Lysten vs PodPulse
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Lysten
Easily discover and listen to podcasts with a privacy-focused player. Enjoy features like offline listening, interactive widgets, and seamless sharing with friends. Syncs via iCloud for a personal experience.
- Privacy-focused design
- iCloud sync for progress
- Offline episode downloads
- Interactive widgets
- Sleep timer
- Adjustable playback speed
- Spotlight search indexing
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Start listening in seconds — search for any show, follow it, and get a clean list of episodes ready to play. Share episodes and shows with anyone, whether or not they have the app. iPhone and iPad users get an App Clip that drops them straight into playback. Tap the share button to invite your friends and loved ones. Lysten is a lightweight podcast player. Sign in with your email to keep your followed shows, episodes, and listening progress in sync across all your devices — iPhone, iPad, and CarPlay. Features: - Sync your library and listening progress across devices with a simple email sign-in - Interactive widgets showing your feed and unfinished episodes — catch up where you left off with a tap - Sidebar on iPad with cover art and grouped sections - CarPlay support, including a Continue Listening carousel - Download episodes to listen offline — long press an episode and select Download - Sleep timer, set, enjoy & sleep - Adjustable playback speed - Podcasts and episodes indexed in Spotlight - SharePlay support — listen to episodes with friends and family - Extremely lightweight If you run into any trouble or have any questions, please reach out: - E-mail: support@ambi.se - X (Twitter): @ambiApps - Mastodon: @ambiApps@mastodon.social Privacy policy: https://ambi.se/privacy Terms of use: https://ambi.se/terms
PodPulse
This podcast player offers a clean, ad-free interface for an elegant listening experience. It features smart library management, refined playback controls, and a minimalistic design, all developed by an indie creator.
- Minimalistic design
- Ad-free interface
- Smart library management
- Refined playback experience
- Background playback
- Indie-developed
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PodPulse – Simple, Clean, and Handcrafted Podcast Listening PodPulse is an indie-developed podcast app that brings simplicity and elegance to your podcast listening experience. Built by a solo developer and powered by Apple Podcasts, PodPulse focuses on providing a clean interface without unnecessary distractions—just you and your podcasts. Key Features • Minimalistic Design: A straightforward, ad-free interface with no bloat. Choose between elegant grid or list views to browse your podcasts exactly how you prefer. • Handcrafted Experience: Designed and built by an indie developer, PodPulse reflects the care and attention to detail you deserve in an app. • Smart Library Management: - Save your favorite shows with a simple star - Switch between grid and list views - Access your podcasts instantly - No account required—just pure listening • Refined Playback Experience: - Sleek mini-player that follows you - Full-screen immersive player - Background playback - Lock screen controls with artwork - 30-second forward skip - 15-second backward skip - Remembers where you left off • Thoughtful Details: - Clean episode descriptions - Smooth animations - Simple podcast search powered by Apple Podcasts - Continuous playback - No ads, no tracking - No hidden paywalls • Lightweight and Intuitive: No unnecessary features or complex menus—just a pure, smooth podcast experience focused on what matters most: listening. Whether you're catching up on your favorite show or exploring new content, PodPulse makes podcast listening easy, accessible, and enjoyable. It's podcast listening distilled to its essence—simple, beautiful, and respectful of your time and attention. Download PodPulse today and experience podcast listening as it should be: clean, simple, and handcrafted with care.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Lysten at 80% against PodPulse's 0%. Lysten also leads on ratings volume (10 vs 1). PodPulse's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.4) and in-app purchases (none vs 2). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. Lysten sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. PodPulse asks for nothing beyond the download.
PodPulse holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Lysten has 10 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 80% of Lysten's written reviews are positive against 0% of PodPulse's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Lysten ships an update every 2 months, PodPulse every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Lysten | PodPulse |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (10 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 80.0% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 10 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 9 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 44 MB | 6 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ambi Studio AB | Dor Pascal |
Customer experience
Lysten
PodPulse
In-app purchases
Lysten
- Lysten+3 Days trial$1.991 Month
- Lysten+ Yearly7 Days trial$19.991 Year
PodPulse
No in-app purchases
