Comparison

Playapod vs Orb.net

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Playapod

Listen to podcasts with advanced features like cross-platform syncing, precise episode tracking, and offline playback. Bookmark favorite moments, enjoy video and text-to-speech content, and organize your listening with custom playlists and filters. It's a free, ad-free experience designed for dedicated podcast enthusiasts.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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/

About

Orb.net

This free platform continuously measures your internet connection's responsiveness, reliability, and speed. It provides easy-to-understand scores and detailed technical information for users who want to understand their true internet experience.

Highlights
  • Measures internet responsiveness
  • Measures internet reliability
  • Measures internet speed
  • Continuous lightweight tests
  • Easy-to-understand scores
  • Technical details for advanced users
Features
Read full description

Orb shows your true internet experience and is a free platform that runs without disrupting your connection or device. It measures Responsiveness, Reliability, and Speed using lightweight, continuous tests, and provides easy-to-understand scores as well as the technical details for nerds.

Screenshots

Playapod4 screens
Orb.net4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Orb.net at every 2 weeks against Playapod's every 3 months. Playapod's advantage is ratings volume (620 vs 35) and review sentiment (79% vs 64%). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Playapod against 4.6 for Orb.net. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Playapod has 620 ratings behind it against 35, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 79% of Playapod's written reviews are positive against 64% of Orb.net's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Playapod ships an update every 3 months, Orb.net every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Playapod versus Orb.net: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPlayapodOrb.net
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (620 ratings) — better4.6 (35 ratings)
Positive reviews79.2% of reviews — better64.3% of reviews
Number of ratings620 — better35
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size25 MB38 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperTMSOFTOrb Forge Inc.

Customer experience

Playapod

All ratings620 ratings
Positive92.7%
Neutral3.7%
Negative3.5%
Written reviews77 reviews
Positive79.2%
Neutral9.1%
Negative11.7%

Orb.net

All ratings35 ratings
Positive88.6%
Neutral5.7%
Negative5.7%
Written reviews28 reviews
Positive64.3%
Neutral17.9%
Negative17.9%

User reviews

Playapod

From 620 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Honest and caring app
  • 🚀 Works perfectly on iOS
  • 🚀 Plays both video and audio podcasts
  • 🚀 Easily share podcast clips
  • 👍 Fantastic individual settings

Room to improve

  • 🐛 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

Orb.net

From 35 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Good network insights
  • 💡 Helpful for working from home

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Doesn't run in the background
  • 🐛 Inaccurate speed test results
  • 🐛 High system overhead

Bugs and requests

Playapod

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • 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

Requested features

6 requests
  • Volume boost and normalization
  • Silence skip feature
  • Ability to reorder individual playlists
  • Video podcast playback support
  • Diagnostics and troubleshooting tools
Show 1 more
  • Search by episode title

Orb.net

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Console opens on desktop every time
  • Slow performance

Requested features

3 requests
  • Apple TV app
  • PlayStation app
  • Background mode

In-app purchases

None

Playapod

No in-app purchases

None

Orb.net

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Playapod free?
Playapod is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Orb.net free?
Orb.net is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Playapod or Orb.net?
Playapod is rated higher. Playapod averages 4.7 out of 5 from 620 ratings, while Orb.net averages 4.6 from 35 ratings.
Do Playapod or Orb.net have ads?
Neither Playapod nor Orb.net shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Playapod or Orb.net?
Playapod ships an update every 3 months, and Orb.net every 2 weeks. Most recently, Playapod was updated on October 6, 2026 and Orb.net on October 9, 2026.

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