Home Sequencer vs Castria
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Home Sequencer
Automate and synchronize your HomeKit lights with custom sequences. This app allows you to control the timing and color of your smart home lighting. Requires HomeKit-enabled devices to function.
- Sequence HomeKit lights
- Control light timing
- Set light colors
- Requires HomeKit
- Foreground operation
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Sequence all the lights in your HomeKit home. Requires HomeKit, HomeKit enabled lights, switches, dimmers, or outlets. Color changing HomeKit enabled lights are required for the color feature. Long press or force touch on a light control step to select color. Home Sequencer must be running in the foreground to work. HomeKit does not allow background app access.
Castria
This podcast app automatically removes ads, sponsor reads, and commercial breaks from episodes. It also offers AI-powered summaries, searchable transcripts, and chapter navigation for a seamless listening experience. Enjoy offline playback and cross-device syncing for free.
- Automatic ad skipping
- AI episode summaries
- Searchable transcripts
- Tap-to-jump topics
- Offline downloads
- Cross-device syncing
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Castria is the podcast app that skips the ads for you. Press play and the ads, sponsor reads, and commercial breaks skip themselves. No fast-forwarding, no guessing where the show comes back. Just the show. Premium subscriptions remove an app's own ads, but not the ones inside the episode. Castria skips those, and skipping ads on your phone is free. Around the skip is a full podcast player: playlists, offline downloads, AI summaries, searchable transcripts, and sync across your devices. TOP FEATURES • Ads skip themselves: on every episode, hands-free, from the moment you press play • You stay in control: see every ad Castria found and why, keep a sponsor you want to hear, or turn skipping off in one tap • AI episode summaries: see what an episode covers before you commit • Tap-to-jump topics: go straight to the part you came for • Searchable transcripts: read along, search any word, tap to jump to that moment • Offline downloads: ad-skipping still works with no signal, and each show can auto-download, keep the newest few, or delete after playing • Playlists: build your own, in any order you like • Bring your shows: import from another app with an OPML file, or preview a show before you follow it • Sleep timer, speed up to 5×, and trim silences • Resume on any device: iPhone, iPad, and the web on one account • See your time saved: the minutes and ads Castria has skipped for you, by day, week, and month For serious podcast listeners: the more you listen, the more time you get back. The core is free: ad-skipping, the full player, and the AI features. And Castria shows no ads of its own. CASTRIA PREMIUM (optional, with a free trial) • Faster ad-skip: ads are found on our servers before you download, so your phone does none of the work • CarPlay: a dedicated app with Listen Now, Up Next, Playlists, and Shows (iOS 26.4 or later) • Apple Watch: your queue and Now Playing on your wrist, with ads skipped • Smart playlists that fill themselves • 20 GB of cloud storage for your saved episodes FAIR TO CREATORS Castria plays the publisher's own episode file and skips the ad segments as you listen, the same as fast-forwarding by hand. We never modify or re-host the audio. Don't interrupt what you're doing just to fast-forward through an ad. Castria skips them for you. Castria Premium is an auto-renewing subscription, billed monthly or yearly to your Apple Account. It renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel it anytime in your App Store account settings.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Castria at 67% against Home Sequencer's 50%. Home Sequencer's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.0). On price, update cadence, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Home Sequencer ships an update weekly, Castria every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Home Sequencer | Castria |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (4 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | 66.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 4 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 47 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | xyster.net LLC | Extroverted Developer, LLC |
Customer experience
Home Sequencer
Castria
In-app purchases
Home Sequencer
No in-app purchases
Castria
No in-app purchases









