# Playapod — Cross Platform Podcast App

> Cross-platform podcast player with advanced syncing, tracking, and content features. (iPhone/iPad app by TMSOFT.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/playapod/id1246857049 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [TMSOFT](https://appshunter.io/developer/288669797)
- Category: Utilities, Entertainment
- Price: Free
- Rating: 4.70/5 from 620 App Store ratings · 77 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 12+
- Requires: iOS 13.0 · 25 MB
- Languages: English
- Released: 2018-02-05
- Data updated: 2026-06-09
- Monetization: free
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/playapod/id1246857049/reviews.md

## What is Playapod?

Playapod is the best way to listen to your favorite podcasts and features cross-platform device syncing, episode tracking down to the second, remote media controls, offline listening, new episode notifications, bulk imports, fast performance, no ads, and more!

• Multi-Device Sync
Sync all your podcast subscriptions and episode progress between multiple devices and across all platforms! Just sign-in with your favorite social network or with e-mail.

• Episode Tracking
Tracks exactly the portions of episodes that you have listened down to the second. You'll never forget where you left off or what you skipped over!

• Bookmarking
Bookmark your favorite parts of any episode so you can quickly go back and listen again. Bookmarks are time-coded and synced across all your devices.

• Video Playback (NEW v2 Feature)
Video playback supported. Tapping on the video will toggle full-screen mode.

• Text to Speech (NEW v2 Feature)
Turn any text-based feed into an audio podcast with full progress bar support including scrubbing and bookmarking. Great for keeping up with the latest news and blogs.

• Media Bar (NEW v2 Feature)
Quickly access whatever is currently playing by tapping on the media bar at the bottom of the screen. It’s always on with quick access to play/pause. Tap the bar to bring up the full media player view.

•  Recommendations (NEW v2 Feature)
Our recommendation engine will suggest new subscriptions you might enjoy.

• Groups & Filters (NEW v2 Feature)
Filter content by favorites, category, media flags, content type, and time. Save filters into Groups for quick one-touch access.

• Media Files (NEW v2 Feature)
Add media files such as audio, video, and text files to Playapod using iTunes File Sharing for local playback.

• Car Play
Driving with your iPhone puts your Playapod Now Playing queue right on your car's built-in display.

• Custom Playlist
Create a custom playlist of your podcast episodes.  Drag and drop reordering makes it easy to listen to your favorite shows all day without device interaction.

• Media Controls
Toggle playback and skip forward and backwards quickly using lockscreen and bluetooth controls.

• Listen Offline
Download entire podcasts and listen on the go without a network connection or cellular data charges.

• Free & No Ads
Free download with no advertising!  There are no bulky 3rd party ad networks that are known to kill battery life, slow performance, and consume network bandwidth.

• Push Notifications
Get new episode notifications so you stay on top of your favorite shows.  Toggle notifications in the app settings.

• Import Podcasts
Quickly bulk import a list of podcasts with OPML files (Outline Processor Markup Language XML Files).

• Advanced Configuration
Lots of settings to customize and tweak the behavior of the Playapod app.  Custom settings available for each subscription too!

• Customer Support
Our developers listen to your feedback and quickly fix all reported issues. Join our Facebook Page and start a discussion!   

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/playapod/

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/playapod

Website:
https://playapod.com/

## Key features

- Cross-platform device syncing
- Second-by-second episode tracking
- Time-coded bookmarking
- Video and text-to-speech playback
- Offline listening
- Custom playlists and filters
- CarPlay integration

## What do users think of Playapod?

Overall sentiment: positive

**Pros**

- 👍 Honest and caring app
- 🚀 Works perfectly on iOS
- 🚀 Plays both video and audio podcasts
- 🚀 Easily share podcast clips
- 👍 Fantastic individual settings
- 👍 Elegant and simple design
- 👍 Powerful customization options
- 👍 Seamless cross-device syncing
- 👍 Excellent podcast management
- 👍 Clean and intuitive interface

**Cons**

- 🐛 Issues with video podcast downloads
- 🐛 Podcast playback issues (pausing, resuming, background playback)
- 🐛 Inconsistent episode marking as played
- 🔋 High battery consumption
- 🐛 Syncing issues and data loss
- 🐛 Buggy playlist and queue management

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Podcast downloads failing or timing out
- Playlist issues (not playing next episode, losing queue)
- Episodes marked as played before finishing
- Inconsistent behavior on different devices and platforms
- Data loss when device is turned off

**Most requested features**

- Volume boost and normalization
- Silence skip feature
- Ability to reorder individual playlists
- Video podcast playback support
- Diagnostics and troubleshooting tools
- Search by episode title

## Recent user reviews (10 of 77)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/playapod/id1246857049/reviews.md

### 2/5 — Issues with Videos

*2026-02-10, version 2.6*

Since the 2.6 update it is no longer possible to download video podcasts. The download always times out after a few minutes.

