ Convenient episode management

**Cons**

- 🐛 Buggy and unreliable playback
- 🤯 Confusing and unintuitive navigation
- 🔀 Inconsistent episode ordering and playlist management
- 🔋 High data and battery consumption
- 🗑️ Difficulty removing/deleting unwanted episodes

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Frequent crashes and app freezes
- Inconsistent episode downloads and sync issues
- Randomly playing incorrect or outdated episodes
- Continuous playback setting changing on its own
- Deleted episodes reappearing in the library

**Most requested features**

- Add option to sort episodes by oldest first
- Improve playlist and queue management features
- Introduce a dedicated sleep timer function
- Allow users to manually mark episodes as played/unplayed
- Enhance integration with Siri and Apple Watch

## Recent user reviews (10 of 2,933)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/apple-podcasts/id525463029/reviews.md

### 1/5 — Ruined by videos

*2026-08-24, version 4.5*

Ever since videos were introduced the app has been a mess. Podcasts randomly stop playing and can’t be restarted. If skipping back through ads it loses its place and stops working. Downloaded episodes no longer play when offline. A joke, I’m moving to Spotify

### 4/5 — Needs to be more engaging

*2026-08-23, version 4.5*

I love Apple Podcasts. I’ve been using it for years, but I think it needs to be more engaging. With Spotify there is a comments section so you’re able to see other people’s thoughts, and it’s great to see different perceptions. Can we bring that over here?

### 1/5 — Frustrated using podcast

*2026-08-23, version 4.5*

Do people like me experiencing frustration and confusion using Apple podcast ? I don’t often using it and use YouTube music more . However my sons like story telling programs on podcast so we use podcast every night before sleep. However navigating on podcast is really frustrating, you would never find the things looking for and very difficult to navigate back to where we started . And after try few times you would wonder what’s the logic inside the develop teams mind ? The team smart enough to create a good and popular app platform but not able to make it simple to use ……. Still frustrating

### 5/5 — Good

*2026-08-23, version 4.5*

Noice

### 1/5 — Flawed, Apple’s middle finger to its customers

*2026-08-22, version 4.5*

I seriously believe Apple has kept this app so bad as a giant middle finger to everyone it’s trapped in its walled garden. They must put the employees on a corrective action plan that they’re about to fire to work in this division. Never syncs with Apple Watch. Terrible design. What else can I say. Apple should just get out of the podcast game it invented because it doesn’t deserve to keep playing.

### 4/5 — Great but can be improved.

*2026-08-22, version 4.5*

Great app, but I’d love two improvements: let us create custom playlists/folders for individual episodes from different podcasts and please add the short episode description in the ‘Latest Episodes’ tab instead of needing to tap into the episode to see.

### 1/5 — Ads trash

*2026-08-22, version 4.5*

Disgusting amount of forced ads

### 4/5 — LISTEN

*2026-08-22, version 4.5*

This app means I Warrior cat for free. I’m talking book one all the way to book 3. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

### 1/5 — Case file

*2026-08-22, version 4.5*

Casey Snap? Host

### 1/5 — Buggy beyond belief

*2026-08-21, version 4.5*

For the past few months this app has been unusable. For one, I can’t get “Recent Episodes” to load, period. Not once in months. Everything else glitches or takes a minute plus to load on an otherwise functional iPhone. 

And in the meantime, I have to listen to a million injected ads from the dairy cartel or the provincial gambling monopoly. 

I don’t know why the Podcasts app would be left for dead when podcasts are still popular. Anyway, I’ve been switching over to Spotify.

## Frequently asked questions about Apple Podcasts

### What is this app?

This application is a platform for discovering, listening to, and managing podcasts. It offers a wide range of audio content that can entertain, inform, and inspire users. You can explore new shows, follow your favorites, and enjoy content both online and offline.

### What are the key features of this app?

Key features include the ability to listen and watch podcasts, download episodes for offline playback, and receive personalized recommendations. It also offers Top Charts, curated collections, seamless syncing across Apple devices, customizable playback controls, and access to subscriber-only content.

### Is this app free to use?

The application itself is free to download and use for listening to podcasts. However, it does offer in-app purchases, which may include subscriptions for premium content or ad-free experiences from creators.

### What devices is this app compatible with?

This app is designed for Apple devices, including iPhones, iPads, and Macs, allowing for seamless syncing of your listening progress. It also supports listening on Apple Watch and via CarPlay for on-the-go access.

### How can I discover new podcasts?

You can discover new podcasts through personalized recommendations tailored to your interests, by exploring trending shows and episodes in Top Charts, and by browsing curated collections assembled by editors. You can also add your favorite categories to find shows that match your tastes.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 4.5 — 2026-04-27

Bug Fixes and Feature Enhancements

### 4.4 — 2026-03-12

Bug Fixes and Feature Enhancements

### 4.3 — 2026-02-10

Bug Fixes and Feature Enhancements

### 4.2 — 2025-12-12

Bug Fixes and Feature Enhancements

### 4.1 — 2025-09-15

Bug Fixes and Feature Enhancements

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-26.*