Time to get out of Google Podcasts for anyone that is still using the service.
For anyone getting this news here. On Android, one of the best replacements is AntennaPod.
Podcast Addict is not quite as streamlined, but has many more features.
My favorite feature is the “Automatic Rewind” combined with “Incremental rewind”. It adds a rewind everytime you pause and resume an episode that increases the longer the podcast has been paused. It means that if I briefly pause, for example to respond to. Some one in real life talking to me, then it will automatically rewind 5 seconds when I start the podcast again, so I can hear the sentence I was in the middle of in full. But if I leave a podcast alone for a week, then it will rewind 1 minute so I can get fully back into the context of what I was listening to.
The dev is also very responsive if you reach out with any issues.
I have used this for years now. It’s really great. I have it set to skip the first 7 minutes of only certain podcasts because they usually have 7 - 8 minutes of ads. I also have it skip silences, which speeds up listening more than I first thought it would.
Podcast Addict is exactly the kind of app I wish were in vogue again. Rather than dropping features and hiding options in a race to be “streamlined”, it’s a properly designed piece of software in the classic sense: its a tool first and foremost. It prioritizes usability first, aesthetics second, and gives you all the buttons and levers to make it your own.
Like, it’s the kind of app where if you’re using it and think “eh I don’t like this one thing”, if you look in the settings, there’s probably a way to turn it off. God damn what I wouldn’t give for this to be common place design philosophy again.
Dev is really cool and responsive, too.
This is exactly why I run Linux on all my computers, and run as much open-source software as I can, build my own home server, and set up my own home-automation. It does have a time cost, over convenience, but being able to tailor everything to my needs and wants is a wonderful feeling.
But yes, it would be wonderful if this was a more common mentality in software in general. Especially on mobile devices.
That time cost is spent optimizing, learning, and growing as an engineer. I wasn’t always a full time, highly paid system engineer. It started at home, and I marketed those skills.
Indeed!
Another vote for Podcast Addict. It works with Android Auto in my car :-)
Now to listen to all these shows I have downloaded…
What you describe is also a feature of AntennaPod.
Edit: AntennaPod is also open source.
Awesome! I actually downloaded Antenna Pod to compare, but I can’t seem to find this setting, could you point it out to me?
I don’t know if it’s actually a setting, I’ve only noticed the behaviour. Neat little feature!
I’ve always been a fan of Pocket Casts personally.
I have a lifetime membership with PocketCasts, but I don’t know if I’d chose it today with the subscription. A few months ago, they shipped a buggy version and I temporarily switched to AntennaPod and was considering staying.
Oh yeah, forgot about that. I’m grandfathered into the lifetime too. Good point!
AntennaPod and was considering staying.
How do you deal with multi OS support?
I don’t use multiple devices anymore, so it’s not an issue for me.
I love Pocket Casts. Sadly I have a hard time recommending it to new people since they switched to subscription model payment. The reason I love it is because of what it was, not what it is. I’m grandfathered into the "pay once, own forever"and if I wasn’t I would probably be using something else these days. I’m still gonna throw it in as a recommendation though, because it’s damn good and people should make up their own minds in whether it is worth the payment.
I don’t mind their subscription model. All the subscription features – cloud storage, folders, desktop app, extra themes – really feel like bonus features that aren’t essential.
I guess. I don’t know what I would do without the desktop app and the cloud storage though. I just log in somewhere and everything is synced up and working.
It depends on your usage, for sure. For me, I’m more on the side of not seeing much there that’s valuable enough to subscribe to, though I’d probably pay a few bucks for the app just to support them. I think that if you’re happy with Google Podcasts, though, you’ll be happy with Pocket Casts without a subscription. It’s not like you have to pay for basic functionality, like downloading or queuing episodes, which is the evil version of the subscription model.
I really like this app, not so much paying a subscription. But I wanted access on both my phone and my PC and that was the only way to get it.
I recommend Podcast Republic. Maybe recommend that to people?
I can’t recommend something I do not use.
So use it for a week 😀 😀
I have pocket casts set up the way I want it and, as I previously said, own the full featured product for life without extra costs. I just don’t see a reason to.
