iTunes Remote vs Apple Podcasts
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
iTunes Remote
Control your Apple Music, iTunes, or Apple TV app library from your iPhone or iPad. Browse content, manage playlists, and stream audio to AirPlay speakers throughout your home.
- Control Apple Music, iTunes, Apple TV
- Browse music, movies, TV shows, podcasts
- Create and edit playlists
- View upcoming songs (Up Next)
- Search entire libraries
- Stream to AirPlay speakers
- Group speakers for multi-room audio
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iTunes Remote is the best way to control Apple Music, iTunes, or the Apple TV app from anywhere in your home. Simply download the app to your iPhone or iPad, and connect directly to Apple Music, iTunes, or the Apple TV app on your Mac or PC. With iTunes Remote you can: • Access your Apple Music, Apple TV, or iTunes libraries • Browse music by artist, albums, and songs • Browse movies, TV shows, and podcasts • Create and edit playlists • See upcoming songs with Up Next • Search your entire Apple Music, Apple TV, or iTunes libraries • Explore shared Apple Music, Apple TV, or iTunes libraries • Listen with AirPlay • Send music to AirPlay speakers • Group speakers together to play music in multiple rooms at the same time • Set the volume on each speaker independently Requirements: • iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 11.4 or later • Wi-Fi connection to Apple TV, Apple Music, or iTunes on a Mac or PC • macOS 10.15.2 or higher for Apple Music and the Apple TV app • iTunes 12.8 or later is recommended for use with iTunes Remote
Apple Podcasts
Discover and listen to a vast library of podcasts that entertain, inform, and inspire. Get personalized recommendations and curated collections to explore new shows. Seamlessly sync your listening progress across all your Apple devices.
- Listen and watch podcasts
- Download and play offline
- Personalized recommendations
- Top Charts and curated collections
- Sync across Apple devices
- Playback controls and sleep timers
- Subscriber-only content access
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Discover podcasts that entertain, inform, and inspire. Get recommendations curated by Apple Podcasts editors and dive deep into what interests you most. Seamlessly sync your shows across Apple devices. Features: • Listen and watch podcasts, download and play offline. • Explore new shows with personalized recommendations. • Find trending shows and episodes by category with Top Charts. • Find the best of what’s new and popular in podcasting with curated collections from Apple editors. • Follow and save your favorite shows to your library. • Use playback controls to build and manage your queue, control playback speed, and set sleep timers. • Hear voices in episodes more clearly with Enhance Dialogue. • Add your favorite categories to find shows that map to your unique tastes. • Access subscriber-only content, from the biggest names to the top independents. • Connect subscriptions to access shows from Apple Music, Apple News, and other top apps. • Read along with a transcript as your episode plays. • Share a specific moment in an episode from the transcript. • Get new episode notifications from shows you follow. • Pick up where you left off with seamless syncing across your Apple devices. • Listen on-the-go with CarPlay and Apple Watch. • Use customizable widgets to listen with just one tap. Availability and features vary by country and region, plan, or device. https://support.apple.com/HT204411 Apple Podcasts app Terms and Conditions can be found at https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: iTunes Remote at none against Apple Podcasts's shown. iTunes Remote also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and review sentiment (57% vs 44%). Apple Podcasts's advantage is ratings volume (2.1M vs 40K) and rating (4.9 vs 4.6). On price, in-app purchases, 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Apple Podcasts holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Apple Podcasts has 2.1M ratings behind it against 40K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 57% of iTunes Remote's written reviews are positive against 44% of Apple Podcasts's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
iTunes Remote ships an update every 5 months, Apple Podcasts every 2 months. Both last shipped on November 10, 2026.
| Parameter | iTunes Remote | Apple Podcasts |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (40K ratings) | 4.9 (2.1M ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 56.9% of reviews — better | 44.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 40K | 2.1M — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 11.4 | 10.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 12 MB | 11 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Apple | Apple |
Customer experience
iTunes Remote
Apple Podcasts
User reviews
iTunes Remote
From 40K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Excellent for controlling music on Mac and AirPlay devices
- 👍 Convenient remote control for Apple TV
- 💡 Allows remote access to iTunes library
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent disconnects and stability issues
- 🔍 Lacks integration with Apple Music
- 📺 No longer supports Apple Watch
- 🔍 Limited functionality compared to previous versions
Apple Podcasts
From 2.1M App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Seamless integration with Apple ecosystem
- 🎨 Sleek and modern user interface
- 💯 Vast library of podcast content
- 🔍 Helpful podcast discovery features
- 🗓️ Convenient episode management
Room to improve
- 🐛 Buggy and unreliable playback
- 🤯 Confusing and unintuitive navigation
- 🔀 Inconsistent episode ordering and playlist management
- 🔋 High data and battery consumption
- 🗑️ Difficulty removing/deleting unwanted episodes
Bugs and requests
iTunes Remote
Reported bugs
3 issues- Arrows and navigation buttons disappearing
- Inability to control Apple TV
- Frequent need to reconnect to iTunes library
Requested features
4 requests- Add support for HomePod and stereo HomePods
- Integrate with Apple Music for searching and adding to library
- Improve user interface and add more customization options
- Restore Apple Watch support
Apple Podcasts
Reported bugs
5 issues- Frequent crashes and app freezes
- Inconsistent episode downloads and sync issues
- Randomly playing incorrect or outdated episodes
- Continuous playback setting changing on its own
- Deleted episodes reappearing in the library
Requested features
5 requests- Add option to sort episodes by oldest first
- Improve playlist and queue management features
- Introduce a dedicated sleep timer function
- Allow users to manually mark episodes as played/unplayed
- Enhance integration with Siri and Apple Watch
In-app purchases
iTunes Remote
No in-app purchases
Apple Podcasts
No in-app purchases
