InteroCast vs Pickaxe Player

A calmer, more private way to listen - and to actually engage with what you hear. InteroCast is a complete podcast player that runs entirely on your device. Search and subscribe, build a queue, download for offline, and listen in a clean, editorial design. No account. No tracking. No server in the middle. THE BASICS, DONE WELL • Find shows by name, or add any podcast by RSS URL • "Up Next" queue you can reorder with a long-press • Variable speed, skip controls, and a sleep timer • Download episodes for offline listening • New-episode notifications for shows you follow • CarPlay support and a Home Screen widget • iCloud sync keeps your library across devices • Built for iPhone and iPad, with a landscape two-pane layout GO DEEPER WITH AI (OPTIONAL) Bring your own OpenAI or Anthropic key to unlock: • Transcripts that follow along as you listen — generate them with OpenAI Whisper, or free and entirely on-device with Apple Intelligence • Ask - a chat assistant that knows your exact position in the episode, so you can ask "what was just said?", "summarize so far," or "what's coming up?" • Voice mode — a hands-free, real-time conversation about whatever you're hearing SAVE THE GOOD PARTS • Long-press any transcript line to clip it • Turn clippings into shareable pull-quote cards PRIVACY BY DESIGN Your library, history, downloads, and preferences live only on your device. There's no InteroCast account and no analytics server. When you use an AI feature, the request goes straight from your device to OpenAI or Anthropic with your own key — it never passes through us. Apple Intelligence transcription happens fully on-device. InteroCast is free to use as a podcast player. The AI features use your own API key, so you pay the providers directly only for what you use. A quieter way to listen.

You decide what plays next. Pickaxe Player builds your Up Next from Listening Blocks — ordering rules you set once — so every session starts exactly where you want it, not where an algorithm guesses. Stack blocks in the order you want your day to sound: morning news up top, current events next, long serials to finish. Each block arranges its own episodes — grouped by show or interleaved, oldest or newest first — and refreshing brings in new episodes without losing your place. LISTENING BLOCKS Standing rules that keep Up Next arranged your way. Pick the shows, choose the order, drag blocks to rearrange your day. New episodes slot in where your rules say they belong. A QUEUE THAT ALWAYS COMES FIRST Want something specific right now? Add it to the Queue and it plays before everything else. Reorder by hand anytime — the plan works around what you place. PRIVATE FEEDS, FIRST-CLASS Members-only RSS plays like any other show. Feed URLs and tokens stay on your device and are sent only to the feed's own server. LOCAL-FIRST. NO ACCOUNT. There's no sign-up and no cloud. Subscriptions, progress, and rules live on your device, and feed refreshes are built to preserve your progress, queue, and played states. THE ESSENTIALS Background audio, lock-screen and headphone controls, playback speed, and adjustable skip intervals. PRIVACY No accounts, no analytics, no tracking. The app doesn't collect data, so there's nothing for anyone else to see. Full policy: https://player.pickaxe.media/privacy