That’s fine. I was just saying if you wanted to recommend any other options to your friends who ask you, Podcast Republic on Android is a solid choice to consider. That’s all.
Also a big fan of AntennaPod, I switched to it back when Google first announced they were axing Podcasts and thought I’d have a lot less time to abandon ship than I ended up with.
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I feel like podcasts and their apps is what TV and movies should be.
Users pick the app they want to use. They optionally pay a fee or not. The app has any and all TV, Movies, music, etc. they want. In the back end, media rights holders have a pre-defined revenue split agreement.
It’s like federated media.
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Looking at the data safety info, I think I’ll go with Antenna Pod
Completely fair, it it however worth mentioning that you can disable this data collection in settings.
To be fair perhaps they want to make it possible to download the podcast unencrypted in MP3
I’m a big fan of Podcast Republic. Great dev, feature-rich, and a much improved UI from when I first started using it.
Podcast Republic is my choice as well. It’s the only Podcast app that I could find that let’s you choose your download folder. I like to play my podcasts with the same app I listen to books with, so I need to download the podcasts to a publicly accessible folder.
For iOS, Overcast is the only correct answer
I have come to rather like Downcast on iOS myself. Should check it out if you never have.
I still use the default app. What can be better there?
I like that I can create my own playlists with multiple sort options. It also has more speed options, as well as its own “shorten pauses” thing where it clips down awkward pauses and stuff.
Please elaborate.
PodcastAddict is better in my opinion
Yeah podcast addict was the shit
Thanks for the recommendation. I was wondering what else to try as I sure as hell don’t want to use YouTube and it doesn’t seem like you can have a separate podcast playlist in Spotify.
Selfhost Audiobookshelf
I tried AntennaPod but went back because of Android Auto. I just found this showing how to get AntennaPod on AndroidAuto!
Google killing a product? No way
Nah they done it before with chat
Your sarcasm detector requires calibration.
Another day another piece of Google tech tossed in the trash
Google: Wanna see me create another great app and space then do no advertising and deep 6 it like, well whenever. wanna see it again?
they are like the bad version of valve with their IPs.
No advertising is correct, first I ever heard of this was hearing its getting cancelled
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great things
By Google? With all the fuckery that comes along with it?
Nah, I’m happy that they don’t provide more services than they already do.
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That’s not why they’re killing t though, it’s because they’re moving it to YouTube to get subscriptions.
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fuck it, do gmail next, force me to find a proper provider
who exactly thinks it’s good that things are this ephemeral? what’s the point of even using and enjoying and getting invested in something when they constantly pull this shit?
Gmail is to valuable a source of advertising data
In other words, Google won’t kill what they can use to harvest your data.
Proton mail!
Proton’s legit
I mean, before Gmail, I had a new email address every 2-3 years. I’ve had Gmail for what, almost 20 years? That’s not what I’d define as “ephemeral.”
Finding an alternative is the easy part. You can get yourself a domain on Namecheap, and get an email attached to it for pennies.
Issue is that a lot of services out there don’t consider alternative email providers as valid. Some as a protective measure against spam, some because… fuck knows why, honestly
How long until they shut down Search? It’s been dog shit for years.
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With the announcement of Gemini you have to think Bard’s days are numbered.
Gemini is the underlying technology, they put it in Bard when they announced it.
You mean the fraudulent video of things it can’t do?
Nah.
Gemini can’t do a lot more stuff than Bard can’t do though.
Bard is also a crap name. Bard will be on killedbygoogle.com soon enough.
A Large Language Model AI still needs a search index like OpenAI uses Bing otherwise funky hallucinations are more likely.
Tip: just don’t use Google products
Ty I was gonna post that link lmao
I was looking for you “OMG GOOGLE IS KILLING EVERYTHING!” people. They don’t have infinite money, stuff costs money to run and if it isn’t as popular as their other services obviously they’d shut it down. People use their products for free (monetarily) for years and then bitch and complain when something gets shut down, never having paid a cent.
People use their products for free (monetarily) for years and then bitch and complain when something gets shut down, never having paid a cent.
