Comparison

Wave Reader vs opencast

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

Head to head
About

Wave Reader

This app provides a focused RSS reading experience without algorithmic feeds or ads. It delivers full articles, customizable reading themes, and offline access, keeping your data private and on your device.

Highlights
  • Ad-free reading experience
  • Full article delivery
  • Customizable reading themes and fonts
  • Offline reading capabilities
  • Private, local-first data storage
  • iCloud sync across Apple devices
Read full description

Wave – read calmly, stay private. Wave is an RSS reader for iPhone and iPad. Follow the blogs, newspapers, and magazines that matter to you – no account, no subscription, no ads, and no algorithm deciding for you. Wave gathers your sources in one place and presents them calmly and beautifully. PRIVATE BY DESIGN • Wave collects no data. No tracking, no profiles, no ads. • Articles, reading progress, and reading stats stay on your device. • Just start as a guest. If you like, sign in with Apple – your feeds and folders then sync privately across your devices via your iCloud. READING COMES FIRST • Full articles instead of truncated previews: when a feed only offers a teaser, Wave fetches the complete text and formats it cleanly. • Images, tables, videos, and quotes appear exactly where they belong. • Six reading themes from light through sepia to dark, and five fonts. • Once loaded, readable offline. Plus Read Later and Favorites. • If an article sits behind a paywall, Wave tells you instead of showing half a page. SMART HELPERS WHEN YOU WANT THEM • Summaries: the key point and main takeaways of an article at a glance. On devices with Apple Intelligence they are created right on your device; elsewhere Wave shows the article's central sentences. • Translation: read articles in other languages with Apple's built-in translation. • Siri, Shortcuts, and Spotlight: show what's unread, summarize an article, or add a new feed. QUICK START, EASY MOVE • Recommended sources by topic make getting started easy. • Bring your subscriptions over from your previous reader via OPML import – and take them with you anytime via export. • Folders, unread counts, and search keep things tidy. FOR IPHONE AND IPAD • Multiple columns on iPad: sources, article list, and text side by side. • Reading stats that show what and how much you read – just for you. • Dynamic Type and VoiceOver are supported. • Available in English, German, Spanish, and French. Wave is an indie project from Dortmund, Germany. Feedback and ideas are always welcome.

About

opencast

A native podcast client focused on direct RSS listening. Subscribe to shows, manage your library, and stream episodes with customizable playback controls. The app is open source and designed for a clutter-free listening experience.

Highlights
  • Direct RSS feed subscription
  • Podcast library management
  • Episode playback with progress saving
  • Customizable playback controls
  • iCloud sync for subscriptions and progress
  • Open source code
Features
Read full description

opencast finds the ad breaks in your podcasts and skips them. It is also yours. There is no opencast account, no tracking SDK, and no ads of our own. Subscriptions and listening progress sync through your private iCloud, any RSS feed works, and the source code is MIT-licensed on GitHub. Transcripts are made on your device with Apple Speech or Whisper. Follow along as the episode plays and tap any line to jump there. Search everything said in the episodes you've transcribed. Generate chapters and a summary for any transcribed episode. Voice Boost is a broadcast-style leveler for quiet hosts and loud rooms. ~how ad skipping works~ Tap Detect Ads on an episode, or turn on automatic detection for a show, and your phone transcribes it. opencast checks the transcript for promo and sponsor reads and marks every break on the timeline and in the transcript. High-confidence breaks skip automatically. Borderline sponsor reads are marked but never skipped, so you decide. Queue a batch, keep listening, and get one notification when detection finishes. Detection works from the transcript text, not the audio. ~what the app can do for you~ • Skips ad breaks automatically, with one-tap undo • Transcripts on device, with tap-to-seek and follow-along highlighting • Full-text search across titles, notes, and transcripts in your library • Generated chapters and summaries for episodes with a transcript • Voice Boost, speed, sleep timer, AirPlay, and Up Next • Per-show intro and outro skip • CarPlay and Siri integration • New-episode notifications with no promotions inside • Search the podcast directory or subscribe by RSS URL • OPML import and export • Downloads for offline listening • Private iCloud sync for subscriptions and progress • Native SwiftUI for iOS 27, on iPhone and iPad ~optional and paid~ On-device transcription and ad skipping are free. Remote Transcription, cloud ad detection, and Chapters & Summary are optional and use transcription hours: the first hour is free, then 20 hours for $0.99 or 100 hours for $4.99, in the US. Remote Transcription and cloud ad detection process episode audio only for the jobs you request. Chapters & Summary sends transcript text, never audio. You see the estimate before a Remote Transcription or Chapters & Summary job starts. Remote transcription and summaries are offered at-cost. opencast is open source under the MIT license: https://github.com/connlark/opencast Your listening is not a growth funnel.

Screenshots

Wave Reader4 screens
opencast4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: opencast at Free against Wave Reader's $0.99. Wave Reader's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and update cadence (every 4 days vs every 10 days). On ads and device support 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

opencast is free to download; Wave Reader costs $0.99 up front. opencast sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Wave Reader asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Wave Reader ships an update every 4 days, opencast every 10 days. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Wave Reader versus opencast: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWave Readeropencast
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating—4.4 (8 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better90.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—8 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 10 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.6 — better27.0
Further details — not scored
Size21 MB76 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBartos Martin GwozdzConnor Larkin

Customer experience

Wave Reader

Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

opencast

All ratings8 ratings
Positive87.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative12.5%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive90.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative10.0%

In-app purchases

None

Wave Reader

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

opencast

One-time2
  • 20 Transcription Hours$0.99
  • 100 Transcription Hours$4.99

Questions

Is Wave Reader free?
Wave Reader costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is opencast free?
opencast is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Wave Reader or opencast have ads?
Neither Wave Reader nor opencast shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Wave Reader or opencast?
Wave Reader ships an update every 4 days, and opencast every 10 days. Most recently, Wave Reader was updated on October 31, 2026 and opencast on October 31, 2026.

Other comparisons