# Podtastic — Podcast Listening Magic

> AI-powered podcast app for efficient listening, summarizing, and content skipping. (iPhone/iPad app by Freewheel Group.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/podtastic/id6761050924 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Freewheel Group](https://appshunter.io/developer/1810525338)
- Category: Entertainment, Productivity
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Rating: 3.70/5 from 12 App Store ratings · 9 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 12+
- Requires: iOS 18.0 · 26 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2026-03-30
- Data updated: 2026-09-05
- Monetization: freemium
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/podtastic/id6761050924/reviews.md

## What is Podtastic?

The independent podcast app built for listeners, not advertising companies. Listen to more of the shows you love; your data stays private, and you control how you listen.

SMART SKIP
Skip past the bits other listeners skip. Smart Skip spots commonly skipped topics using aggregated listener data, so you spend more time on what matters and less on the filler. The more the community listens, the smarter it gets.

SMART SUMMARIES
Every podcast and episode gets an AI-generated summary that evolves over time. Discover new shows you'd never have found. Quickly decide if an episode is worth a listen, before you press play. Summaries update as podcasts grow, so you always have the latest picture.

SMART TOPICS
Key topics are automatically highlighted across your favourite podcasts. Jump straight to the sections you care about most. No more scrubbing through episodes looking for the good parts; Smart Topics surfaces them for you. Share a topic timestamp with a friend in a single tap.

ALSO INCLUDED
Skip Silence trims silences and dead air from every episode without changing how natural the host sounds. Pair it with adjustable playback speed (0.5x–3x) and pitch correction to fit even more into your day.

FEATURES
- Support innovation in open podcasting
- Smart Skip auto-skips commonly skipped topics
- Smart Summaries for every podcast and episode
- Smart Topics with section jumping and shareable timestamps
- Skip Silence trims silences and dead air
- CarPlay support
- Add any podcast by search or RSS URL
- Download episodes for offline listening
- Adjustable playback speed (0.5x–3x) with pitch correction
- Sleep timer
- Background playback with lock screen and Control Center controls
- Playlists to organise episodes across shows
- Auto-download new episodes
- Auto-delete played episodes
- Wi-Fi only downloads
- Episode-ready notifications
- Dark mode

PLANS & PRICING
Building and maintaining a multi-platform, open, distributed podcasting app costs a lot! Recently large media platforms with hundreds of millions in funding have entered the space with the goal of killing the RSS feed and making podcasting just one more entertainment form in their closed subscription apps. Your small monthly payment goes a small way to covering the costs, while sending a big message to these platforms that you want to keep podcasting open.

Start free. Add as many podcasts as you like and put Podtastic's smart features to work on 2 of them, no time limit.

Go Unlimited to unlock the smart features on every podcast you follow:
- Just $2.99/month, billed annually ($34.99/year), save 70%
- Or $9.99/month
- 14-day free trial, cancel anytime

Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel in your Apple ID account settings.

Terms of Use (EULA): https://podtastic.app/info/terms-of-service
Privacy Policy: https://podtastic.app/info/privacy-policy

## Key features

- AI-generated episode summaries
- Smart Jump Ahead to skip filler
- Topic highlighting and section jumping
- Auto-filling playback queue
- Silence trimming and playback speed adjustment
- Offline episode downloads
- Playlist organization

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**Subscriptions**

| Subscription | Price | Period |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Starter Monthly | $3.99 | per month |
| Unlimited Monthly | $9.99 | per month |
| Starter Annual | $39.99 | per year |
| Unlimited Annual | $34.99 | per year |


## Recent user reviews (9 of 9)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/podtastic/id6761050924/reviews.md

### 2/5 — Good idea, but doesn’t work reliably and it is too expensive

*2026-08-12*

The idea of skipping ads is great, but only if it actually works. The app often skips over parts of a podcast that are not ads or plays the ads even when it’s not supposed to.

$10/month is an outrageous price for something that doesn’t even work that well.

### 3/5 — Great if it works

*2026-08-12*

Great idea. Use AI and user data to determine where in the podcasts are and skip them automatically. And it works great, *if* it works. 

Tested on a podcast episode. Worked like a charm. Downloaded another episode of the same podcast. “Processing” after 2 hours. Asked it to retry processing. Hours after, still processing.

I’ll try this for another week or two, but for now it looks like this is not something that I’d pay $40/yr for. It seems like it’s just not yet ready.

Edit: finally finished processing. I’ll edit the review in a week again.

### 5/5 — Works exactly as described

*2026-08-05*

Always wanted something like this, so glad someone made it. 

Imo much nicer than other apps out there due to having topics, transcripts and skip silence. Haven’t really encounter many bugs so keep up the great work!!!

### 5/5 — Really enjoying the app so far!

*2026-08-04*

As a long time subscriber to OverCast, I just purchased the annual subscription to Podtastic. I love the auto-skipping feature and auto-generated topic lists. While a very different app than OverCast, I like it as it will help me listen to a wider variety of podcasts because it makes it easy for me to skip topics that I don’t personally find interesting.