Click on the link before commenting, and where did I give a shit about google shutting their stuff down?
I see someone like him and block him instantly, knowing I just made life better.
Scared of differing opinions I see 🤣
Yeah, some things that cost money were killed off, but that’s what happens when they try making everything. Most people have never paid a dime to Google.
Every single thing I use gets changed, ruined, shut down, canceled, moved, merged. It never ends.
Wound up giving up and using Google podcast BECAUSE other ones I used kept getting shut down.
Pocket Casts has been reliable for me for years. I don’t even use their pro features, but I pay anyway because it’s so cheap. Highly recommended.
Another great app for podcasts I can recommend is Podcast Addict. Free and it’s full of great features.
To clarify, Pocket Casts is also free. 👍 I just recommend supporting them because the pro price is so cheap.
Supported!
Cheap? Unless someone snagged Pocketcasts when it was still a one off payment app, it is NOT cheap. Heck, I can pay for YouTube Premium, Spotify Premium and still have money left for one more streaming service to plug into before I hit what Pocketcasts wants me to pay. The app is good but it is the very antithesis of cheap.
Wow, that’s odd.
I’m paying 119 SEK/year for the Plus tier, which is the result of a price raise some time ago as well. But I see now that it’s 533 SEK/year all of a sudden for new customers.
Still, that’s not too expensive, honestly. If you need the features, it’s pretty good.
I don’t, so I won’t pay that amount of my account is put on that price point…
I will never shut up about pocket casts. Their multi-device sync is wonderful. I can pick up where I left off on any episode from any of their apps. They’ve even got a pretty decent UWP app that I use on my Windows installs. They also have rock solid Chromecast support.
I loved it so much I bought the lifetime pass a long time ago. At any rate, I can’t recommend pocket casts enough!
it seems antennapod recently got the play state sync feature using gpoddersync.
Way of the world. At least the churn of enshitification means we get some new good stuff for a little while.
FFS Google’s killing another app I use all the time
At this rate I half expect Google Play books to be dead before 2025
YouTube Podcasts coming to the YouTube Music app delivered to you by the Google Play game delivery app!
*being shut down in 2025
I’ve tried to listen to some podcasts on YouTube music. It really doesn’t work well compared to Pocket Casts. They need to separate the music and podcasts more clearly and make managing podcast playlists more intuitive
My favorite part of YT Music is how it’s a terrible interface for YT videos. Second favorite part is the total mixing of music playlists and video playlists.
I buy all my ebooks on Google Play and then export them via ACSM converter and back it up (you can only convert and exported file once)
Sounds smart might give it a go, but why not simply download epub direct from an ebooks retailer?
I’m not sure what an ACSM file is, think you could give me a TLDR?
My understanding is it is a file linked to your account that links to the epub file. It lets you and only you download your copy of the epub file you purchased.
I’ll never forgive them for killing iGoogle. I missed my start page so much…
Selfhost Audiobookshelf
I’ll have to check this out for sure as I primarily listen to audiobooks rather than reading physical books or reading ebooks
They’re just so much more convenient with my shitty work schedule
Is there a way to download any books bought as pdfs?
I don’t believe so
I tried to figure out how to through the app but I unfortunately couldn’t find anything
Or even download them so I can view them outside of the play app?
That’s why I never used it, because I knew it will happen. Better to use some other solution. I wish there was a third party option to google chromecast and all the home devices that works as well.
I can’t speak for the rest of the home products, but Roku is a pretty good alternative to Chromecast
I hate that all the TCL TVs this year changed from Roku and Google this year to just Google. Give me some variety and competition. Also, I like their simpler out-of-the-box interface better with less ads and such, even though the Google TV interface is more customizable.
ROKU TV HAS ADS AS WELL?
Yes they do. Usually one big ad on the side of the screen. And they may if you use certain screen savers. I think the city scapes one puts ads in it. Note: all the ads I mention are static images without sound.
Hoo BOY does Roku have ads! When I installed PiHole on my network and used it as my local DNS, the TOP blocked domain was “scribe.roku.com”. It was calling home like 5000 times a day. We were thinking every single remote push maybe.
