Incredible free version
Came from pocketcasts after they started using gen AI chapters. I feel like I wasted two years using it because Castro has been much less buggy for me so far! My only feedback is that the UI feels kind of messy, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. Really amazing work, thank you!!
Favorite Podcast Player, Buggy CarPlay Support
It’s still my favorite podcast player, even if I have to regularly quit the app from my phone because the CarPlay app froze or won’t play sound.
Downloading Errors Recently
Made castro my default podcast player a few months back, and, until recently, it worked very well. But downloading errors have become the rule, not the exception of late.
What’s more, when there’s a downloading error, the episode in question still leaves my inbox—as if it had been successfully downloaded, which it hadn’t. This means I have to manually find the show, locate the episode, and hope that it downloads this time.
What’s more, when there’s a downloading error, the episode in question still leaves my inbox—as if it had been successfully downloaded, which it hadn’t. This means I have to manually find the show, locate the episode, and hope that it downloads this time.
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Still the best
The "Inbox" metaphor is a great way to triage a lot of podcast subscriptions.
DINK!!!
Does someone on your design team think that the sound of a sharp, ear piercing ‘dink!’ is a pleasant thing to put in your head every time there’s an error? Especially when that error is merely transferring from an area of wifi to 5G or vice versa? Especially since it happens several times a day and every other podcast app doesn’t freak out every time you switch connections?
Why do you willingly inflict pain on your app subscribers? Why does your app feel like you hate us? Stop stabbing me in the ears, please. And tell your app not to break down in tears every time I leave a wifi area.
Why do you willingly inflict pain on your app subscribers? Why does your app feel like you hate us? Stop stabbing me in the ears, please. And tell your app not to break down in tears every time I leave a wifi area.
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Bugs Have Appeared
I have lately noticed that about 1 in 10 of my queued, downloaded programs is immediately and silently skipped. I have also been getting a lot of errors trying to download.
garbage search feature garbage user interface
Somehow it is still the best podcast app.
Yet another rent seeking podcast app
I’d make a crack about podcast apps being super easy to squirt out, but this one wasn’t even written. The developer just bought a free app and started charging for it. Clever.
It’s a breeze
Ordering the queue is a piece of cake. Love your podcasts! Take control.
has become almost completely unusable
Now it’s crashing every time I add a podcast to the queue. Every morning I have about a half a dozen new episodes from three or four different podcasts. Each time I go into a different podcast new episode list it hangs up and I have to exit the app and restart and go back in to add the episode and then go on to the next, where it crashes again. I have to do this three or four times each morning to set up my queue.
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Beautiful app!
This app is gorgeous. Minimalism is refreshing. Doesn’t look and feel like an Android app like most others. Castro is full of customization and podcast features. You can smoothly import all of your Apple podcasts in a couple taps. Love the name too haha. Very cool and clever. The app is free to use but if you love it and want to deep dive into more features, the annual subscription won’t be annoying either. It’s incredibly reasonable unlike most premium subscriptions out there. It’s a win for me!
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lots of bugs
i want this to work for me but it crashes, fails to load or play podcasts, and lags almost every time i use it - probably gonna give it up
UPDATE getting worse! Lately new errors including stuttering playback and randomly going silent. What’s up?
UPDATE getting worse! Lately new errors including stuttering playback and randomly going silent. What’s up?
Long-term relationship
Been using Castro from the beginning. It is fast, responsive to my diverse interests and pays for itself in multiples that make it an undeniable choice.
Very Buggy
This app is so buggy. It’s been buggy for years, so it’s not something specific to an update. New podcasts won’t load, you have to force stop the app a ton, you’ll press play and it doesn’t play and the play button disappears. Now I have to deal with the pain of transferring all my podcasts.
No one else is even close
There was a brief dark time when Castro was not being managed, and I tried other podcast apps and none came close to what Castro offers. The queue is exactly how I want to listen to my shows.
One of the great apps! (June 2026)
Castro is my favourite podcast player and one of my top 5 fave apps ever. I use it a lot every single day. I subscribe to hundreds of podcasts and the Inbox paradigm (triage: Queue or clear) works perfectly for me. Side-loading from YouTube is great. I really really love this app! Highly recommended.
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F
Downloads do stay downloaded even when set to stay.
Search is broken.
Constant pushing at the top of bad right wing misinformation podcasts with no way of hiding them.
Search is broken.
Constant pushing at the top of bad right wing misinformation podcasts with no way of hiding them.
Great app, sync hates me
Update 5/27/2026:
Joined the test flight but it caused issues. Since leaving, my ability to sync across devices stopped working. It’s like I’ve fallen in an Apple Passwords/Keychain hole. Using Castro’s built in tools has not solved the issue, and support hasn’t been able to provide any other updates or suggestions. Still a fantastic app. If sync moves away from keychain I’ll come back and give a shot.
Original review:
Been on Castro since day one. Have seen the edge of demise multiple times. What the new owner has done is nothing short of remarkable. They brought back the app from the death, provide regular updates, and finally deliver an iPad (or Mac, where I’m writing this) with working sync. A modern feature that Castro fans have waited on for years! The sync is fast and I find myself getting through so much more of my podcast queue thanks to the feature. I’m glad to say goodbye to my grandfathered because the owner has provided so much value for my $$.
Joined the test flight but it caused issues. Since leaving, my ability to sync across devices stopped working. It’s like I’ve fallen in an Apple Passwords/Keychain hole. Using Castro’s built in tools has not solved the issue, and support hasn’t been able to provide any other updates or suggestions. Still a fantastic app. If sync moves away from keychain I’ll come back and give a shot.
Original review:
Been on Castro since day one. Have seen the edge of demise multiple times. What the new owner has done is nothing short of remarkable. They brought back the app from the death, provide regular updates, and finally deliver an iPad (or Mac, where I’m writing this) with working sync. A modern feature that Castro fans have waited on for years! The sync is fast and I find myself getting through so much more of my podcast queue thanks to the feature. I’m glad to say goodbye to my grandfathered because the owner has provided so much value for my $$.
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Great but can’t use
Pocketcasts is constantly glitching so I’m trying to find a new player. I like Castro but the lack of automatic downloads makes it unusable for me.
The worst app I pay for
The audio engine is really buggy and the app has difficulty gracefully dealing with spotty networks, but the inbox UX is what keeps me paying.