### 1/5 — Useless.

*2026-08-04*

App is useless. Said processing. Waited for ages, eventually gave up.

### 1/5 — Broken

*2026-05-29*

Wanted to like this based on a friend’s glowing review, but can’t get past first screen. Bugs out even after many re-downloads. Login screen just flashes on and off.

**Developer response:** Hey Roxy,

I'm really sorry. There were a few bugs in 2.5.0 which have been fixed in 2.5.2, but a first impression means a lot!

If you want to retry it please do and you can always email support@podtastic.app for more.

Best.

Ben

### 5/5 — Much improved

*2026-05-08*

I had this months back and it wasn’t quite there, gave it another try today and it seems to be doing great.

Great customer service. The developer Ben is fast to reply back to your email if you have any issues. Good work Ben!

### 5/5 — Breeze Past Interruptions

*2026-05-08*

Killer feature here that makes podcasts far more enjoyable to listen to. People are sleeping on this one.

### 1/5 — Unable to add podcasts.

*2026-04-27*

This app sounded exciting because I’m a hardcore listener of podcasts. But I’m unable to add podcasts. I keep getting the error “You don’t have permission to access this resource “. Please tell me I don’t have to get a premium membership to try the app?

**Developer response:** Hey Labanan, you do have to be a premium member. We've added a trial so you can try it out and cancel if it doesn't work for you.

## Frequently asked questions about Podtastic

### Does Podtastic have ads?

No, Podtastic is ad-free, allowing for an uninterrupted listening experience.

### What are the subscription options for Podtastic?

Podtastic offers a free tier with smart features on two podcasts. Unlimited access to smart features on all podcasts is available via monthly ($9.99/month) or annual ($34.99/year) subscriptions, both with a 14-day free trial.

### How does Podtastic's AI summarize podcasts?

Podtastic uses AI to generate summaries for every podcast and episode, which evolve over time as the content grows. This helps users quickly decide if an episode is worth listening to.

### Can I listen to Podtastic offline?

Yes, you can download episodes for offline listening, ensuring you can enjoy your podcasts without an internet connection.

### What is the age rating for Podtastic?

Podtastic is rated for users aged 12 and older.

### How often is Podtastic updated?

The app was last updated on June 26, 2026, indicating regular maintenance and feature additions.

### What devices does Podtastic support?

Podtastic is available on iPhones and iPads.

### Can I share specific parts of a podcast with friends using Podtastic?

Yes, Podtastic's Smart Topics feature allows you to jump directly to highlighted sections and share a topic timestamp with a friend in a single tap.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 9.0.1 — 2026-09-04

**What's New**

- Smart Clips: the list is now a preview card with quick actions, capture confirms with a "Clip saved" flash and a clearer sound, and a clip whose source episode you deleted offers to download it back.
- Settings now tells you, right where you set it, when your headphone or car back-press saves a clip.
- One "Feature and bug updates" notification opt-out in the settings.
- Low Power Mode now eases background work automatically, alongside big cuts to processing, disk and battery use during playback and Skip Silence.

**Bug Fixes**

- Topics didn't start at the intro of the show. Intros and outros are now explicitly labelled in the topic list.
- Swiping down in an episode transcript now scrolls the transcript instead of closing the player.
- Playback no longer resumes onto the phone's speaker when headphones or a car stereo disconnect.
- Fixed a crash when switching accounts, and audio from the previous account carrying over.
- Fixed opening a podcast sometimes showing the previous podcast's page.
- A damaged download now repairs itself instead of retrying forever.
- Jump to Video is steadier when auto-advancing and when opening the player.
- Fixed Smart Clips stuck on "Still processing", and the share button jumping width.
- Fixed the auto-download limit reading "1 episodes" and snapping to the wrong value.
- Edit Tab Bar now uses the right icon.

### 9.0.0 — 2026-08-28

**What's New**

- Smart Clips: while you're listening, save the moment with a tap in the player menu or your headphones' back button. Every clip gets an AI summary and lives in one place, ready to replay or share.
- A new More tab and a customizable tab bar. Pick which surfaces fill your three main slots, reorder them, and reach everything else from More.
- Library defaults: set your preferred playback speed, downloads, and more once, apply them across every podcast, and reset any time.
- Turn Smart Skip on or off for individual podcasts.
- Add an episode to a playlist straight from the row's overflow menu.
- Read transcripts for members-only episodes.

**Bug Fixes**

- Playback no longer jumps to the phone's speaker when your headphones disconnect.
- Faster, more reliable on-device processing, with fewer stalls and clearer status while an episode is being prepared.
- Fixed slowdowns and hangs on the Library tab and during downloads.
- Smart Clips polish: a confirmation flash and clearer capture sound, quick actions on each clip, and clips no longer show "Still processing" forever.
- If a clip's source episode has been deleted, you can re-download it straight from the clip.
- Clearer messages when adding a podcast fails, instead of a raw error code.
- Fixed playlist sync getting stuck.
- Fixed a sign-in prompt appearing on members-only feeds that did not need it.
- Fixed a rare case that could clear your downloaded library.
- Fixed Jump to Video resuming playback after you seek.