Blocking those domains made the entire interface speed up drastically, and got rid of the giant box ads on the side as well. (It’s just a big empty frame now lol).
Rokus are nice and cheap if you can mitigate their rampant data harvesting.
I just gave up and attached a small form factor PC to my TV.
What are you using for control? I wouldn’t mind scrapping my Roku for something a little more robust but using a mouse and keyboard on my home television seems kind of …awful.
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Steam Deck ftw.
It is my everything. Seriously.
Pocketcasts is great and supports Chromecast
Thanks, I know.
10 Google: We’re so rich! Let’s make a product!
20 Google: kills product
30 goto 10
You forgot major adoption and promotion for all parties involved.
Lmao. I’m shocked.
Never rely on Google apps.
The end.
What’s a good alternative to Google maps? I’m getting sick of it.
Another one in the Google graveyard.
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They say it’s crazy YouTube could end. I’m not so sure.
I don’t think they have any qualms about shutting down YouTube but I think they’re afraid of the backlash. It’s such a unique treasure trove of cultural significance that is not out of the question for the US government to step in and tell them to put at least some of it in the Library of Congress or to work with other organizations to preserve it. And they’d rather let it run than be bothered.
I’ve heard a theory that says that Google isn’t interested in any of their products for the product’s sake. They’re all data-gathering experiments. Once they’re done mining that particular kind of data they shutter the project. If they ever need to revisit that category later, they make another similar product.
It would certainly explain why they shut down certain projects in the face of commercial success, or why they keep revisiting the messenger app over and over in different ways.
It would also explain their inept attempts at monetizing YouTube. Keeping an experiment alive past it’s expiration date is unfamiliar to them so they have no idea what to do with it.
YouTube is the app around which both Google Play Music and now Podcasts are shutting down, so I doubt YouTube will go away. I won’t be surprised, however, if other apps are incorporated in like Play Movies and Play Books even.
Shitting down YouTube would be like shuttering Gmail or even Search. Seems unlikely.
Looking forward to the launch of YouTube Books /s
I know it sounds funny, but to clarify I meant for delivering audiobooks.
Arent Play Movies already integrated in YT?
A movie and tv show I “bought” in the store are only watchable on YT.
Google shutting down youtube would be such a huge confidence loss that I don’t think they would ever recover. It’ll never happen unless things change drastically.
Thru could decide to incorporate it separately (which would be ironic considering it started out separate and they forced it into Google), and then let it find its own way.
YouTube is too big and dominates too much of certain spaces for streaming. Shutting it down would be stupid. If Google no longer wanted it, it would make WAY more sense to sell. Someone would pay billions for that.
Edit: also, YouTube made $8billion in ad sales last quarter. YouTube ain’t going anywhere right now.
Well, to be more clear, I was trying to say that YouTube could end as a business for Google. I’m not sure if YouTube is doing well right now, financially, and these whole ad management looks like a desperate move.
YouTube has recently been exceeding street expectations and made $8billion in ad sales last quarter alone. Even when revenue took a 2% dip a while back, that business is still a damn cash cow.
Yeah, I still doubt it long-term. It’s become truly annoying to watch YouTube videos without workarounds/Premium these days. Their membership is also more expensive as time goes by. I guess, as long as it is a monopoly, they may keep pushing this. Maybe it’s just me, but feels tired.
Room to give a shout out to Podverse, free and open source!
AntennaPod is another great option. I’ve already switched after the initial announcement.
Absolutely love AntennaPod
I gave AntennaPod a try and was blown away at the granular control you are allowed over everything. Its a fantastic app that set a new standard for what I look for in an other apps now.
I needed this rec, thanks.
I use it, I like it and it works with zero issues. It also easily works with my Google Home speaker. So of course it gets shut down. Because obviously. Sigh.
That said, Pocket Casts on iOS is also quite decent.
Same I pivoted to PocketCasts
Pocket Casts has both an Android and iOS version. If you pay for their “subscription” their web app also works, though I’ve never used it I’ve heard good things.