### 5/5 — Honest, caring and good

*2025-12-07, version 2.6*

At last, an app that doesn't lie to you. It is so refreshing to find this exceptional free app. Thank you developer, I really appreciate it.

### 3/5 — Podcast stops playing

*2025-11-04*

This has happened a few times before with this app, when my screen goes to sleep the podcasts pause. You also can't run it in background, or open other apps. It's like every few months, then it seems to fix itself for a bit. I listen while I work, clean etc. and I can't keep tapping my screen

### 5/5 — My favorite podcast app

*2025-05-12, version 2.5*

Developers did a great job. Works perfectly in iOS

### 5/5 — Best podcast app

*2025-04-20, version 2.5*

Uses open podcast index by default so no podcast is censored. Plays both video and audio podcasts. Reads text rss feeds. Easily share podcast clips with your friends

### 2/5 — I started using this for cross device syncing but that’s broken now

*2024-09-13*

This player works well even with a UI that’s unusual. Sadly the cross device syncing appears to be broken now. It used to work fine for the most part (it was laggy sometimes) but now it is just doesn’t work. Sadly there is no diagnostics to help you understand what’s going on, but progress and listened/not listened just doesn’t seem to sync anymore for me. So avoid this is you are looking for a good free option with working cross device syncing. This isn’t it anymore.

### 1/5 — NOT AD FREE

*2023-06-25, version 2.4.9*

Another lying scum developer, claiming their product is ad free. It most certainly is not ad free. Lying scum.

### 5/5 — I’m impressed

*2023-06-02, version 2.4.9*

The individual settings on this app are fantastic.  It’s great having individual settings on different shows for example

On developer website refers to this as a “passion project” and I get it

### 3/5 — So close to perfect… but buggy

*2023-02-16*

For those of us scouring the App Store for a free—and ad-free—podcast app to replace our phone’s default app, Playapod seems perfect. No ads, lots of customization, and pretty easy to navigate after using the app for a bit. 

But there are some serious bugs. The Play Next feature works spottily at best on the main playlist. Most of the time, an episode ends, and then silence. The next episode in the playlist doesn’t start. I listen to podcasts on lengthy commutes, so this is basically a dealbreaker. 

Also, the app marks episodes as “listened” even when there are several minutes left. This can preemptively remove those episodes from the playlist, resulting in the same problem above: an episode ends, and the next one doesn’t start until I manually open the app and select it from the playlist. 

I really thought Playapod was the holy grail podcatcher I’d been searching for, but probably not if basic playlist functionality is broken. Devs, fix these bugs!

### 5/5 — Love it

*2022-08-31, version 2.4.8*

The cleanest sound on the net!
Simply the best!

## Frequently asked questions about Playapod

### What does Playapod do?

Playapod is a podcast listening application that offers a comprehensive suite of features for managing and enjoying your favorite shows. It provides cross-platform syncing, allowing you to seamlessly continue listening across different devices. The app also offers precise episode tracking, bookmarking capabilities, and the ability to listen offline.

### What are the key features of Playapod?

Key features include multi-device sync for subscriptions and progress, episode tracking down to the second, time-coded bookmarking, video playback, text-to-speech for text-based feeds, a media bar for quick access, recommendations, groups and filters, media file import, CarPlay support, custom playlists, offline listening, and push notifications for new episodes.

### Is Playapod free to use?

Yes, Playapod is completely free to download and use. The application explicitly states that it is 'Free & No Ads,' meaning there are no advertisements from third-party networks, ensuring a clean and uninterrupted listening experience.

### What devices is Playapod compatible with?

The app is described as a 'Cross Platform Podcast App,' indicating compatibility across multiple operating systems and devices. It also features CarPlay integration, suggesting strong support for iOS and integration with car infotainment systems.

### How can I use Playapod to manage my podcasts?

You can manage your podcasts by subscribing to new shows, importing existing subscriptions via OPML files, creating custom playlists with drag-and-drop reordering, and utilizing groups and filters to organize content by favorites, category, or media type. The app also provides notifications for new episodes.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 2.6 — 2025-09-03

This update includes:
- Podcast artwork and images now load much faster
- Support for opening time encoded links shared from Playapod
- Bug fixes, including theme fixes

Visit https://blog.playapod.com for more details.

### 2.5 — 2025-02-18

- Improvements to clarify when podcast is being previewed
- Bug fixes and library updates

### 2.4.13 — 2024-09-26

- UI fixes for devices running iOS 18

### 2.4.12 — 2024-06-05

v2.4.12
- UI and bug fixes

### 2.4.10 — 2023-07-14

v2.4.10
- Fixed Facebook login support
- Removed Twitter login support because of their recent API changes
- Various app updates for latest iOS

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All apps by TMSOFT: https://appshunter.io/developer/288669797

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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 2026-06-09.*