### 8.3.0 — 2026-08-20

**What's New**

- Select multiple episodes at once. Long-press a row or pick "Select Episodes" from the menu, then select a whole range above or below it and mark played or unplayed, download, remove downloads, play next, add to the queue, or add to a playlist in one go.
- Greatly improve the network processing system for members-only subscriptions.
- Podcasts you've just added now sort to the top of your library with a New badge.
- Jump to Video now links matching video as you start listening, so the link is there a moment into the episode rather than after the next sync.

**Bug Fixes**

- Fixed some users being signed out overnight.
- Fixed starting a video episode while audio was playing, which left both playing at once.
- Fixed the lock screen and headphone controls falling out of sync after a pause, so resuming took two taps.
- Fixed the "End of episode" sleep timer running past the end and into the next episode.
- Fixed losing your place after switching headphones or speakers, and after an unexpected quit.
- Fixed audio stopping when you locked the screen during a video episode.
- Fixed episodes that could get stuck at the very end instead of finishing.
- Fixed switching between monthly and annual in the app for Unlimited subscribers.
- Fixed playback getting stuck after a phone call, with a clear message now when another app is holding the audio.
- Fixed the add button on Discover search results ignoring the first tap, and it now ticks straight away.
- Fixed closing Jump to Video sending the audio back to the start of the episode.
- Fixed recommendation cards staying on the Play screen after you'd played them.
- Fixed episode search reporting a server error when you typed quickly.
- Fixed tapping a podcast you've just added in Discover so it opens in your library.
- Fixed members-only episodes that could get stuck part-way through processing.
- Reduced battery use while playback is paused.
- Smoother library scrolling, and readability fixes for the Jump to Video button and recommendation cards against any show artwork.

### 8.0.0 — 2026-08-04

What's New

- A brand-new Just Press Play. Your recommendations tab is completely rebuilt into one clean, continuous feed of personalised picks. Each card tells you why it was chosen and plays in a single tap; multi-episode picks let you preview the set or press play to start them all.
- Jump to Video starts with sound on, so there's no "tap to unmute" step, and signing in with Google now works smoothly.
- One tidy Playlists tab: your playlists and the built-in ones now share a single list.
- Downloads survive a dropped connection and resume where they left off instead of starting over, even across brief mobile-signal drops.
- Failed episodes retry automatically when you reopen the app.

Bug Fixes

- Faster, more reliable launch, with several startup freezes and crashes fixed.
- Fixed downloads being wrongly paused with a "needs Wi-Fi" message on newer iOS versions.
- Fixed the player grab handle not following your swipe down.
- Fixed the "ready" badge overflowing; it now counts up to 999.
- Fixed a phantom error when searching within an episode.
- Improved playback stability when switching audio outputs such as AirPods or car audio.

### 7.0.0 — 2026-07-29

What's New

- The full-screen player has been redesigned: swipe between Now Playing, Transcript and Details, with artwork colour flowing through the background and swipe-down to dismiss.
- Video podcasts now play natively, including picture-in-picture, so you can keep watching while you use other apps.
- New experimental Jump to Video feature: switching between audio and video even when the podcast doesn't support a video feed.
- The transcript page is now interactive. Tap any line to jump straight there, and follow along as it scrolls with playback.
- Three new playlists are ready by default: Unplayed, In Progress and Downloaded. Playlists now show every matching episode, with the same swipe actions as your library.
- Playing a playlist keeps it going. New episodes from that playlist queue up automatically, in order.
- A refreshed icon set throughout the app.
- Playback speed can now be set per podcast, with a new Playback Effects sheet for finer control.
- Signing out now only signs out the device you are using, leaving your other devices alone.
- Large OPML and Apple Podcasts imports now complete reliably.

Bug Fixes

- Fixed downloaded episodes never being cleared, so the storage limit now works as described.
- Fixed the full-screen player showing as a narrow column on iPad instead of filling the screen.
- Fixed unexpected sign-outs.
- Fixed the app becoming briefly unresponsive during playback.
- Fixed "Downloads paused, needs Wi-Fi" appearing on iOS 27 while connected to Wi-Fi.
- Episodes you mark as unplayed now stay unplayed.
- Fixed closing Jump to Video restarting the episode from the beginning.
- Fixed Skipping Backwards offering the next topic instead of the previous one.
- Improved Smart Summary readability in dark mode.
- Fixed the upgrade screen failing to open from some places in the app.

## More apps by Freewheel Group

- [Smooth](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/smooth/id6748689521)
- [PodcastAdBlock](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/podcastadblock/id6758439004)

All apps by Freewheel Group: https://appshunter.io/developer/1810525338

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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 2026-09-05.*